These garlic mashed potatoes are an exceptional dish if you're concerned with an invasion of vampires. Keeping in mind that I doubled this recipe as I made it as a side dish to accompany another entree during our Sunday family dinner, it still used a pretty good amount of garlic. I used 5 lbs of potatoes for this adventure (we have to have leftovers during the week, especially if it turns out yummy). You ask, "How much garlic was used?" One clove? Nope. Two cloves? Not even close? Three cloves of garlic, that's incredible!" You're not even getting warm yet. This recipe used four heads of garlic -- I didn't count how many cloves that ended up being but you can see the bowl full in the photo down below.
It did seem like a lot of garlic but I loved Julia's initial advice regarding this recipe: "(Four) whole heads of garlic will seem like a horrifying amount if you have not made this type of recipe before. But if less is used, you will regret it, for the long cooking of the garlic removes all of its harsh strength, leaving just a pleasant flavor." It seemed like a lot but I've committed to follow Julia's instructions as close as I can and she was right!
The garlic cloves were boiled for about two minutes and then peeled completely. After that they were cooked in, guess what, butter for about ten minutes. It was surprising that there really wasn't a strong garlic odor as it cooked -- Julia apparently knew what she was talking about. Then some flour, salt and pepper was mixed in with the garlic and butter mixture and finally two cups of boiling milk were added.
Warning note: This recipe had many painful steps. Lots of hot things were involved! I've got no permanent scars but my finger tips were steamed by peeling the freshly boiled garlic, my knuckles were steamed by beating in the boiling milk, my hands were roasted when I picked up the hot mixing bowl full of boiled potatoes, and I even splashed a drop of hot oil on my foot (covered by a sock) when I sauteed some mushrooms. I never realized cooking was so dangerous. Time to break out the hardhat, steel toed boots, welding jacket, and safety glasses!
Back to the garlic mixture. After adding the milk I boiled everything together and then dumped the entire mixture into the blender and pureed it. Wow! It made a silky smooth sauce that was ready to add to the potatoes.
I did allow my sous chefs, Elizabeth and Kathryn, assist me with peeling the potatoes so that we could eat this dish together with everything else. They did a wonderful job. Cooking them (the potatoes, not Elizabeth and Kathryn) was pretty straightforward. Boiled until soft. Then I did part ways with Julia for a few minutes. She must have been joking when she wrote that I should put the boiled potatoes into a "ricer." Nice try Julia, I'm not that gullible. I wanted garlic mashed potatoes not garlic rice! So, I used some high tech assistance tonight and put the potatoes into the Kitchenaid mixer.
Kitchenaid -- I love that name, right off the bat it sounds like it is supposed to be helpful. Did you know that if you put all five pounds of boiled potatoes in the mixing bowl they will fit! Did you know that even though they all fit it doesn't mean that they'll all get mashed? About a third of them decided to hide inside of the whisk blade and they refused to come out until I removed their friends that were already mashed and hanging around outside of the blade. Some gentle persuasion using high speed quickly convinced them that it was time to climb out.
To convert those boring mashed potatoes into yummy garlic mashed potatoes some more butter was mixed in and then the sauce was poured from the blender into the potatoes and beat in with a whisk.
The potatoes turned out to be a very creamy, smooth, and refined flavor. The garlic was definitely present but it was a refined and not overpowering flavor. A nice part of this recipe is that the sauce can be made in advance and the potatoes can be boiled and mashed in advance. Then, right before serving they can both be reheated and combined. Remember Julia's advice if preparing in advance.
This recipe's going to get a redo though -- as good as it was I'm sure it would have been even better if I'd remembered the final steps of beating in some whipping cream and minced parsley. This will be a fun and tasty one to redo -- if it was something like boiled squid ink I might have just let it go with one try...
So, next time you're watching "Dracula" you can munch on this lovely garlic dish and rest well knowing that he won't be getting anywhere near you!
Bon Appetit!
Sounds delicious! I love garlic and usually tend to add more than a recipe calls for, but probably wouldn't for this one.
I was a little scared when you used two whole heads of garlic, but they were delicious.