Mashed Potatoes-How Do You Like Them and etc.

Hello All,
Growing up, my mother made a potato dish with every meal, except breakfast. And besides french fries, the best thing she made was mashed potatoes. My wife can't make a decent batch at all. They are either runny, lumpy, or plain bad. She's a good cook, but doesn't like mashed potatoes. My questions are:
1.Do you have a secret to good mashed potatoes?
2.What is your favorite combo to eat with mashed potatoes, because they need another food to be eaten with?
3.What type of potato makes the best mashed potato?
4.My parents made potato cakes out of leftovers, what can or do you add to make potato cakes a little more zesty or spicy?
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

I'm not much of a mashed potato "masher", I have made then with a mixer though. While they are mixing I vary by blending in butter, garlic, green onion and sometimes horseradish. I love potato cakes and like them with a litttle green onion. We really don't eat potatoes very often and when we do, they're usually baked.

The secret to good mashed potatoes IMHO is to NOT shy away from the salt (also plenty of butter and cream [I never use anything with less fat than whole milk]) - I try to observe a low carb lifestyle so I only have mashed potatoes on the holidays which means fat and calories are not a concern on the occasions I have to enjoy potatoes.

I like to add roasted garlic, too!

Favorite combo to eat with the potatoes - A good, rich gravy - Who else makes a mashed potato volcano with gravy lava on their plate? C'mon, you know you do it!

Idaho russets make the best mashed potatoes - yukon golds and the like are too waxy and turn into glue if you mash them too much

To jazz up potato cakes: hmmm: I'd experiment with seasonend salts and ethnic herb mixes to start!

Russets or reds for mashing. Chicken broth makes a tasty substitute for butter. I "mash" mine with electric mixer-don't let them cool off before you start smashing. (Leave skins on for reds.) Sometimes I put garlic salt in the water when cooking the potatoes, for just a hint of garlic flavor.
Favorite entree to go with mashed potatoes - meatloaf! I always thought it was against the law to serve smashed potatoes without gravy....

Hello all,
The suggestions so far are great. Thank you. May sound strange, but I like to mix corn in with my mashed potatoes,(after, not during the making of the mashed potatoes). Also, have been known to put a dab of mustard in the mashed potatoes and stir it into it.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

Mixing corn and mashed potatoes I like - although, I only do it with my TV dinners, for some reason... However---
My brother-in-law puts the turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, stuffing, etc. on the plate, then drowns it ALL in gravy. It's been almost 27 years and I still can't stand to watch him eat Thanksgiving Dinner.

When I serve Mashed Potatoes with an Asian King Salmon dish that I love, I add 1 cup blanched, pureed spinach. then right before serving add 2 T wasabi paste.
Light green, pungent mashers go so well with this salmon.

I put mustard in mine, too, in the form of a few good shakes of strong English mustard powder. That, some sea salt, and some real butter, and just enough milk to make them mashable, does the trick. We prefer them lumpy, so I mash them by hand in the pan, and add more butter when they go on the plate. And I agree, corn is great mixed with mashed potatoes, on the plate. Russets or those little red potatoes are best, Yukons work ok with a light hand and more butter than milk.

I dont like mashed potatoes but I do like smashed, boiled potatoe chunks, fork smashed on the plate with salt and butter, a splash of catsup ok 3 or 4 splashes. I remember gramma used a ricer on the potatoes when making mashed and lots of cream and butter

I guess mine are whipped potatoes that fall under the mashed potato category. Your can save some time for holiday prep by peeling the russet potatoes and placing them in a large deep Tupperware container with cold water and leave them overnight. They don’t discolor this way.

Get Chicken broth and preheat in a bowl in a pot or microwave, same with some half & half, and melt butter. Mixing warm ingredients into the potatoes saves prep time and keeps from cooling the hot potatoes.

Take peeled russets and boil them in water until a fork will penetrate them. Remove into a colander to drain. Then add to a large mixing bowl. Add 3 equal parts of wamr stock, cream and butter then start mixing. Add white pepper (this keep the potatoes white and not flecks of black) and kosher salt. Then just mix ingredients until preferred taste and consistency. When salt can be tasted, it’s time to stop adding salt – it gets more powerful with time. Too much salt is not good.

Mine is simple, easy and cheap. I don’t like filler, garlic taste or other stuff. Just hot mashed potatoes and then some good gravy.

A Syrian proverb: If you buy cheap meat, you'll be sorry when you come to the gravy.

On a plate in front of me...

After over 20yrs of adding garlic to my potato's I wanted something different.
Had company so I decided to try/add something different.
I added some premade veggy dip as I was mashing...WOW what a difference tasted great.

I like to top my mashed with cream corn or better yet with applesauce, preferable homemade...excellent!

Also I like to use Chef potato's

I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure the beloved Alton Brown recommends red potatoes for mashing. On the other hand, you could argue for using a combination of russets and reds. I found a recipe some years back in The Chicago Tribune for the horseradish mashed potatoes they served at Oprah's restaurant (now long gone); they used a half and half ratio and they were fantastic.

After settling on the potatoes you're going to use, you need to decide if you're going to go skins on or off. Given a choice, and assuming the spuds are relatively "eye" free, I'd go with skins on. If there are too many eyes, it's a pain to trim so I just peel the darn things.

Cut the potatoes into uniform slices about 3/4" to 1" thick. Put them into well salted cold water and let them come up to temp as the water gets to boiling. Never put raw potatoes into already boiling water. When the potatoes fall apart easily when poked with a fork, they are ready for draining.

After draining, I like to mash with an old fashioned "grid" style masher. They should be well mashed but still retain some coarseness so that you know they were once real potatoes and not some flakes in a box.

As for the milk and butter; another secret from Alton Brown: warm the milk and butter separately from the potatoes before adding. Never add cold milk or solid stick butter to hot potatoes.

Finally, the flavorings. Always start with salt and ground pepper to taste. After that, I've used everything from garlic and horseradish to mustard, caramelized leeks, and basil (not all at once, mind you).

As for gravy, I never use the stuff unless I'm at Stroud's in KC. If you're gonna harden your arteries, you might as well do it right.

Oh yeah, I like corn mixed in with my taters too. It started when I was a neurotic temperamental youth who couldn't have the different foods touching each other on the plate. My Mother insensitively overlapped my corn and spuds one day, throwing me into a tantrum. With some fast talking, she finally got me to shut up and at least try the stuff. It was a revelatory moment that changed me forever as a human being and an eater. She has made me crazy countless other times in my almost 50 years, but for the gift of not being afraid to mix foods to achieve new and exciting flavors, I say to Mom, "Thank you."

I'm a purist--I like my mashed potatoes to taste like potatoes and nothing else. I mash russets and usually just make mine with butter and milk. I can't give you measurements because every batch is different. I also like to make sure the water I cook the spuds in is nicely salty.

Texture-wise, I like a few small lumps and an overall consistency that's a little on the loose side. Just seems more decadent if the spuds are always in danger of falling off the spoon.

Gravy is not a must for me and I won't eat it unless it's pretty good. Pork gravy is the best.

Many of my relatives like creamed corn on their mashed potatoes. It's not bad, but I don't get hungry for it.

My favorite side dishes for mashed potatoes are pan-fried chicken, roast beef, and turkey breast.

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool lover of mashed potatoes & corn, too. The other thing that happened about a year ago, when I got my salad too close to the mashed potatoes: I mixed some ranch dressing in with the potatoes by accident, and it's my new favorite taste treat! Although, as my husband says, if you served me a bowl of dirt with ranch dressing on it, I'd eat it...
Happy eats,
gandl

Hello all,
You folks are great. I am excited to try out so many of your ideas. Keep it coming. And thanks.
Take care,
Fieldthistle

A potato ricer is by far the best way to get good mashed potatoes.
Creme frache is good with them if you want to avoid butter.
Doug

Oh, maybe with lots of butter, a little garlic, cream cheese, & sour cream. Yum Yum

Her Honor The Judge
formerly known as
LegalLady

Mashed potatoes, best comfort food ever. I like to use Russet potatoes, very well peeled. Put peeled, cubed potatoes in a pot of lightly salted, cold water, bring to a boil & simmer until fork tender. Drain well & add a very large dollop of butter & a splash of milk. The gourmet ingredient is sour cream. Add a couple of healthy spoonfuls. Mmsh with an old-fashioned, hand-held potatoe masher. Stir potatoes to get the bottom up to the top. Add more butter as desired & go lightly adding milk as needed. If you use an electric mixer you'll get a smoother product, but personally I like it a little chunky, lumpy.

I like my mashed potatoes with some of the peel, lightly salted butter, real cream, a little sour cream, salt and lotsa pepper.

I melt the butter so it is not cold when I add it and I like the potatoes piping hot when I serve them. I like enough pepper where I can see it in the product.

The next day, I like to make potato pan cake or just potato cakes with onions, garlic with some egg and flour to keep it solid and brown them. They are great with a sausage gravy, bacon gravy, chicken gravy or any kind og gravy.

I do not do them often due to the high carb level but when I do, I really pig out and enjoy them

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Smashed potatos are good. Cook potatos with skins on, cut in quarters, back in the pot, and hit them with a potato masher/wooden spoon, whatever until they are in chunks, but not mashed. Loosen up with some extra virgin olive oil, flavor with salt, pepper, some chopped rosemary and some fried garlic.

Dearfolk,
Similar to Gordon W, I like my potatoes skin-on, mashed but chunky, with a dollop of gravy in the middle. The best I know of right now can be found daily at The Royal Cafe here in Athens: theirs are downright addictive.
Uninstantaneously, Ort. Carlton in Ready-Mixed Athens, Georgia.
P. S. Remember: instant potatoes do not contain instant potato skin! But really bad ones do contain lumps. Ka-foo!

My mashed preferences:
1. I prefer red to russet
2. My mother used to buy a mix with bacon in it that I've neither been able to find nor duplicate. I don't remember the name but it had a very smoky bacon taste.
3. I like "mix-ins". My ultimate, "I feel like crap comfort food", is mashed potatoes mixed with butter, mayo, ketchup, cheese, choppped hot dogs, garlic salt, and corn.
4. For "straight" mashed my secret is Best Foods Light Mayo. Gives em a tangy flavor.
5. Given the choice on a menu of mashed or something slightly different, I'll pick different over mashed every time.

Actually I usually buy frozen mash. Taste varies a lot between brands, and I've found one I like. I've found making my own gives variable results according to time of year, supermarket, etc.

Im new to this site but I have a secret to mashed potatoes...

If you live in the south you have to know what Duke's Mayonnaise is.

when you go to mix in butter and milk in your mashed taters add a tablespoon or two of Dukes mayo, it will make them creamier and give them a very good flavor

My mashed spuds: Gotta be Idaho Russets, peeled, cooked just so, drained in a collander until they turn white. Smash 'em by hand with butter, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Sometimes I like them plain, sometimes with garlic or horseradish, sometimes with chipotles. Depends on what we're eating.
For leftovers, make fish cakes! Cooked cod (or halibut or sole or striped bass or haddock) and salmon mixed with the cold mashed with a little jalepino and fried on each side work nicely! Add the fish to the mashed, a little beaten egg, some scallion.......voila! Fish cakes!

I like my mashed potatoes with loads of garlic and butter. Except when I eat them with chicken fried steak when I want gravy.

I think making good mashed potatoes is a real skill. I remember fondly my grandmother's; I think she only added butter, whole milk, salt and pepper, and she used russets. Her mashing technique involved using one of those old fashioned potato mashers, but I swear the results beat anything made from an electric mixer, ricer, etc. Given the time and elbow grease involved in this method, clearly most folks would rather use an electric mixer, but I believe the consistency is almost always inferior to potatoes mashed with a masher.

By the way, the very worst mashed potatoes I ever ate were to be found in France when I lived there briefly. No matter where, in homes, in fancy restaurants, they would serve a "puree" which had the consistency of split pea soup...completely unappetizing, in my own opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

My mashed spuds: Gotta be Idaho Russets, peeled, cooked just so, drained in a collander until they turn white. Smash 'em by hand with butter, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Sometimes I like them plain, sometimes with garlic or horseradish, sometimes with chipotles. Depends on what we're eating.
For leftovers, make fish cakes! Cooked cod (or halibut or sole or striped bass or haddock) and salmon mixed with the cold mashed with a little jalepino and fried on each side work nicely! Add the fish to the mashed, a little beaten egg, some scallion.......voila! Fish cakes!

I was going to reply, but the Food Goddess beat me to it. Despite all the advice I've read about potatoes, I have ALWAYS used Russets. Real cream, real butter, salt and pepper, and they can be served.

Garlic, various cheeses, and horseradish are my standard "flavorizers". I've never tried chipotle, but I'll have to do that...

I use Yukon Gold for mashed potatoes(I guess I mean whipped,because I use a mixer). I add only butter,cream & lots of salt. Drain the potatoes & place back on the burner, shaking the pan to get all the moisture out. Immediately, add the butter, beat to blend, then add the cream(heated). My grandparents had a dairy farm with Jersy cows, so I grew up with cooking that used butter & cream in everything.
A favorite meal at my house is sauerkraut & weiners with mashed potatoes. Mix the potatoes into the sauerkraut & weiners. Yummy.

I rarely eat plain, mashed potatoes, but make twice-baked potatoes instead, which are really just mashed potatoes stuffed back into the shell of the potato.

It's a little work, so do several at a time, about six medium, red potatoes, wrap each potato in aluminum foil, bake in 350 oven until soft to touch (about 45 min-1 hr).

While the potatoes are baking, in a metal mixing bowl set on top of oven, add 1 stick of butter, and about 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese(butter should be melted by the time potatoes are cooked).

When the potatoes are done, hold each in a potholder, and cut a circle around top, lifting gently. Skim the red outer layer from the top of the potato and add the tops to the mixing bowl. Take a paring knife and cut around the edges of each potato, leaving about a 1/2" ridge. After using the paring knife to mark the outer area, I use a grapefruit spoon to scoop the potatoes out, but you need to be careful not to cut through that rim. Use warm milk, a little at a time, and mash, with salt and pepper to taste. I find it needs lots of salt to have any taste, and may just be my imagination, but the mixture doesn't get as lumpy, if you use milk that's been heated a little to get the chill off it.

After the potatoes are stuffed, garnish each top with more grated cheddar. They are cooked already, so when you go to serve them, just warm them on a low oven about 30 minutes. All you are really doing is heating them through and melting the cheese on top.

I think the secret is lots of cheese, salt, and warm milk. If you have young children and they don't like the sight of the black pepper, you can substitute white pepper.

Thank you for the recipe BelleReve. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.

MC - Your'e good. Hope you try them, it's something my mother always made, which we continue to make. I also enjoy eating the whole potato, including what my father facetiously calls that "nut-like flavor of the skins."

I like to use russet potatoes and cook some carrots and turnips in the same water with lots of salt. When they are done, mash them all together with salt, pepper, butter and a little warmed up milk. Top that with some rich beef gravy and I'm good to go.

Mostly I use Russets, but also will use Yukon Golds as well, I cut them into equal sized chunks roughly, I am a fan of overcooking the potato myself. after draining and retuning to the pot for a 5 lb bag i will mix in 1/4 cup (1 stick) of butter, without mashing. I then use a ricer/masher, right now I have an analon ricer/masher with a rubber handle. I mash and stir for about 5 minutes before adding milk I use cream on special days. when I add milk/cream I always eyeball it. then I continue to mash until my arm almost falls off. In my opinion there is nothing worse than finding a lump or chunk in mashed potatos. After mashing I transfer to a oven safe pan and put pats of butter over the top of them and put them in the oven for at least an hour at 350 or higher. It is like a twice baked potato only much better. Extra's ad salt, pepper, cheese, garlic, etc... to taste or mood. Mashed potatos is an art few master.

No one has mentioned my sister's secret ingredient - NUTMEG! I only use Idaho potatoes. Once they are cooked make sure they are dry so they will absorb the cream and an inappropriate amount of butter. Mash completely before adding 1/2 and 1/2 or cream (nothing less than whole milk), warmed up with the butter melted in. Plenty of sea salt, pepper and the above mentioned nutmeg. Sometimes we get the hand mixer out to whip them but we only do this if they remain on the stove with a flame tamer under them - they have to stay consistently warm.

And yes - I will admit to making lava with the gravy.

If you see me having mashed potatoes more than 3 days in a row I am in a serious funk and need a hug.

I'll have to try the nutmeg idea. I've always used nutmeg when making creamed spinach (ala Berghoff's in Chicago), but the concept of nutmeg in mashed potatoes intrigues me.

VERY minimalist here-we here completely peel and soak in cold water...THEN drain the cold and use hot water to cook with- it seems to cook quicker and better that way

one thing I learned is to melt the butter in the milk

I am afraid I am lazy and use a mixer....but...I can get them nice and textured with a mixer,especially with the warm milk/melted butter mixture..AND an egg...

mix in an egg the next day and fry them like a potato pancake, that's hot.

Russets simmered with the skin on (very important) then pressed thru ricer. If you peel them first, they tend to dissolve, or at least get watery. Just cut 'em in half crossways when they're done, then rice 'em, skin & all. Works just like a garlic press. Add hot milk, butter & anything else that you fancy & presto. Very quick and therefore good for doing volume (as in a holiday dinner). Sort of fun too -- my ricer sounds kind of like I'm racking shells into a shotgun.

I swear by my potato ricer... no matter how they are prepped the ricer
makes the mashed... butter and gravy with mine, please...

Peels left on, boiled with garlic, drained, mashed with vegetable broth, roasted garlic, butter, and cream, and mashed only until lumpy not smooth

For Thanksgiving we did a bring a dish dinner, one of my youngest daughters dish was mashed potatoes. Her brother had requested she leave the skins on but make sure there were no lumps. Well she forgot the skins but there was surely no lumps. Here's her recipe.... 3pounds potatoes boiled in garlic and salt water then premashed, one pound of butter, 1cup sour cream, 2 cups heavy cream. whip with cakemixer.. They weren't exactly soup like but they did spread out on the plate and they DID taste great!

Well now I figured out what I'm going to have with my breaded and fryed pork chops tonight. I always add some cream cheese and chopped chives to my mashed spuds along with the cream and milk, just like mainlinning all that fat what the hell. My doctor who is a friend and neighbor of mine calls me the bravest person he has ever met, someone who faces death every time I sit down at the dinner table. Chow Jim

Hello All,
Jimeats, you made me so hungry. I love breaded and fried chops with mashed potatoes. Wish my wife could
make a decent mashed potatoes. Cream cheese and chopped chives sounds so good with the taters. I bet your
doctor friend would love a bite or two. It sounds too good to be bad.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

I use either russet or California Long Whites, bay leaf in the water as they boil, drain and remove bay leaf after done. Add heavy whipped cream, homemade or Amish butter, salt, sometimes some msg, and a dash of nutmeg. Mash those babies until they scream "UNCLE!" Serve with copious butter rivers and fresh grated black pepper and some gravy of choice on the side


Dr. Bob the cardiologist highly recommends this dish(and yes he has had mine before)

I'm a rice eater, not too enamored with mashed potatoes, but I'm told I make an great batch. I rice them by hand (Russets peeled) then add top cream, buttermilk, salt and pepper. They snarf them up. I will sometimes snip chives into the mix.

My mom was an old farm girl and she passed on a recipe she got from her mom. It's the most popular thing I make for my kids - I do the cooking here at our house, Mr. Mom. The ingredients are very simple - Idaho potatoes, whole milk or even cream, real butter and salt. The whole trick is in the timing to achieve that slightly lumpy but rich SW Ohio via southern Ill. texture.

Try this some time: peel your potatoes, cut them into equal size chunks so they all finish cooking at the same time (important), and drop them in a pot with cold water to cover. Bring them up to a medium boil and cook say 15 minutes. Trick 1, to tell their doneness stick a fork in one of the pieces. If it sticks to the fork it needs a little more time. The chunks should crack open and fall off the fork like a baked potato. On the other hand, if they get too mushy so will the final mashed ones be. Drain and leave in pot off of fire. Cut pats of butter (I go by eye how much to put in but usually half milk and half butter) and add to the potatoes and let it melt. Add your milk to where you can just see where the fluid level is through the potatoes, maybe about an inch's worth in a tall saute pan, and add salt to taste. Trick 2, use an electric hand mixer set on medium and go around the pan with it 2 or 3 times, watching for that moment when everything is mixed well but still may have small lumps for texture. If you beat them too much it's like they emusify and turn into starchy paste. Yuck. Serve immediately with a slice of butter stuck in the top of each helping.

If it's not served with a slow-cooked all-day pot roast falling-apart tender (what I made last night) my 10 and 12 year old boys inhale chicken and noodles served in a bowl over a mound of the mashed potatoes. I save wing tips and other unused pieces of chicken to make broth, so I throw chicken breasts and the tips into a pot and let it simmer for hours until shreddable, then hand-shred and debone. Then I just throw the meat back in the broth, salt, and add egg noodles. The flour in the noodles thickens the broth by the time they're done.

quote:

Originally posted by Fieldthistle

Hello all,
The suggestions so far are great. Thank you. May sound strange, but I like to mix corn in with my mashed potatoes,(after, not during the making of the mashed potatoes). Also, have been known to put a dab of mustard in the mashed potatoes and stir it into it.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

When I waa a kid and my mom made mashed potatoes and gravy I always insisted on my lava cone to hold the gravy, and a side of peas with a butterknife. Then you scoop up a blob of potatoes with the knife, dip in gravy, press down on peas to adhere, and then gobble it up.

1.Do you have a secret to good mashed potatoes?

I must be a rare one in this (as per usual for me..hehe), but I like my mashed potatoes about the consistency of a well cooked baked potato. Just a bit of salt, more then a bit of pepper, butter, and enough milk to mash it. It always tasted 'fresher' that way, for me. Sour cream & chives, or cheddar can find their way into it too.

2.What is your favorite combo to eat with mashed potatoes, because they need another food to be eaten with?

I usually have mine with chicken (baked, fried, what have you), and a veggie on the side.

3.What type of potato makes the best mashed potato?

I've been dying to try a good russet potato, but for now I use the standard type you get in the grocery store in the big bags.

4.My parents made potato cakes out of leftovers, what can or do you add to make potato cakes a little more zesty or spicy?

The only recipe I got for them called for the usual, onions, peppers, spices.

Welcome Blueberri, I think you'll find if you ask too many (even good) questions less people focus.
Good luck though!
For an answer;
I will say #2 Is with Grilled Salmon and Asparagus

I also think mashed potatos are great alone

I couldn't possibly think about eating meatloaf with out mashed potatos unless it was a sandwich. Chow Jim

Little red potatoes -- with the good red color on the skin, none of the darker ones -- boiled whole, unpeeled. Drained, mashed with kosher salt, butter, and cream or half-&-half.

We permit ourselves this version about three times a year. Johanna Killeen of R.I.'s Al Forno tops them with gremolata, a blend of lemon zest, garlic, and parsley mixed together, which provides a nice counter to the richness of the potatoes.

Leftovers may be made into patties, floured and fried, although if you do this the next morning, you may want to eliminate fats entirely for a week or two.

I have learned to like big garlic/butter croutons mixed in with my hot mashed potatoes. Can't remember where I heard about it, but the crunchy-creamy combination just rocks. When I don't have any of my own croutons I use T. Marzetti's Large Cut Garlic and Butter ones.

And I have been known to have mashed potatoes with a hot dog. You are the first folks I have told about this, probably for good reason...

i make smashed idaho potatoes skin on boiled with lots of garlic in the water. lots of chopped shallotts ground pepper butter little heavy cream and the key ingrediant is truffel oil. salt to taste splash of worstershire and parsley. try truffel oil once and you will never want them without it

This potato thing is making me hungry. I usually stick with russets or yukon golds. Cook the spuds till fork tender. Heat heavy cream and butter. Add salt & pepper,roasted garlic and a little grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
I then eat about half of my serving before mixing the corn or peas in the potato's.

Man, all of this sounds great! So much to cook and soooo little time. It reminded me of sheperds pie... mashed potatoes, onoins, corn, green peas, ground beef, all baked together, yummmmm.
Joe

1.Do you have a secret to good mashed potatoes?
No secret. It's a simple butter, milk, salt and pepper to taste thing.

Husband likes to add cheddar cheese. I like garlic sometimes. Bacon and cheese is cool.

2.What is your favorite combo to eat with mashed potatoes, because they need another food to be eaten with?
Chicken and pan gravy
Pork chops and pan gravy
Roast beef and gravy
Roast anything and gravy
Anything

3.What type of potato makes the best mashed potato?
White rose are sometimes better, but I usually just use russets.

4.My parents made potato cakes out of leftovers, what can or do you add to make potato cakes a little more zesty or spicy?
Cayenne pepper

As I said before I prefer my mashed taters, just that, mashed. And only slightly, with butter, ketchup or brown gravy to perk them up, thats for BOILED. Lately I've been using baked potatoes (baked to many one night) Kind of like twice baked potato's, scoop out the "meat" of the baked spud, add buter, cheese, choppedNsweated onions, saltNpepper, nuke on medium 1-2 minutes then add warmed milk and mash.... heatNeat..... bottled blucheese dressing instead of chedder cheese also negates the need for milk..

quote:

Originally posted by Jimeats

I couldn't possibly think about eating meatloaf with out mashed potatos unless it was a sandwich. Chow Jim

Even then, put the mashies on the sandwich!
Best of both worlds, but I like my bread toasted, then its not too mushy to eat.