Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Am I the only one who gets sick of dining in upscale restaurants and being offered garlic mashed potatoes? You can't fool me into thinking something is "fancy" just because you put garlic in it and hand me a big bill. I would think they could be a bit more creative. Just another pet peeve of mine.

I think garlic mashed potatoes are one of those annoying food trends that showed up in another thread.

I think garlic is great on pasta but doesn't suit potatoes very well.

And they always have peels and lumps of uncooked potato in them...I guess to make it more "homey". We never ate potato peels in my home...my mom considered them hog food.

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

And they always have peels and lumps of uncooked potato in them...I guess to make it more "homey". We never ate potato peels in my home...my mom considered them hog food.

I actually happen to like well-mashed garlic potatoes with the skin still on (all those vitamins!).

Personally, I roast the garlic in their skins wrapped in baking foil in plenty of olive oil, then squeeze them out (they would've turned into a paste when done) into the potatoes, add salt, pepper and a bit of dried basil, then mash til smooth.

YUM!!!

Another favourite of mine is pesto mashed potatoes which go really REALLY well with any fish dish that requires a potato side as a carb. Blame it all on Delia Smith

I like mashed potatoes with garlic as long as the garlic has been cooked first. Too many places just put in some of that minced guck from a jar. This can result in some horrible social interactions.
Elise is really on to mention no peels in mashed potatoes. It is a sign of lazyness to not peel your spuds. All nutritious stuff is lost in the water that you pour down the drain anyway. Same goes for places that serve french fries with the skin. Lazy[|)] The skin serves as a holder for the fat from the frying.

I believe the bits of skins are left on to provide evidence that the potato is real and not instant.
I like the baked skins as served as an appetizer with cheese bacon and some sour cream.

Now that's a whole different story! Of course, deep-fry anything and it's gonna be good!

Oh, come on, all of you chefs (and wannabe chefs out there)......put your thinking caps on. Garlic mashed, lobster mashed, crab mashed, yes, even blueberry mashed, I think I've seen them all. Never order them. Always ask if these nasty critters COME with the meal....no,....I'll have the rice or the cole slaw. Give it up. Puhleese. NO MORE GARLIC MASHED!

Make us a killer pommes Darphin that we'll be drooling for... then get really decadent and throw a lot of WILD mushrooms in there and make us want to come back for the next meal, or just maybe the accompaniament....or a wonderful potato gratin laced with loads of cream and gruyere, to accompany that lamb shank braised in carmelized onions, garlic and red wine. Let us not disgrace the noble potato any more with merely adding garlic and looking like NOBLE and INVENTIVE chefs!

lleechef, getting off her soap box now but glad she did not have to eat garlic mashed. We had "Bushie Beans". Doesn't get much better.

Someone sound the horn and wake those chefs, aka numbskulls up!!!!

I was talked into trying garlic mashed potatoes two summers ago, in Mt. Peasant, S.C. (across the Cooper River from Charleston). I could not possibly eat this version and sent it back for something else.

It was, as someone here observed, raw, minced garlic dumped straight from a jar into the mashed potatoes. And far too much garlic at that. This mess was so inedible I thought the place a fraud and would never go back. I wish I could recall the name.

I did what I do in such a situation; I politely told the management the dish wasn't fit to eat.

Good mashed potatoes need no help. Good mashed potatoes in a restaurant, freshly made, is so rare now that discerning folks don't want them messed with.

Free the mashed potatoes!

quote:

Originally posted by Jellybeans
I actually happen to like well-mashed garlic potatoes with the skin still on (all those vitamins!).

I second Jellybeans' sentiment, but I too, have grown tired of garlic mashed. I had them once in a restaurant (a well-known steakhouse) and decided, never again. I can make them better at home. And I did. But I've grown weary of the dish, so back to plain ol' butter mashed am I.

quote:

Originally posted by Kristi S.

quote:

Originally posted by Jellybeans
I actually happen to like well-mashed garlic potatoes with the skin still on (all those vitamins!).

I second Jellybeans' sentiment, but I too, have grown tired of garlic mashed. I had them once in a restaurant (a well-known steakhouse) and decided, never again. I can make them better at home. And I did. But I've grown weary of the dish, so back to plain ol' butter mashed am I.

If you like butter, try the Jöel Robuchon recipe. It calls for 1 pound of butter to every 2 pounds of potatoes, plus 1/2 to 1 cup of cream. I think this recipe speaks for itself, in volumes.

Here's the recipes I normally use for my perfect mashed potatoes (garlic optional):

Basic mashed potatoes:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/r_0000001283.asp

Mashed potatoes with three mustards (to go with meat):
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/r_0000001299.asp

Aligot (mashed potatoes with garlic and cheese, french-style) and goes with rump steak:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/r_0000001152.asp

Mashed potatoes with sage and spring/green/salad onions:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/r_0000001054.asp

Fish with Pesto Mash:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/r_0000001291.asp

Green Parsley Mash (served with fish):
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/r_0000001298.asp

*braces herself for a chorus of loud Ewwws and Bleeeeehs*

Hm. I posted this in "Chicken Fat Heaven," but I'll post it here again.

I noticed that a steak place called the Strip on E.12th St. in NYC offers mashed potatoes with goose fat. Anyone heard of such a thing? I am very curious, but I don't think they'd give me a takeout portion.

--Valerie in NYC

quote:

Originally posted by kittypaw

mashed potatoes with goose fat

Mmmmmm...I'd be down with that !!

quote:

Originally posted by kittypaw

Hm. I posted this in "Chicken Fat Heaven," but I'll post it here again.

I noticed that a steak place called the Strip on E.12th St. in NYC offers mashed potatoes with goose fat. Anyone heard of such a thing? I am very curious, but I don't think they'd give me a takeout portion.

--Valerie in NYC

I haven't tried it at Strip specifically, but a variety of foods served with a side of fat (usually chicken fat, or "schmaltz") is a very common Jewish style of cooking/serving. The foods in question are usually served on the dry side, and the diner can tailor it with a little or lot of fat, depending on personal preference. Sammy's Roumanian Steak House on the Lower East Side of New York is an example of a place that does it extensively.

quote:

Originally posted by kittypaw

Hm. I posted this in "Chicken Fat Heaven," but I'll post it here again.

I noticed that a steak place called the Strip on E.12th St. in NYC offers mashed potatoes with goose fat. Anyone heard of such a thing? I am very curious, but I don't think they'd give me a takeout portion.

--Valerie in NYC

Mmmmm! That sounds great to me.

Garlic mashed potatoes.....mmmmmm
Pesto mashed potatoes.....mmmmmm
Plain mashed potatoes with butter.....mmmmmm
Skins or no skins.....mmmmm
Mashed potatoes.....mmmmm

I ALWAYS make my mashed potatoes Duchesse style with butter, heavy whipping cream and a dash of nutmeg, and whip with a hand mixer until they are smooth, but not thin. An added bonus is that we get big hunks of Amish creamery butter here, so it just enhances them all the more. As far as garlic mashed, I'm not crazy about them. Roasted garlic in a baked potato dish is often toothsome, but for good ol mashed, it's just overkill.

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

On a related raw garlic note, my wife ordered pasta with a roasted garlic sauce in a local place, and she got pasta with cold olive oil and raw chopped garlic on it.

I can't tell you how fast that got sent back to the kitchen.

I would've done the same! I actually do not HATE the addition of roasted garlic to my potatoes, but NEVER RAW GARLIC!

quote:

Originally posted by tsores

Garlic mashed potatoes.....mmmmmm
Pesto mashed potatoes.....mmmmmm
Plain mashed potatoes with butter.....mmmmmm
Skins or no skins.....mmmmm
Mashed potatoes.....mmmmm

gotta agree--but like alot of folks----PLEASE--roast the garlic!!! I happen to LIKE the skin left on my potatoes and i dont BOIL em I steam em so i DONT pour out all the nutrition in the skins!! So there!

We make ours with skin-on (red preferably), with roasted garlic, with chicken stock instead of milk or cream, and with chopped fresh basil. I make regular old normal mashed too, but you've got to have variety in life, and having said that, I never get tired of garlic....ever.

Ah! Just went to the Strip Steakhouse on E. 12th St. in NYC. (I have to admit, I was curious because the sign read "Strip.") I'd finished a doctor's appointment and was HUNGRY.

The filet mignon was good, but I was really anticipating tasting the "goose fat mashed potatoes." They arrived as a small cone-like cake, a cross between mashed potatoes and hashed browns.

I think the goosefat was crumbled in the potatoes, but I couldn't see it or taste it specifically. The potatoes were rich but salty. I was disappointed.

OK - on to Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse and the shmaltz! Too bad my friends are either vegitarian lesbians or will only eat organic steak.

-Valerie

Call me what you will--But--potatoes mashed with plenty of real butter, cream and black pepper--is perfectionAnything you do from there it goes down hill.

Yes and please peel them.

Dearfolk,
I've never considered garlic mashed potatoes to be representative of an "upscale" restaurant. Our local non-chain diner, The Grill (some of you will already know it), which is downtown on College Square, offers garlic mashed potatoes (skin on) with gravy as a substitute for fries on any platter. They have far more character than fries any day, although I have to admit that The Grill's fries are mighty good - if you like fries. I'll order mashed anytime, and I might just trot up there and do it right now... y'all getting this boy hungry.
Returningly, Ort. Carlton in Garlic-Potatoed (in one place only that I know of) Athens, Georgia.

I make a variety of mashed potatoes, but garlic is not one of them. I too am tired of this tired gimmick, like "French Vanilla", etc.

carl reitz

I prefer dill and chives in mashed potatoes.