Mashed Potatoes Like Grandma Used to Make

These are mashed potatoes like Grandma used to make.  I'm not kidding.  My Grandma made these potatoes combined with cottage cheese, sour cream, butter and whole milk.  She mashed them, then baked them and served them steaming hot for a crowd.

Well, these are sort of my grandma's mashed potatoes.  There was a bit of tweaking. I used low fat cottage cheese and reduced fat sour cream (the latter in smaller proportions).  And I added a bit of horseradish and swapped the chives for some scallions—both inspired by the whipped mashed potatoes recipe seen in the November issue of Bon Appetit.  But the spirit of Grandma's mashed potatoes was still there.  I traded in the 1960s for 2012.

The great thing about these mashed potatoes is that you make them ahead of time. As in like the night or day before.  And after the Turkey (with a capital "T") comes out of that oven, you pop them in to heat them up and give those crusty peaks a little browning.  I have to say that I am all for recipes at Thanksgiving time that don't mean I am in the kitchen for the last two hours before dinner is served.  These potatoes allow you to achieve that goal.

Grandma's Mashed Potatoes
Recipe Type: Side

Author: Julie du Pont

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 8-10

Grandma's mashed potatoes with a little 2012 twist.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs of russet potatoes, quartered
• 1/2 lb butter, softened and chopped
• 2 tbsp horseradish
• 4 tbsp sour cream (preferably reduced fat)
• 12 oz cottage cheese (preferably low fat)
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• sea salt and ground pepper to taste
• paprika and ground pepper for a little dusting at the end.

Instructions

1. Bring salted water to boil. Add potatoes, reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 20-25 minutes until potatoes are tender.
2. Drain and lightly mash with potato masher.
3. Add butter, horseradish, sour cream and cottage cheese and beat with a hand mixer until creamy.
4. Add milk gradually until blended smooth. (Up to now can be made ahead of time for up to 1 day).
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Remove from refrigerator and bake for 40 minutes (10 more minutes if chilled).
7. Sprinkle with paprika and ground pepper before serving.

Julie du Pont is a Darien resident, mom and lawyer.  She blogs about food and entertaining at Weekend table. 

Editor's note: This blog post is featured on the "Thanksgiving in Darien" topics page, where you can find Darien Patch's articles, announcements and blog posts on Thanksgiving—including recipes. See also the "Darien Food Blogs" and "Darien Food & Drink" topics page.