Recipe Writing

Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving- the big turkey days. The whole family gathering under one roof to eat until they need a nap to recover. Lifelong memories are made during the meal, but also before it.

As a young girl helping cook Thanksgiving dinner was one of my jobs. I was never much interested in it, until my mom made a decree- “If you’re going to eat all the potatoes, you’re going to cook them!”

And thus, Thanksgiving started to mean watching movies with a big bowl of potatoes in my lap as I peeled them. Garbage can at my left, bowl with clean water on my right. Towel at my feet, because I eventually learned the ground gets starchy and gross when peeling potatoes in front of the TV.

Gently slipping the potatoes into the boiling water, trying desperately not to splash myself or my harried mother.

Straining them, then throwing them back into the bowl to mix them. At first I had to stand on a stool to get high enough to the pot to mash them. As I hit my grumpy teenage years, I relished the opportunity to smash the brains out of some potatoes. Adding the ingredients, I was never sure of how much was enough and how much was way too much, as my mum put it.

And then, the best part- inhaling them sooo fast I got a tummy ache.

Now that I’m something resembling an adult, I’ve been making mashed potatoes on my own, and I’ve discovered my personal favourite variation on my mothers sweet and simple mashed potatoes. The addition of Boursin, a creamy and flavourful cheese that you can get in a variety of flavours, really elevated my simple mashed potatoes from a staple to a statement.

This particular recipe requires a LARGE pot, because it is a LARGE recipe. Even when I’m not cooking for fifteen people, I like to make sure I have lots of leftovers to eat for the next week. If you don’t need quite that much, you can always halve the recipe effectively.

Supplies:

Large Pot

Peeler

Medium to Large Knife

Large Spoon

Fork

Potato Masher

Ingredients:

5 Pounds Russet Potatoes (You can, of course, use other varieties. I personally like russet the best, as I find them easier to peel because they’re so big)

4 Tablespoons Butter or Maragarine (I like to use Margarine, since I’m lactose intolerant, although Butter gives a creamier taste.)

3/4 milk or milk substitute (Again, lactose intolerant. I personally like the lactose free milk, since it’s the closest to the real milk I had as a child, but I’ve seen soy, almond, and even water effectively used instead.)

1 Block Boursin (I know this undoes all my lactose free work from earlier, but it was worth it to make room for how good this is going to taste. There are many different flavours of Boursin. I prefer to use the Cracked Black Pepper variety, but you can also use Chives and Green Onion. If you can’t find Boursin in your local grocery store, a soft Gorgonzola or herbed goat cheese will work great.)

How To:

Peel potatoes. Once they’re peeled, give them a little rinse to get any lingering dirt off, and cut into more manageable chunks. My rule of thumb is that you want to be able to grip it in the palm of your hand with your fingers almost touching. Make sure all the chunks are roughly the same size-this way you won’t have any lumps when it comes time to mash.

About halfway through peeling the potatoes, put your largest pot of water on the stove to boil. I say start halfway through your potatoes because a five pound bag can take a while, and you don’t want all your water to boil off.

Gently deposit potatoes into water. Leave uncovered.

Grab a book and hang out, or work on some dishes or other cooking. Keep an eye out to make sure nothing boils over.

Every five minutes or so, grab a big spoon and rotate the potatoes from the bottom to the top and vice versa.

When they’ve been simmering about 20 minutes, stick a fork in ‘em. If the fork slides in easily, or the potato disintegrates, it’s done. Check several of them to make sure they all have the same consistency.

Strain. Careful pouring the water- don’t spill. And don’t stick your face over the pot either- steam burns hurt.

Leave the potatoes in the strainer for a second. Throw your Boursin and margarine into the bottom of the pot so they start to melt. Give it a little stir.

Add the potatoes.

M.A.S.H.

Really try to get that Boursin and margarine mixed around there. Add milk periodically as you mash to really give it a creamy consistency.

Put your dishes in the sink for someone else to do (Let’s be real, it’ll be you tomorrow).

And there you have it folks, delicious and creamy mashed potatoes with a twist! This recipe was a hit with my family when I debuted it for Christmas the last year before Covid- my brother had no idea what Boursin as, but he had two platefuls, so I took it as a success.

Even now, my mom has been asking me to teach my sister how to make it so she can have it for the holidays I can’t be there for. Well here you go mom, now it’s on the internet for all to see and use!