For terrific spuds, take no shortcuts

Creamy mashed potatoes rank almost as high as turkey and pumpkin pie on the list of must-haves for Thanksgiving dinner.

They can't come from a box of dried flakes or a mystery freezer bag plunked in the microwave.

They must be fresh and mashed with butter and cream — not chicken broth and not skim milk, says Claudia Grisnik.

“Come on! It's Thanksgiving,” she says. “I love mashed potatoes. If you're going to eat mashed potatoes, eat real mashed potatoes.”

Grisnik, 60, makes the luscious style of mashed potatoes that families crave on Thanksgiving. And she gets lots of practice throughout the year.

Most days, she makes several batches to accompany meatloaf, pot roast and rib-eye steak at Taxi's Grille & Bar near 120th and Blondo Streets. She has been cooking since age 11 and working in the restaurant business for 30 years.

She takes no shortcuts, at home or at work, with one of her favorite foods.

She avoids overcooking the potatoes and insists on real butter and heavy cream.

“We use an Idaho baking potato — russets,” she said. “We peel them. We dice them. No substitutions.”

Grisnik says Yukon Gold potatoes also are good for mashing.

“At home, I do a potato per person,” she said. “If you have big, hungry men, two potatoes per person.”

After peeling and rinsing the potatoes, she cuts them into large cubes, as if she were making a stew.

She starts the potatoes cooking in an uncovered pot of cold water. (At the restaurant, where a batch of potatoes can be four times as large, she cooks the cubes in a commercial steamer.)

For the best flavor, the potatoes should be cooked just until they are soft enough to mash and then drained immediately.

“If you cook them too long, you'll get a weepy mash,” she says. “They do have a tendency to soak up water.”

After draining them, Grisnik tosses the potatoes back into the hot cooking pot and starts mashing with a hand-held masher. (Large batches at the restaurant are mashed in a commercial electric mixer with a paddle attachment.)

Some cookbooks advocate the use of a ricer or food mill before mashing. These tools force the potatoes through a metal plate with holes as a way to remove lumps.

Grisnik likes the texture she gets with a hand-held masher and sees no need for ricing. She mashes in the butter first. And when that is melted and blended into the potatoes, she mashes in cream, salt and pepper.

She has used the wire masher that belonged to her mother. She has also used a newer masher that looks like the style currently sold in kitchen shops and hardware stores.

Either style works well, she says. Her instructions are simply to “mash, mash, mash.”

When she's cooking a big holiday dinner at home for eight or 12 guests, she counts on an extra pair of hands.

“I have a big, hefty guy at home and he mashes the potatoes,” she says. “That's his job.”

Contact the writer:

444-1052, jane.palmer@owh.com

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