There are probably a hundred and one ways to make mashed potatoes – from the reasonably healthy to the super sinful and decadent.

The potato’s mild flavour also makes it an excellent vehicle for those who want to up their mash game and introduce more intricate flavours – herbs, lemon, smoked garlic, and, yes, truffle mashed potatoes, which elevates this simple comfort food to a whole new level.

Truffle oil or no, mashed potatoes are a great side dish to all sorts of roast-based dishes like roast chicken, roast lamb, turkey or meatloaf.

It’s also delicious with fried chicken, steaks, sausages and, if you’d like to apply it to more localised meals, serve it with lamb or chicken chop.

If you can’t get your hands on truffle oil or would like to keep your mashed potatoes straightforward but still deliciously good, just omit it from the ingredients and method below and you’ll still have a solid mashed potato recipe that goes with just about everything.

Ingredients

• 1.25kg russet potatoes (about 5 large potatoes), peeled – this will yield about 1.1kg worth of potatoes after peeling

• 220g milk, room temperature

• 100g unsalted butter, room temperature

• 6g fine sea salt (about 1 ½ tsp)

• 8g truffle oil

Special equipment

• Potato ricer

Preparation

• Peel your potatoes in a sink. This makes cleaning up a little easier later. Don’t forget to remove the eyes (roots) as well. Keep the peeled potatoes in a bowl of water.

• Once peeled, place all potatoes in a large pot and fill with regular cold tap water. You want the potatoes to be fully covered with about 3cm of water.

• Place pot on high heat and bring to a boil.

• Bring heat down to a simmer and let it cook for about 25 minutes or until your potatoes are thoroughly cooked through.

• Once potatoes are cooked, remove from pot – don’t turn off the heat until you’re sure the potatoes are cooked through. The potatoes are cooked when the surface is flakey and fluffy.

Another test is to poke the potato with a knife – if the knife slides through easily with no resistance, the potato is cooked.

Still in doubt? Slice a potato in half. You’ll be able to tell if the centre is cooked or not. You can add the potatoes back to the pot and give it a few more minutes if they’re not ready.

Potato mashing time

• If you’ve got a potato ricer, follow the steps below. If you don’t, add potatoes to a pot and use a regular masher to mash them until smooth.

• Some potato ricers come with two die sizes – a large and a smaller holed die. Use the larger die first and squeeze your cooked potatoes into a large bowl.

• Next, run your potatoes through the small hole die into a pot. If your ricer die only comes in one size, run the potatoes through twice.

• Use a rubber spatula and mix your riced potatoes to combine. Use a folding motion to get more fluffiness into your potatoes instead of a “stirring” motion.

• Add about a third of the milk and fold to mix. Repeat until milk is finished.

• Once milk is thoroughly combined into the potatoes, transfer the pot to your stove set on medium heat.

• Add butter and continue folding until the butter melts and is incorporated into the potatoes. Use a vigorous folding motion so it’s almost as if you’re “whipping” the potatoes with the spatula. This should take about 4 minutes. Don’t forget to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot so the potatoes don’t burn.

• Sprinkle sea salt and continue folding for 1 more minute.

• Remove from heat.

Adding the truffle

• Drizzle in truffle oil and fold it in until thoroughly mixed through. The strength of your truffle oil may vary depending on the brand you’re using, but the general rule is to pour (and mix) until your mashed potatoes smell good.

Extra tips

• Russet potatoes are high in starch and make great, fluffy mashed potatoes. You can also try Yukon golds, but they are not as common in our local markets. Other types of potatoes can be used in a pinch, but they will require more mashing and may not be as creamy.

• You can use salted butter, just adjust the amount of salt used later.

• No truffle oil, no problem. Removing this ingredient will still yield a delicious mashed potato recipe. For added richness, add more butter and milk (or cream) at the relevant steps above.

• A potato ricer is a great piece of equipment for mashing potatoes, but if you don’t have one, a standard potato masher works as well.

This article first appeared in butterkicap.com

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