Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes, have always been American's favorite comfort food.  And Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes have quickly become the favorite "new" way to prepare them.  Done correctly, they are satisfying from the first bite to the last.

Don't cook the potatoes until they fall apart; instead, the chunks should hold together and just slip off a knife when pierced. Boiling them is destructive, so simmer them gently. If mashed potatoes are sticky, the potatoes were overcooked and overwhipped. If they are grainy and chunky, they were undercooked.

One last thing -- In 1950's suburbia it was humorous to make fun of someone's mashed potatoes for having lumps (there are entire sitcom episodes built about it.)  Forget that.  In the more relaxed America of today, lumps are no longer frowned upon.  They add character.  So don't worry about them.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• 1 medium head garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Drizzle garlic with olive oil, then wrap in aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop. Stir in butter, milk, salt and pepper.
4. Remove the garlic from the oven, and cut in half. Squeeze the softened cloves into the potatoes. Blend potatoes with an electric mixer until desired consistency is achieved.

A More Detailed Recipe for Roasted Garlic

Roasting garlic will give you a good mouth-filling taste of garlic but without the sharp pungency of fresh. You can substitute it in almost any recipe calling for garlic. Experiment and see if it is better.

Ingredients

• 1 head of Garlic salt
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 450F.
2. Remove as much of the papery peeling from the garlic as possible without breaking the cloves apart.
3. Place the garlic in an oven-safe bowl with a lid and drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the salt.
4. Cover and place in oven.
5. Roast until the garlic is soft and creamy (about 45 minutes) when you squeeze the cloves.
6. Squeeze out the garlic from the peels and mash with a fork. Discard the peels.
7. Use what you need and keep the rest in the refridgerator for up to a week.

It is worth planning an Italian night just to use up any leftover garlic you have. Spread some good Italian bread with butter then the room-temperature roasted garlic mash. Sprinkle with salt and bake in the oven until toasted for some of the best garlic bread you will ever eat.

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