Throw Back: Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Mashed potatoes – likely not the kind of post to make the interwebs go pitter-patter.

And yet, they have a sort of special place in the relationship between Husband and me. Ergo, I’m posting them anyway.

Way back when, when we first graduated from college, we moved into the same apartment building.  This was a ridiculously fun year  – a college redux, except for now we had a little bit of money in our pockets (and earlier alarms).  On Sunday evenings, to delay the inevitability of Monday mornings, Husband, his roommate, my roommate, and I would all get together for Sunday suppers.  We traded off cooking and hosting duty each week, and we almost never missed a week.  (We were much less consistent about our jobs – we had all quit those within nine months of starting them.)  In the midst of this, Husband and I started (not-as-secretly-as-we-thought) dating, which our friends were kind enough to pretend to ignore until we decided we actually really liked each other.

Husband and I now joke that we knew he was in it for the long haul when one week I made – and burned the bejesus out of – pumpkin soup…and he ate the whole thing. (Our roommates were less kind about this particular meal.)  But really, I think he knew he’d want to stick around when I made mashed potatoes for our first “Friendsgiving” (and also, that garlic would be a taste he’d have to grow to love).

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (for two)

• 3 Yukon potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 5-6 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• cold water
• salt, pepper
• big splash of heavy cream
• big splash of buttermilk
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 2-3 tablespoons cream cheese (we used some with a hint of jalapeno…so delish)

1. Throw the roughly chopped potatoes into a big pot, along with the garlic & a pinch of salt, and add cold water until the potatoes are just covered.  Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 13-15 minutes.
2. Drain potatoes & garlic, return to the pot, and add butter.  Add a splash of heavy cream, buttermilk, and a dollop of cream cheese, another pinch of salt and pepper, and gently mash with a masher – I like my potatoes a big lumpy, and the garlic will fall right apart.
3. Adjust seasoning and butter/cream/buttermilk to taste.  Serve immediately.

The Verdict:

There are about 4 million ways to make potatoes, and probably about a quarter of those are variations on mashed potatoes (I’m just spitballing here). However you choose to make them, I hope they taste like these – reminiscent of love and the start of something new. These went perfectly with the ribs Husband made me this past Easter, another Sunday evening.