Calvary Café Mashed Potatoes

We make a lot of mashed potatoes at the Café. Or I should say our mashed potato chef, David Phelps, makes a lot of mashed potatoes, though everyone gets to peel and complain. The café chefs are hard workers, to be sure, but if I put mashed potatoes on the menu three weeks in a row… well, let’s just say they are not happy peelers. When Potato Chef David comes into the kitchen I give him the ingredient list and what consistency I’d like. Smooth potatoes are put through the food mill or made in the mixer. Potatoes Elaine keep their skin and are only lightly mashed. The order is always butter first and then additional ingredients and lastly cream to the desired texture. We make 75 lbs of spuds at a time and use 7 lbs of butter and a half gallon of cream along with whatever variation on a theme we can throw in the pot. Here are some variations.

• Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes – whip room temperature cream cheese with the whipping cream and add chives.
• Asiago or Parmesan Cheese Mashed Potatoes – finely grate cheese before adding. You can also put these potatoes in a pan after mashing and heat them in the oven to make a gratin
• Horseradish & Sour Cream – we use red potatoes with the skin on and substitute sour cream for the heavy whipping cream. Be careful adding horseradish
• Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes – Preheat oven to 400°. Cut the tops of the heads of garlic and put in pan. Drizzle with tops of exposed cloves with olive oil and pour a little chicken stock in pan. Roast until garlic is soft. Push the cloves out of head and process with any liquid in the pan and some heavy whipping cream to form a paste. Add to potatoes.