THE TRICK FOR THE PERFECT MASHED POTATO

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: the trick for the perfect mashed potato.

Autumn, winter, rain and cold; as far as we are concerned, nothing beats a plate full of steaming, hearty mashed potatoes. Whether you go for kale, Brussels sprouts or endive, with this trick you are guaranteed to upgrade your mashed potatoes.

Magical duo
As is often the case, the trick lies in the magical duo: garlic and onion. Instead of throwing them into the mashed potatoes, I cook them in the milk.

Cut 1 to 2 (white) onions into large pieces, peel 2-3 (or more) cloves of garlic and crush them with a knife. Let all this simmer in the milk for about 20 minutes.

Rules of thumb
In the meantime, make your mashed potatoes just as you normally would: peel, boil, drain and set aside crumbly potatoes (the rule of thumb is 250 g of potatoes, uncooked and unpeeled, weighed per person).

How you further enhance your mashed potatoes is entirely up to you, but to give you some guidance: for endive, kale, and Brussels sprouts, you start with 500 g per kilogram of potatoes, for carrots 600 grams, and for arugula 200 grams. Experimenting with broad beans, zucchini, or eggplant? Then aim for about 150-200 grams of vegetables per 250 grams of potatoes.

Pimping
Has the milk been simmering for 20 minutes? Strain it and mix the milk with the rest of the ingredients. Mash away, add a little flair with cheese, roasted pine nuts, bacon bits, chorizo, fried onions, or butter, and you're done!