7
Apr
2010

Recipe: Mashed Potatoes Revisited

Terms: Nutrition
Recipe:
Mashed Potatoes Revisited
by Dr. Michael Kane
 
Do you love mashed potatoes but not all the carbohydrates and calories? Try adding cauliflower to the mix.
 
Slice and boil the potatoes:
Take three russet potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise (instead of in small pieces). They will cook much more evenly.

This is one of the chef secrets to great mashed potatoes. In some salted water, we’re going to boil those until tender.
Cut the cauliflower into pieces:
It
is so easy to break down the head of cauliflower. Turn it upside down,
and take your knife and go around the center core and cut through all
those branches.

All the florets will come right off. I can’t believe people buy those bags of already cut ones for double the price.

Discard the center piece. Cut any large pieces in half.

Braise, not boil the Cauliflower:

Put
the cauliflower pieces in a saucepan, add half of a stick of butter and
a teaspoon of salt. Over medium heat, cover it, and braise the
cauliflower in the butter. It’s going to get sweet and delicious.

Every
once and a while give it a stir. Keep doing that every 5 minutes or so,
until it’s tender. You will know when it’s done when a knife slides
easily into the tender stem.

Season the Cauliflower
When it
is tender, turn up the heat uncovered. You’re basically going to reduce
the water in there, so we are just left with cauliflower and butter.

When
most of the water is gone, turn it off, and we’re going to add some
seasoning: some white pepper, 1/4 teaspoon, and salt to taste.
Mash the Potatoes and Cauliflower
And then give that a mash. You can mash as much as you like. I like it very fine, but you can leave it chunky, if desired.

Add
your potatoes to the cauliflower, and go ahead and give that another
mash. Now that butter seemed like a lot when we put it in at the
beginning, but that’s for everything. We aren’t going to add any more
butter.

Add 1/2 cup of milk. Give it one last mash, and believe it or not, that’s the recipe.
Serve the Potato and Cauliflower Mash.
So
simple, so easy, half the calories, more fiber, less carbohydrates…
what’s not to like? You notice I made up the difference and added some
butter on top, of course. And some fresh chives are really nice on
this.