The Best Mashed Potatoes I Ever Ate

So after Thanksgiving I bought a turkey. That's not something you hear all the time but I did. Most people are pretty sick of turkey after Thanksgiving and don't want to see one for a long long time. But since we don't host Thanksgiving at our house we never have turkey leftovers. My intent was to roast it, can some of the meat and make another batch of stock. However, a family emergency took me away from home for several days and we knew it wasn't going to happen. Turkey for dinner became the plan and I'll tell you what- the last of the turkey was probably the BEST meal I have had in a looong time. I did bring home the family's Thanksgiving bird remains and made stock that weekend so I had a few pints on the shelf already, and one of those became part of this delicious quick dinner also.

The Chef decided it was his turn to cook and I let him! He reheated the last of the turkey meat in some of that stock and made a delicious turkey gravy. Simple, homey and easy. What he served it over knocked my socks off and made me second-guess our family's traditional holiday side dish of Fat Ass Potatoes. Folks, mashed potatoes are comfort food no matter how you make them, but when you add some imagination to the pot like The Chef did they become an entirely different realm of food. These seriously belong on a restaurant menu- in some amazing steakhouse. What did he make?

Rustic Roasted Garlic and Sun Dried Tomato Mashed Potatoes

6 potatoes
1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup half & half (plus more if needed)
1/4 cup sour cream
white pepper
salt

Begin by scrubbing the potatoes very thoroughly. You want to leave the skin on for this dish- hence the "rustic" character. You can cook the potatoes whole (The Chef always does for some reason) or cut them up. 

Place in a saucepan and fill with cool water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender.

Chop the sun dried tomatoes. Use the oil-packed tomatoes if you can, otherwise you want to soak the dry tomatoes in hot water until pliable and drain, discarding the water. 

In a skillet, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. Mince the garlic cloves very finely and add to skillet. Cook over low heat until pan roasted and golden. Your garlic should be very soft golden and not brown.

When the potatoes have cooked, drain the water. Mash the potatoes with an electric hand mixer or potato masher, adding all the ingredients. You might need to add a little more half and half until you reach the consistency you like. Season with pepper and salt and serve immediately.

The Chef served these absolutely incredible potatoes with lots of turkey and gravy, and holy smokes it was delicious. These potatoes mean business folks- they truly would be heaven on a plate with a medium rare steak sizzling alongside them.

Oh ya........ there were NO leftovers this time. 

She is at is again !!

Sun Dried Tomato Mustard. Just has a nice ring to it, doesn't it ? So.....Tuscan. So cheese platey, pile of olivey (yes, I know I am making these words up). I thought so, so that was my Mustard Project #2.

The ingredients are easy to find, nothing most people wouldn't already have except maybe the quantity of mustard seeds. Mustard powder, vinegar, salt, garlic and dried tomatoes round out the grocery list.

Let's get to it !!

Sun Dried Tomato Mustard

1 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup yellow mustard seeds  (I stuck with the recipe on this one and didn't mix yellow and brown)
1 cup water
2 cups sun dried or dried tomatoes, cut in small pieces (NOT oil packed)
3 TB mustard powder
big pinch of salt
1 tb/clove or so minced garlic.

In glass bowl combine vinegar and mustard seed. Cover and let sit at least overnight until seeds has absorbed all the liquid. I decided to stick with the yellow seeds only because I didn't want to take away from the pretty bits of dried tomatoes in the finished mustard, but by all means, if you want to or have to, mix, please do so.

Add to work bowl of food processor.

Add tomatoes and all ingredients.

Cover and process until thickened and desired consistency. I like the coarse ground mustard texture so I leave quite a bit of visible seed in mine.

Prepare 1/4 pint jars for boiling water bath.  Fill with mustard to 1/4 inch headspace, fix lids and rings and process for 15 minutes.  Remove from canner and let cool.

"So what's the deal with all the mustard?" People keep asking me. I don't know, I like trying new things, I'm not really a Plain Jane kinda cook, I like experimenting and exploring flavors. Mustard is like a wide open canvas and my brain is loaded with ideas. Plus it's yummy on sandwiches !! Makes great additions to gift baskets. Nice to share with my venison sausage sharing friends. Goes GREAT with venison sausage in fact. Nice on a cheese plate. You're only limited by your imaginations and your likes. So give one a try- they are so easy to mix up, buzz in the processor and just a short time in the boiling water bath. I'd even say these are good for beginning canners  !

NOTE:  When choosing the sun dried tomatoes I went with the dry pack or raisiny type, and NOT the oil packed because I planned on processing in a boiling water bath. You should never use oils in home canned foods. HOWEVER, if you are making mustard to refrigerate or freeze and NOT process for shelf stability, it's perfectly ok to use the oil packer tomatoes.