- 2 pounds red skin potatoes quartered
- 3 t-spoons kosher salt divided
- 5 - 6 tablespoons butter softened to room temperature
- 1 - 1 1/4 cups heavy cream warmed
- 2 - 3 green onions thinly sliced or minced, or 3 tablespoons finely minced parsley
- 1/2 t-spoon cracked black pepper
- Place the potatoes in a pot large enough to fit them comfortably (4 – 6 quarts), and fill it with enough cold water to cover the potatoes by 1”. Bring to boil, add in 2 t-spoons salt, simmer 20-25 minutes until fork tender. You really should start the potatoes off in cold water rather than dropping them in an already boiling pot because it ensures that the potatoes cook all the way through; otherwise, putting them in already boiling water cooks the outside of the potatoes very quickly while the inside remains starchy and hard.
- Just before the potatoes time is up start to warm the cream—either in a small saucepan over medium-low heat or in a microwave.
- Once the spuds are tender, drain them out in a colander and shake off any access water.
- Dump the potatoes back into the pot they were in and place back on very low heat. Stir occasionally to cook off any extra moisture that’s clung to the potatoes.
- With a wooden spoon, add in some of the cream and beat vigorously to combine it all. Remember, the final amount of cream that your will add to this will depend on how starchy the potatoes actually are and this can vary from potato to potato, if albeit slightly. Anyway, I would start by adding ½ cup of cream before plopping in a few tablespoons of butter, cut into pads, and continuing to beat them in. Continue to add cream and butter, beating all the while, until you’re happing with the consistency. Remember that these don’t have to be smooth, and in fact, shouldn’t be; they should have some soft, nubbly lumps of potatoes in there.
- Beat in the pepper and minced green onions or parsley. Taste them and see if they need a little more salt and add accordingly.
To make the potatoes ahead, pour in just a little more cream and butter. For me, I usually find that 1 cup plus 1 – 2 tablespoons of cream, plus 5 tablespoons of butter makes the perfect potato consistency here, so to make in advance I add another 2 – 3 tablespoons of cream and 1 tablespoon of butter. Pour the potatoes into a casserole dish (for this quantity of potatoes, I usually use a 10” x 6” x 2” dish) and cool to room temperature. Cover with foil, and refrigerate for up to 1 day. When the time comes to eat the potatoes, take the dish out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature for 1 – 2 hours. Place in a preheated 350° oven for 45 minutes, covered, before removing the foil and letting it get bubbly and brown on top for 10 minutes, or so.