00:00Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with Tres Leches Mashed Potatoes.
00:08That's right, just like the cake that inspired the name, we're going to use three different
00:12kinds of milk to turn something already great into something extraordinary.
00:16And no, we're not using the exact same three milks, but as Meatloaf once said, two out
00:22of three ain't bad, which reminds me, these would be great with meatloaf.
00:27And to get started, let me show you how to actually peel potatoes.
00:30And the best way to do these is with nice long strokes, going all the way from the top
00:34of the potato to the bottom, which removes the most skin with the least effort.
00:38All right, what we don't want to be doing is slapping the potato with little strokes,
00:43taking off what I call micro peels.
00:45Okay, that's going to take you way longer.
00:48So like I said, use nice long steady strokes going all the way from the top to the bottom.
00:53And if you do that, this task is only going to take you a couple minutes.
00:57But no matter what method you use, we will peel five pounds of russet potatoes, transferring
01:01those into a bowl of water as we do.
01:04And once peeled, we can go ahead and cut these up.
01:07And for this, I'm recommending we quarter the potatoes, which we'll start by cutting
01:11them exactly in half right down the center.
01:13And then, and this is very important, we want to turn them up on the flat side, which makes
01:18it fairly easy to get a nice straight cut down the center.
01:20Okay, if you try to cut these on their side on a rounded surface, it's much, much harder.
01:26So that is my official recommendation for how to quarter these potatoes.
01:30And once our potatoes are cut in a nice big pot, we will head to the stove and we'll make
01:34sure they're covered with at least an inch or two of water, and we'll place those on
01:38high heat.
01:40And then we'll also want to salt these very generously with at least a couple tablespoons
01:43of salt, which is going to give us a nice head start on the seasoning.
01:47Okay, we can boil these with no salt and try to season later, but they just don't seem
01:51to come out tasting as good.
01:53And what we'll do is wait for this to come up to a boil, at which point we'll give our
01:56potatoes a quick stir.
01:58And I really want you to enjoy that stir, because it's going to be the last one.
02:02Okay, we don't want to keep stirring these as they boil, since we'll end up breaking
02:06off pieces from the edge.
02:08So that's going to be our one and only stir.
02:11And then what we'll do is reduce our heat down somewhere between low and medium low,
02:15and we will maintain a nice steady but very gentle simmer for as long as it takes for
02:19these potatoes to become very, very tender.
02:22And while we're waiting for that, we can put together our tres leches.
02:26And we'll begin that by very, very carefully reading the label on the first leche, which
02:31is going to be evaporated milk.
02:33So we need to check the label to make sure it doesn't say sweetened condensed milk.
02:38Or if you do use sweetened condensed milk instead, you're going to invent a new recipe
02:42that no one will want to eat.
02:45And once we're sure we have the right thing, we will add a half a cup to a saucepan, followed
02:49by a half a cup of plain regular milk.
02:52And I'm going full fat, but 2% would be fine.
02:56And then for our third and final leche, we will do a little bit of buttermilk, which
03:00will provide some beautiful tanginess, and help balance the richness and subtle sweetness
03:05of the evaporated milk.
03:07And once we have those milks combined, we will put those on the back of the stove on
03:11low heat, so that they're nice and hot when we add them to our potatoes.
03:15But we don't want that to boil or reduce, so make sure that's on very low, and we just
03:19basically want it hot.
03:22And then as far as checking our potatoes for doneness, I think the tip of a nice thin
03:25small knife is the best tool.
03:27And what we want is for that to slide in with no effort, but when it does, the potato doesn't
03:32fall apart.
03:33OK, if the potato falls apart when you test it, you went too far.
03:37Alright, it's OK for these potatoes to break up when we drain them, but they must not.
03:42They cannot break up while they're boiling.
03:45And once those are perfect, we will drain those very, very well, at which point I'm
03:49going to transfer them into a nice big bowl.
03:52And then give these an initial mashing with the classic wire-style potato masher, which
03:56I think is by far the best tool.
03:59And I think one of the keys to perfect mashed potatoes is to give them an initial mashing
04:03first before you start tossing in your other ingredients.
04:06Since the denser the mixture, the easier it is to mash everything nice and smooth.
04:12So we'll give those an initial mashing for about a half a minute or so, or until they
04:16look like this, at which point we will toss in the best butter we can find, which as you
04:21can see, I think we should slice into pieces.
04:24And we'll give this another mashing for about a half a minute, or until that butter disappears.
04:30And I know, they're already looking awesome, but hold on, they get much better.
04:35Since what we'll do after those have been buttered is season these up with a little
04:38more salt, some pepper, and I went with white pepper this time, as well as exactly three
04:44shakes of cayenne, one for good luck, one for good health, and one for good sleep.
04:51And then last but not least, we will transfer in our tres leches.
04:54But just to be safe, I don't put all of it in.
04:56I save a tablespoon or so, just in case I don't need it.
05:00And then, instead of finishing these by mashing them, we're going to use my late great mom
05:04Pauline's method, and finish these by using a hand mixer, which produces what we used
05:09to call back in the 70s, whipped potatoes.
05:12Oh yeah, you don't see whipped potatoes on menus anymore, and I'm not sure why, but by
05:17finishing these with an electric mixer on high speed, we're going to get an even lighter,
05:21even fluffier, more luxurious texture, which is why, by the way, you have to use russet
05:27potatoes.
05:28Okay, if you try this with red or yellow potatoes even, you're going to end up with something
05:32very stodgy and kind of gluey.
05:34So please make sure you're using the right potato.
05:37And that's it.
05:38Once our potatoes have been thoroughly whipped, we will grab a fork and give them a taste.
05:42And we're checking for two things.
05:44Do they need more salt, which mine didn't.
05:47And also we're checking the texture.
05:49And after doing so, I decided it could take those last couple tablespoons of milk, so
05:54I added that in and gave it one last whipping.
05:57And by the way, if you wanted to add some garlic to these, or maybe a little bit of
06:00fresh herb, go ahead.
06:02I mean, you are after all the Paul Rudd of your triple milk spud, but I decided to keep
06:07these fairly pure.
06:10And after mixing the last of my milk in, I gave that one last taste before transferring
06:14it into a serving bowl, even though I didn't need to and I knew it was perfect.
06:19But these potatoes are really hard not to taste.
06:22And then what I like to do after I transfer them into the bowl is take the edge of the
06:26spoon and go around making some ridges, not just to create some dramatic shadows and make
06:32it more visually interesting, but also to catch and hold on to the melted butter.
06:36I think we should drizzle over the top.
06:38Okay, on the list of common mashed potato complaints, too much butter does not appear.
06:43And once we've drizzled over some of that, we'll finish up with some freshly snipped
06:47chives, and that's it.
06:49My tres leches mashed potatoes were ready to enjoy.
06:53And just any perfectly made mashed potato using regular milk is great.
06:57But when you add in that little bit of tanginess from the buttermilk, plus that evaporated
07:01milk, which is richer because it's concentrated and has that little touch of extra sweetness,
07:07we're enjoying something that's even more delicious.
07:10And while these really do have an incredible flavor, I'm pretty sure what's going to
07:13impress you the most is the texture, which comes from salting the water and making sure
07:18our potatoes are cooked enough, and then giving them a pre-mash before we add the ingredients,
07:23and then of course finishing them by whipping them up nice and light and fluffy.
07:27And as good as these are eaten plain right out of the bowl, when you pair them with some
07:31meat and gravy, like this shawarma-spiced roast turkey breast, for example, you'll
07:36be able to appreciate them in all their glory.
07:39And glorious they were.
07:40But whether you serve these with some fancy turkey, or just a basic weeknight meatloaf,
07:45these are going to be some of the best mashed potatoes you've ever had.
07:49Which is why I really do hope you give them a try soon.
07:52So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,
07:55a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual.
07:58And as always, enjoy!
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