Creamy Potato Purée
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C
Cover bottom of your baking pan with a bed of coarse salt ⓘ
Place potato(es) on salt, and put into the oven for 1-1.5 hours ⓘ
Once potato(es) are cooked, cut in half
Use spoon to scoop flesh into a potato ricer or sieve, push through ⓘ
Cut butter into cubes and incorporate into potato purée ⓘ
At the same time, put double cream on low heat to bring up the temperature ⓘ
Slowly add double cream to the purée and mix until desired consistency ⓘ
Season with salt and pepper ⓘ
Ingredients
potato ⓘ
coarse salt
double cream
unsalted butter
salt & pepper
1 kg
plenty
200 ml
100 g
pinch
Ingredients
potato ⓘ
coarse salt
double cream
unsalted butter
salt & pepper
1 kg
plenty
200 ml
100 g
pinch
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C
Cover bottom of your baking pan with a bed of coarse salt ⓘ
Place potato(es) on salt, and put into the oven for 1-1.5 hours ⓘ
Once potato(es) are cooked, cut in half
Use spoon to scoop flesh into a potato ricer or sieve, push through ⓘ
Cut butter into cubes and incorporate into potato purée ⓘ
At the same time, put double cream on low heat to bring up the temperature ⓘ
Slowly add double cream to the purée and mix until desired consistency ⓘ
Season with salt and pepper ⓘ
Never boil potatoes to make purée as it creates too much water, either simmer or bake, baking is much preferred. And ALWAYS work with hot potatoes.
The left over potato skins can either be discarded or use to create some delicious snacks. You can deep fry and enjoy it with a dip; or drizzle some oil and bake in the oven.
Remember to clean the potatoes, larger potatoes is preferred here, but you can also work with any type of potatoes you have.
The reason to put on a bed of salt is to draw out the moisture so it is tighter, less watery, thus better for pureeing. At the same time, inject some saltiness flavour into the potato while baking. We will not be using the salt for cooking, so any cheap coarse salt will do.
Time in the oven will depend on the size of potatoes. Larger longer, smaller shorter.
Best to push through sieve or potato ricer 2-3 times to ensure fineness of the purée.
DO NOT beat the purée, only fold and mix. Beating will activate the starch which can make the purée too elastic and gluey.
DO NOT boil the double cream, you just need to bring up the temperature so it is warm.
Amount of double cream can be adjusted. For wetter purée add more cream; drier purée add less cream.
Always season with a pinch first, and taste. Then, add more bit by bit if needed.
This recipe and tips was given to me by participating in the Cuisine Techniques Essential short course at Le Cordon Bleu London.
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