Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Do the Crock - pot mashed potato!



Did you ever have one of those crazed holiday moments when the turkey was done early, the potatoes were still boiling, you forgot to
make the green beans and you burned the dinner rolls? If not, count yourself lucky. If you have, well, welcome to my house!

Timing is everything as they say. And when you're the one cooking the big holiday dinner and want everything that's supposed to be hot hot, well, then it really is everything. There is nothing more annoying than a bird who decides to be finished cooking an hour early or even worse an hour late. After a few years of having to hit the cooking sherry just to get through the stress of making the big meal, I finally learned some time management tricks to make it all much easier. Now, I try to cook as much as I can ahead of time, to avoid exactly those types of situations.


One of my favorite recipes, to help me achieve this happy end is Crock- pot mashed potatoes. Made ahead of time, all you have to do is keep them warm. It frees up a whole chunk of time that can be better spent prying your husband away from the football game and navigating your children towards the bathroom to wash their hands.

Ingredients:


5 lbs. potatoes, chopped and boiled until tender (skins optional)
8 oz. container sour cream
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
salt and pepper to taste


Preparation:


Mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water from boiling the potatoes (I like to add a tbspn of minced garlic to the water when boiling the potatoes) to reach desired consistency. Transfer to a Crock-pot, cover, and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper.

Jenn McKinlay

SPRINKLE WITH MURDER March 2010

aka Lucy Lawrence

STUCK ON MURDER Sept 2009

www.jennmckinlay.com


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9 comments:

  1. You are brilliant! My most un-favorite part of cooking mashed potatoes is keeping the temperature right. I use my crockpot a ton...and it looks like I'll be using it with my mashed potatoes soon! Thanks.

    Elizabeth/Riley
    Mystery Writing is Murder

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  2. I am definately doing this for Thanksgiving this year!

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  3. Crockpot joy! Great idea, Jenn. Also - I've never tried sour cream and cream cheese in mashed potatoes. Decadent? Yes, but I think for a special holiday feast this will really wow the feasters. BTW - I'm a skin-on girl.

    Cheers!
    ~Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    "Where coffee and crime are always brewing..."
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  4. I love do-ahead recipes. I'll have to try this!

    ~ Krista

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  5. I have a crockpot recipe for mashed potatoes, too, but this one sounds even better. I have some potatoes staring at me from the pantry, so I'll try this very soon. Skin on in my preference!

    Julie

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  6. Fabulous! With cheese. What could be better.

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  7. I'm skin on, too! Gram always said the vitamins
    are in the skin. Of course, she also tried to convince me that the black part of burnt toast was
    good for your teeth...

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  8. I love adding cream cheese or sour cream to potatoes. People always love them. I have never thought of doing the mashed potatoes in the crockpot. Thanks for the tip!

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  9. OK ... I just made this in preparation for the big meal tomorrow. OMG! They are delicious! I piled them in a crock pot and tucked it in the fridge. Tomorrow I'll just plug it in and voila! Big time saver.

    BTW: I bought a potato ricer with the Williams Sonoma gift card I won here. This was it's maiden voyage ... perfect! Thanks Gals!
    molly

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