Roasted Garlic Purple Mashed Potatoes

November 25, 2013

Roasted Garlic Purple Mashed Potatoes

Let’s be completely real people, the turkey + mashed potatoes + pie combo gets a little old after the 30th year in a row.
So this year I suggest you give your Thanksgiving table a fresh new look, adding a Lady Gaga/emo/psychedelic touch by serving purple mashed potatoes instead of regular yellow mashed potatoes.
Something that looks unusual, but tastes like the regular stuff (well, it actually tastes better.)
Because you don’t want just another Thanksgiving; this year you want an off-the-charts and always-to-be-remembered Thanksgiving.
And serving purple mashed potatoes might do it after all.
These are purple, bright purple, a tad weird purple mashed potatoes - they won't go unnoticed for sure.
And believe me when I say that these purple mashed potatoes are going to be THE showstopper; like having Gaga landing in the center of your table singing "Can't read my, can't read my. No you can't read my poker face"...that kind of weird.
Oh, just to clear the air, Lady Gaga is not my cup of tea, I just wanted to give you an idea of what you're in for.
E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E will remember Thankgiving 2013 at your house, even years from now. Promise.
Purple Potatoes


How did I get myself into this weird purple mashed potatoes situation?
You guys know I’m a sucker for bizarre-looking food (remember cardoon and black carrots?) So when the other day my AuntG offered me some purple potatoes her friend Gaby recently harvested in her garden; I was all over it.
I had encountered purple potatoes before. At the Farmers’ market, at Dean&Deluca, at Whole Foods and I think at a couple of other specialty/organic stores around town.
For some reason, I’ve never bothered to buy them though.
But as AuntG was generous enough to offer them for free, I couldn't possible say no. You shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, that is the saying.
Being Thanksgiving week, there was only one thing I could/should/would have possibly done with the purple potatoes: Mash them. Easy.

Roasted Garlic Purple Mashed Potatoes


The cool thing about purple potatoes is that they’re different one from another in color - some are almost black (like beets), some are purple, others are white with dashes of purple here and there.
They’re also pretty small, like new potatoes. Which is a nice bonus, because they cook pretty quickly.
And they have plenty of health benefits to offer too. Ka-Boom!
Taste-wise, purple potatoes have a moist, firm flesh with a mild yet distinctly nutty flavor.
I’ve found that they’re perfect when mashed with roasted garlic. Well, IMHO everything goes well with roasted garlic (except for brownies and cookies), but purple potatoes...it hits the sweet spot.
So I urge you to do it as well. But you’re free to skip it and just go for regular purple mashed potatoes. Except that regular it’s not the right word to describe them.

Roasted Garlic Purple Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Garlic Purple Mashed Potatoes                                                              Print this recipe!

Ingredients
Serves 6 - 8

1 head garlic
2 lbs / 900 gr purple potatoes, well washed and peeled
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
Ground black pepper
4 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)
¾ cup / 180 ml milk (your choice of milk)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F (210°C), place a rack in the middle.
Slice off the very top of the garlic head. Drizzle head with olive oil and wrap in foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake until tender and fragrant, about 35 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let cool a little bit and peel. Set aside.
In the meantime, place potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Cook until fork tender, about 12 to 15 minutes and drain.
Return pot to the stove and over low heat, heat the milk and butter until butter melts. Add roasted garlic and potatoes, and mash until smooth and creamy.
Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Nutrition facts

One serving yields 228 calories, 9.5 grams of fat, 32.8 grams of carbs and 4 grams of protein.

15 comments:

  1. Loving the color, it's really cool!

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  2. Oh great. Now I've got that stupid song in my head. Thanks, Mike! :p

    Funny, I never thought of mashing purple potatoes. I really wish I had for purple is my favorite color and mashed potatoes used to be my favorite food! Talk about a winning combination. Now I might have to add purple mashed potatoes to the list of "forbidden" foods you are making me want to eat.

    And now, I walk out of here, still signing po-po-po-po-po-po-po-po-po-poker face in my head and still cursing you. Are your ears ringing, yet?

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    1. Purple is your fave color? Really? I thought of you as a bright pink kind of gal....guess I was wrong...

      And yes, my ears were ringing quite a bit Sonia...pfffff ;-)

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    2. So I strike you as a bright pink kinda gal, eh? Oh my! Not sure what to think of that.

      So long as I don't strike you as a "Lady Gaga" kinda gal. Now that would surely kill me...

      And now I've got that song in my head again. Great. That's it. I'm never visiting this particular page ever again. Guess I won't be able to ever whip up this recipe after all! ;)

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  3. I don't enough people know how delicious purple sweet potatoes are. Another great way to use them for this holiday season is to make purple sweet potato pie!

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  4. Those look real pretty Mike, and how come you don't like Gaga, are you serious 'bout it?

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    1. Dead serious Laura, I'm just not that into dance music...

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  5. WOW - these "lady gaga/emo/psychedelic" mashed purple potatoes sure would had color to any table - I am gonna have to look for them round Christmas!
    Thanks for sharing these beauts - Happy Thanksgiving Mike!

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    1. Thank you Sash, and happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

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  6. Nice - Would love to share with all my foodie friends - If you're interested then head over to FoodFotoGallery dot com and submit one of your food photos

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  7. Tried this out last night and it was great! I've tried roasting purple potatoes in the oven and for some reason it just takes too long. Mashed potatoes are the way to go !

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  8. Love this recipe! Used purple potatoes I harvested from my garden. Fresh potatoes have a higher water content so they were extra smooth. Used two heads of garlic and allowed them to caramelize during baking. Also used a butter/olive oil mix, and reduced salt to 1/2 tsp. I really like how you melt butter and heat with milk before adding potatoes - that is upside down to how I normally do it, and it made it very simple (just need to to be accurate in your ingredient quantity this way).

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