Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Mashed: Beyond the Potato
    Mashed: Beyond the Potato
    Mashed: Beyond the Potato
    Ebook249 pages1 hour

    Mashed: Beyond the Potato

    By Holly Herrick

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This fresh take on classic comfort foods includes not only delicious variants on mashed potato dishes, but also gratins, soups, dips, sauces, guacamoles, pâtés, casseroles, panna cottas, and sorbets made with a plethora of vegetables, fruits, beans, grains, nuts, eggs, and even meats. Hot or cold, savory or sweet, classic or innovative, rustic or elegant, Mashed shows that mashing doesn’t need to stop at just traditional mashed potatoes.

    Holly Herrick holds Le Grande Diplome (honors) in Pastry and Cuisine from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France. She is a multi-awarded food journalist, cooking instructor and the author of eight cookbooks. Visit her at hollyherrick.com.

     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGibbs Smith
    Release dateSep 6, 2016
    ISBN9781423644484
    Mashed: Beyond the Potato
    Author

    Holly Herrick

    Author Holly Herrick loves to eat, prepare, and write about delicious food. A graduate of Boston College, she started chasing her food writing dreams in Paris, France, where she studied at Le Cordon Bleu and earned Le Grande Diplome in Cuisine and Pastry. A longtime restaurant critic for the Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina’s daily newspaper, Holly has also written many general food and travel features for the newspaper and several magazines, including Southern Living and Bon Appetit. A multi-awarded food writer, Holly is the author of Southern Farmers Market Cookbook and The Charleston Chef’s Table Cookbook: Extraordinary Recipes from the Heart of the Old South. She lives in Charleston. Visit Holly’s web site and blog at www.hollyherrick.com.

    Read more from Holly Herrick

    Related to Mashed

    Related ebooks

    Courses & Dishes For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related categories

    Reviews for Mashed

    4/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Mashed - Holly Herrick

      Introduction

      That which is not good is not delicious to a well-governed and wise appetite.

      —John Milton, 1608–1674, Comus

      As celebrated poet John Milton so correctly points out, That which is not good is not delicious. As a long-time restaurant critic, frequently subjected to eating bad food (as well as a whole lot of delicious food), and a dedicated chef, instructor, and eight-time cookbook author, I will add my personal motto to his thoughts: Life is too short to eat bad food, mashed or otherwise.

      Indeed, mashed foods conjure up images of comfort, even childhood. During the process of writing this book, I kept envisioning a young child barely bellied up to a table in a chair that’s too big and low, cradling an oversize spoon, eagerly digging into some mashed deliciousness, legs dangling, toes tapping in anticipation, butter dripping down his chin. Maybe it was a subliminal me? There is probably a little bit of that kid in all of us, which is a big reason why writing this book was so much fun for me, and hopefully will be equally fun for you to read and cook from.

      Photo of vegetables.

      In addition to comfort, mashed foods inspire the notion of simplicity, which is largely true. But, as I’ve learned going through life, particularly in cooking, making simple food delicious presents an extra challenge. What makes average mashed potatoes stand out from unforgettable, delicious ones, the kind you dream about? What makes a fruit compote sing, or a winter root vegetable mash make you want to sing?

      As you work your way through this book, you’ll see that the answers boil down to a few simple concepts that require dedication to reach ethereal, delicious mashed food levels. The most important thing is to start out with the freshest, best-quality food and ingredients you can find. You can’t make delicious from tired or processed.

      Photo of cooked potatoes.

      Second, consider the texture of the principal ingredient. Not unlike matching the right accessory with a dress, or the right place to hang a painting on the wall, you want to think about what might complement it. Barley in mashed potatoes? Probably not, but cauliflower? Absolutely, yes.

      Layering flavors is also essential. The recipes throughout this book are designed to build upon inherent flavors in any given food and layer them back into the dish. For example, going back to cauliflower, the water or stock in which it is simmered is later brought back into the dish, avoiding waste (and throwing away nutrition) and doubling up on flavor. Many fruits and vegetables are roasted and then mashed, which is another way of doing the very same thing. Stocks, broths, wines, and other flavoring ingredients are reduced or steeped and then delicately returned to whence they came.

      Photo of herbs.

      Finally, choosing the right method to mash (Basic Mashing Tools) is mandatory. It’s like matching the right color makeup to your skin tone. The wrong one will make you look ill, while the right one is barely perceptible, perfectly beautiful and natural. For example, mashing potatoes with a food processor is equivalent to turning them to glue, while a food mill or old-fashioned manual masher will render the potatoes into fluffy spud pillows, eagerly awaiting the butter and cream they’ll readily absorb to make them sublime.

      Throughout the pages I strive to clearly define and make understandable some of these rules, but remember with rules, there are always exceptions. It is my hope you’ll use the methods, inspirations, and concepts to create some memorable, always delicious, mashed treats using your palate and finesse as a personal guide.

      As always, bon appétit!

      HOLLY

      Photo of blueberries.

      Basic Mashing Tools

      Manual Masher This is the stalwart of the mashed kitchen and can be used to mash almost anything, as long as it’s got a little elbow grease behind it. Most come in one of two varieties, with a mash element that looks more like a grid or with a mash element that looks more like the coils on a furnace. I own the former, and find it works very well. Manual mashers work best with soft, pliable cooked vegetables or fruits and yield a more rustic effect, as in the Ultimate Mashed Potatoes Master Recipe—Rustic Version. To use it, just push down and through what you’re working with, swirling a little to bring stray bits back into the bowl and into the mash fold.

      Food Mill Another old-school manual-masher method, it remains one of the best, particularly for foods you want to cook with the skin on (such as tomatoes, apples, pears, or potatoes) for flavor and nutrition reasons, but ultimately want the skins removed in the mashing process. Food mills come with many different-size holes (also known as rice) and operate by turning the handle around the mill, going backward from time to time to further press the contents. The mill will hold the skins, but release the milled food through the bottom. Using one sets the stage for some of the fluffiest, most elegant mashed potatoes and applesauces imaginable.

      Food Processor For the purposes of mashing, I almost always use mine fitted with a metal blade. A food processor is extra well-suited to puréeing more dense foods (like Brussels sprouts or celery root) or getting a very silky, smooth purée on roasted vegetables and some soups.

      Electric Blender Though I use this less throughout the book, it’s ideal for blending creams into compotes (such as the milk shake) or any time you want to build extra froth into your mash. It’s not very well-suited to recipes containing a large ratio of hot liquid to solid, cooked matter. The liquid will often seep from the bottom.

      Immersion Blenders The best friend of a lazy dishwasher and a sensible cook, these mash-friendly tools are named after their function. They are immersed into whatever they’re going to mash, most often into a soup pot to purée the ingredients as much or as little as you like. A quick whir (as I call it), will break up the threads of tougher greens (such as collards), yielding a kind of mini mash, while a full-on purée will completely emulsify most foods. Sometimes larger or harder chunks of food need a little nudge to get started. I do this by running the blender, pressing directly down onto the harder pieces, and ultimately integrating the entire pot into a purée. Not only do they save washing additional pots, but they’re also extremely easy to wash themselves, usually requiring only a little swish through hot, soapy water.

      Hand-Held Electric Mixer For the purposes of recipes in Mashed , this was used exclusively for mounting egg whites and whipped cream. A whisk can do the same thing, but it’s a bit more work.

      Photo of mashing tool with a stack of bowls.

      Preparation Tips

      Chiffonade This is a term used for slicing delicate herbs or lettuces into very thin strips. It is most easily accomplished by stacking the leaves of whatever you’re using, such as fresh basil, in a manageable pile, roughly 8 leaves or so. These are then rolled, like a cigar, and chopped through with a sharp chef’s knife to create thin 1/8-inch-wide ribbons. This method prevents bruising or damaging the delicate greens.

      Celery root (celeriac) tips Once difficult to find, celery root is a mainstay in the produce section of most grocery markets, particularly during cooler months. Look for its distinctive knobby, pocked exterior and large, bulbous shape. It’s not pretty, but it sure is delicious. Like rutabaga, it has a double skin: the thick outer skin, and an inner skin, usually about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick. To remove both, which is necessary, cut off the top of the root and position it bottom side down securely on your cutting surface. Using a sharp chef’s knife, cut down and through the skins in broad swaths, as you would remove the rind from a melon. Keep turning until you’re all the way through the root. Cut off any brown flecks or discolored areas, slice, and cook quickly. It will discolor if left exposed to oxygen more than a few minutes in its raw state.

      Avocado Tips There are several avocado varieties, but the smaller, thicker skinned dark-green Hass avocados have more concentrated texture and flavor than some of their counterparts and are most commonly available. All avocados are ripe when they yield slightly to pressure from your forefinger. They become darker green to almost black when they are very ripe, and will start to develop soft and discolored spots at this point. To accelerate ripening, place avocado in a paper bag with a ripe banana or another ripe fruit. To decelerate the ripening, refrigerate until ready to use. To remove the pit, once avocado is halved, tap hard with the cutting edge of a large knife and twist. It should pop right out.

      How to Clean a Leek Because leeks grow up from the dirt and their layers are so tightly bound, they tend to harbor grit and dirt in surprise places and need

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1