How do you like your mashed potatoes or baked potatoes?

[Treeca86]

My son is big on potatoes, and I mean big. If just potatoes could be a meal, he'd be a happy boy.
How do you like your mashed potatoes and baked potatoes?
I much rather have homemade mashed potatoes, but in a pinch, I will use flakes. And as with homemade, I will do the same with flakes, and you don't know the difference. 2 cloves of grated garlic sauteed just to take the bite out, put in potatoes with 3 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon of mayonaise(This is for 2 people-add 1/2 tablespoon for each additional person, and 1 garlic for 2 additional people, or leave out if you don't like it, or if you prefer powder, add to taste). And depending on the mood, I will add 1 cup of shredded cheddar, 1/2 cup chives, or 3 tablespoons diced ham, or anything that goes, or mix and match.
For baked potatoes, after washing, pat dry, and I roll it in extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, bake in 450° oven for 1 hour. That makes the skin yummy and crispy and makes my son eat the skin which is where most of the nutrients are. Then I will stuff it with cheese, sour cream, bits of diced turkey bacon. My son likes a little drained Rotel on his, too. We just stuff it with whatever we are in the mood for.

 

[firelily99]

Mashed I like them the old fashioned way or with garlic and butter. Baked potatoes I have them any number of ways depending on my mood. I tend to be more creative with the baked ones.

 

[Verity Darkwaters]

I do not think I can choose. Not just because I am indecisive, but I just love potatoes in all forms...except sweet. I love them mashed, though I usually do it for holidays or meals like roasts. Mashed potatoes are so versatile, though I am content with lots of butter and salt. Baked potatoes are very versatile too! You can make loaded baked potatoes, double baked potatoes, you can make healthy ones with garlic and olive oil. You can make the crispy or soft.

 

[Ellyn]

I like it with their skins still on, and buttered.

With mashed potatoes, I like them a little lumpy. Any other additives are fine, although when I heard about colcannon... I really wanted to try that recipe. It's just mashed potatoes with bacon and curly kale (or cabbage) but it sounded like a great idea to get more veggies in my diet.

With some mashed potatoes, add diced onions, mold the mashed potatoes into cakes, coat them in flour, and fry them up into potato pancakes. They actually go with everything.

I've also baked a mashed potato chocolate cake. The potato starch is what I think kept the cake from becoming too crumbly, and it's grounded like chocolate so it went really well. Apparently adding mashed potatoes to cakes makes the cake texture more velvety.

 

[forextraspecialstuff]

I like both, but definitely prefer mashed potatoes (serious comfort food for me regardless of the weather). I used to only use a potato masher but now cheat and also use a hand mixer so they get nice and smooth and creamy, but never so creamy that they are like glue. I add a little bit of butter, milk and sour cream and sometimes even throw in some cream cheese and then mash/whip them. For add-ins sometimes I use schredded cheese, bacon, but more likely I will use chives or sauteed spinach. The spinach gets creamy as well and it's a great way to get a serving of veggies in.

 

[luckyfox]

Love the old spud!

I made my peace with instant years ago. I do have a ricer when im in the mood to make it fresh. Mainly use a combination of any of the following depending on what mood im in..
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Nutmeg
S&P
Organic butter from the local farm
Yoghut -if going with a rich fatty dish
Parsley -if with fish
Chipotle -salsa for sausages, meatballs, kofta
Cheese and chives
Mustard
Curry powder -lovely with baked fish

 

[firelily99]

I do like garlic flavor with my mashed and although I can eat them without gravy I prefer to have it. i love having mashed potatoes with the little LeSeur peas, I mix it all together and drown it with gravy.

 

[Jade]

I'd eat mashed potatoes in any form, but my favorite would have to be skinless and topped with lots of gravy. Also, I prefer smashed potatoes to mashed potatoes which means it remains lumpy and almost like potato salad, because I like having a bit of bite left in it. Purees really don't do much for me, honestly.

 

[Sweetkymom]

Potatoes in any form I'll eat. I'm not picky. I love my potatoes! I have found a new way to make a bake potato.

Take a potato and slice it but not all the way through completely. Make sure the slices are thin like chips. Open the potato slightly. Sprinkle olive oil and salt on the open potato. Put in the oven and bake on 350' for 30 mins. Talk about yummy!

 

[BeBeDoLL]

MMMM! I love potatoes. My hubby likes when I make baked potatoes & mashed potatoes the most. I personally like Au Gratin!

 

[dustysmommy2013]

Ha! Sounds like my son, too. He would live on potatoes if I let him and he can't get enough of french fries when we go out for fast food.

I like mashed potatoes with garlic, butter, and salt. My husband actually doesn't care for mashed potatoes that much, I suppose because of the texture. He says the best way to eat mashed potatoes is to mash up a baked potato. I like to load my baked potatoes up with sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and butter. Yum yum!

However, my favorite way to eat and cook potatoes is definitely my roasted potatoes recipe. I dice them up and toss them with seasonings and olive oil. It usually depends on what seasonings I have on hand but usually its a combination of garlic, ranch and Parmesan cheese. Then, I bake them uncovered for about 45 minutes at 375. It was definitely a big hit in my house the first time I made them and now they are even better!

 

[OhioTom76]

I cannot stand those already prepared mashed potatoes they sell these days near the bacon and packaged lunch meats. They are so gluey and over-mixed, not to mention they are absolutely loaded with salt and taste wayyy too rich. Don't get me wrong, I like butter and cream, but I feel like crap every time I eat some of those. Unfortunately my parents adore them because they don't want to be bothered making them from scratch, so I inevitably get them when I eat at their place.

I love potatoes as well. One of my favorite preparations would be home fries. I especially love hitting up greasy spoons and old-time diners when I am traveling specifically so I can try out a big plate of their home fries. Everyone seems to make them a bit different, and the seasoning they pick up from all the other flavors on the griddle takes them over the top.

I pretty much make my baked potatoes the same way you do, except I also prick them with a fork a few times. Believe it or not, potatoes can explode in your oven too, it's not just a microwave thing. This happened to me about 2-3 times recently, and it's enough to make me take the extra step to prick them now.

For mashed potatoes, I used to be a big fan of making them from baked potatoes. I would bake the potatoes in the oven for a little over an hour, then cut them in half and scoop the insides out into a bowl with milk and butter and seasonings, then whip them up with my mixer. Although this does work well, and it's convenient since you don't have to peel and chop the potatoes, not to mention boil or steam them first, it does cause them to retain all of their starch. This will make for a much richer tasting mashed potato, but it also makes it more likely for them to turn to glue on you really quickly. Even steaming the potatoes causes them to retain a lot of their starch. For this reason, I've backtracked on my favorite way to make mashed potatoes, and I've gone back to peeling, chopping, and boiling them. This produces fluffy mashed potatoes that aren't too heavy and rich. Especially if you are using 2% milk and a little butter instead of heavy cream and a lot of butter. They are also more forgiving when it comes to over mixing the mashed potatoes, they won't turn to glue as quickly (but they still will if you continue to over mix them).