We’ve All Been Making Our Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes Wrong — Starting with the First Step

Obviously, mashed potatoes need more than, well, potatoes to taste best. The recipe calls for four cups (or a full quart) of whole milk, a full head of garlic, five sprigs of thyme, two and a half sticks of butter (yup, you read that right), a couple tablespoons of cracked pepper, and letting it all simmer in the same pot together. Let me tell you, this combination smells amazing as it heats up. After it comes to a boil, you set it aside with a lid on for about 30 minutes while you use a hand masher (like me), ricer, or food mill on your peeled potatoes.

I expected it to be a little more difficult to mash the potatoes since they didn’t have the moisture they usually get from boiling in water, but they broke down easily even before adding the milky mixture. I was then a little worried the whole thing would turn into soup when I added (most of) the dairy, but my fears quickly vanished again as the potatoes continued to break down and soak it all up into a perfectly smooth result. I’m no expert, but I’d guess the lack of initial hydration helped the potatoes absorb all the milk and butter better and become as velvety and creamy as something like polenta or grits.

The BA recipe calls for creating “crispity crunchities” to place on top of the mashed potatoes by heating bread, potato chips, and seasoning in the oven, but after waiting so long for all of the other steps, I was kind of worn out. Instead, I spread the potato skins that would have otherwise been discarded back out onto the same pan, then added a little olive oil, pepper, and salt, and cooked them at the same temperature for about seven minutes to get them nice and crispy. Once those cooled, I tossed them in the mixture of parsley, smoked paprika, thyme, and garlic that the recipe called for.