Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Horseradish Butter

I had a jar of prepared horseradish sitting in the fridge that rarely gets used except for the occasional addition to a roast beef sandwich. It was time to put some of it to use. I found a recipe for Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Horseradish Butter and knew I needed to make it. Since setting out on my weight loss journey I rarely top my potatoes with any fatty condiments and such. I feel less guilty for topping my tatoes when I make the recipe or I am eating out.

Mr. Sideline Chef loves mashed potatoes and could very well have them with every meal. I on the other hand when eating them tend to over do it and get filled up off of them and end up with stomach aches that turn my stomach at the very mention of mashed potatoes days after. Don't get me started on KFC commercials with them dumping gravy onto the pile of mashed potatoes.

Not this mashed potato recipe. It came from Cooking Light and it sure tasted light. The mashed potatoes themselves tasted to me like a plain potato that had been boiled and mashed. The amount of milk, chicken broth and sour cream didn't do much to make them very creamy. The flavor came from the horseradish butter. Butter flavored with shallots, parsley and horseradish.

I loved the horseradish butter. Of course a serving size of the butter wasn't even to satisfy but when does a serving size of butter satisfy? If you are not watching your weight then I suggest making more of it. Mashed potatoes and pools of butter go hand in hand. Mr. Sideline Chef smeared his butter on just a small portion of the tatoes and told me, "I'm not sure what I think." He left it at that. I swear this man doesn't even taste the food. It enters his mouth and I think it just gets swallowed. There were no leftovers if that says along about how much he liked the recipe.

I think the horseradish butter would be delicious spread on warm biscuits as well with some roast beef. What's not to love when it's quick, easy, and delicious?!

Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Horseradish Butter

MyRecipes.com and Cooking Light, December 2009

Makes 8 servings (Serving size = 1/2 cup mashed potatoes and 1 1/2 tsp horseradish butter)

Stars of the Show for the Horseradish Butter:

• cooking spray
• 1 tbsp minced shallots
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley - I used dried parsley.
• 2 tsp prepared horseradish

And Action:

Heat a small nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add shallots and to skillet and cook 1 minute (This step seemed like a waste since 1 minute didn't seem like enough time. I took mine out at the suggested 1 minute but would skip this step entirely next time.) Remove from heat and cool.

Combine shallots, butter, parsley, and horseradish in a small bowl and blend well. Transfer butter mixture to a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape butter mixture into a 3 inch log. Use the plastic wrap to help mold into shape. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm.

Stars of the Show for the Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes:

• 6 1/2 cups cubed, peeled Yukon Gold Potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup 1% low fat milk - We only buy nonfat milk in our household.
• 1/4 cup fat free, less sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

And Action:

Place potatoes and bay leaf in a large pot and cover with water. Boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and discard bay leaf. Combine milk and chicken broth in a microwave safe dish and heat for 1 minute. Add milk mixture, sour cream, salt and pepper to the potatoes. Mash the potatoes until well blended. Serve with the horseradish butter.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 182

Fat: 6.7g (sat 4.2g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.3g)

Protein: 4g

Carbohydrate: 26.1g

Fiber: 1.8g

Cholesterol: 18mg

Iron: 1.3mg

Sodium: 369mg

Calcium: 21mg

Fancy-Pants Bangers 'N' Mash

You know when you get blackout drunk after chugging a fifth of After Shock your first time drinking and the next day you spend with your best friend, the toilet? Then how the scent of cinnamon makes you want to vomit for years after? Me neither. Sorry mom for getting drunk on a school night when I was 16.

How does the above story relate. Mashed potatoes. You know how you stuff yourself on mashed potatoes and get that incredibly achy-need to unbutton your pants feeling after doing so? Anytime I think of mashed potatoes my stomach turns and I remember that uncomfortable feeling and how disgusting I feel every time I eat them. I'm sure you can now understand my hesitation of making mashed potatoes for Mr. Sideline Chef whenever he requests them with every meal.

His work sent him back on the road and because I had already done the menu planning and a recipe out of Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners was on the lineup I set about making the meal for just the itty bitty and I. I cut the entire recipe in half to minimize leftovers and even portioned myself out a half serving of both the beef sausages and mashed potatoes.

After eating the perfectly portioned half serving I was left satisfied and not overly stuffed in that disgusting roll me through my bedroom door sort of a way. I even settled for an abnormally early dinner time, 4:30 p.m., in order to let the food settle before bedtime. Well played Pretend Chef, well played.

Bangers are a mild British pork sausage. I have never heard of bangers before this recipe. They can easily be substituted with any kind of mild pork sausage, beef, or chicken sausages. I chose a smoked beef sausage since our local market doesn't keep great stock of products.

The sausages are browned and then removed from the skillet while a red onion sauce is made with red wine and chicken stock and then added back to the skillet. The mashed potatoes have chives mixed in and are a creamy and delicious accompaniment to the sausages.

No need to unbutton your pants after eating this unless you over do it and in that case it most definitely is worth the achy belly. When will you ever learn?

Fancy-Pants Bangers 'N' Mash

Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners

Makes 4 servings

Stars of the Show:



Milk is not set out since I am weird about leaving it out for longer than need be.

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 8 bangers or other sausages - I used Eckrich's smoked beef sausages. They were fulled cooked sausages.
• 2 pounds small red potatoes, cut into quarters
• salt
• 2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped - I used dried thyme since that was already in my spice cabinet.
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry red wine - I used Shiraz.
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp cream cheese
• 3 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped - I used dried parsley.
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon

And Action:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the olive oil. Add the sausages and brown on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes.

While the sausages are browning, start the mashed potatoes by covering the quartered potatoes in water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, salt it, and cook the potatoes until fork-tender for about 10 minutes.

 Remove the sausages from the pan and place on a platter. Drain half the fat from the skillet (I skipped this step entirely.) then return the skillet to the stove top. Add the red onions, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook the onions, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until nice and brown. Actually didn't burn them like my other night's mishap. Add the red wine and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the sausages back to the skillet and cook until the sauce is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and return to the hot pan to dry the potatoes out. Add the butter, cream cheese, chives, and milk to the potatoes and mash. Season with salt and pepper.

Finish the sausages with the chopped parsley and the lemon juice. You can either top the mashed potatoes with the sausages or lay them to the side.

Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Shallots

A recipe like this reminds me of why I refer to myself as The Pretend Chef. I just think I know what I am doing in the kitchen. If you could be a fly on my wall you would see me throughout the making of a recipe running to the computer to do a quick search to see what this or that should look like or what a certain cooking term means.

Before becoming a stay at home mom the word "blanch" was never in my vocabulary. I recall having to watch a how to video. Sad. I know. It wasn't my mother's fault. It is my own. My mother spent countless hours on her feet standing over pots of homemade sauces or whipping up whatever delicious baked good she was working on for the day. My entire existence. To this day I kick myself for not being a more active participant in her kitchen.

Juggling the Old-Fashioned Meatloaf and this side dish I became a bit overwhelmed especially when I, in a spur of the moment decision, thought to invite the neighbors over for dinner. Mind you, I have cooking anxiety when it comes to preparing anything for others. Mr. Sideline Chef was told to let everyone know it would be ready by 6 p.m. Let's just say I ended up having him contact everyone again and letting them know dinner would be ready around 7 p.m.

Back to why this is a reminder of why I'm The Pretend Chef. The caramelizing of the shallots did happen at one moment. They looked beautiful. I have a bad habit of accidentally turning the wrong burners up in heat all the time. Rather than turning the burner up to boil my water for the potatoes the shallots crisped up nicely and gave off a burning aroma throughout the house. Thankfully they didn't get burnt completely through and had a bit of a soft texture to them. I said a bit. When I laid the caramelized burnt shallots on top of my mashed potatoes and took my first bite the shallots had a saltiness to them and somewhat stuck to my back molars. No one else wanted to try them. I ate them all by myself. I also like my hot dogs burnt... by choice.

If you give these a try I'm sure you'll have the results that are expected. A beautiful pile of caramelized shallots to lay on top of a bed of mashed potatoes. Just remember to watch the burners, you don't want to pull a Pretend Chef move.

Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Shallots 

*Click the link for yourself to see how these caramelized shallots are meant to look.*

MyRecipes.com and Real Simple, November 2007

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Stars of the Show:

• 5 pounds white or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed - I used Yukon gold potatoes.
• salt and black pepper
• 8 tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 5 medium shallots
• 1 tbsp olive oil

And Action:

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and add 2 1/2 tbsp salt. Reduce heat to a simmer until just tender, about 15 minutes.

While the potatoes are simmering, peel and thinly slice the shallots. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and return them back to the pot. Add the butter, buttermilk, cream, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3/4 tsp black pepper. Mash the potatoes. Fold the shallots into the mashed potatoes (I kept mine separate so people can either have them or not.) before transferring to a serving dish.

The originally recipe also adds a "Make Ahead Note": The potatoes can be made up to 2 hours in advance and kept warm in a double broiler or Crock-Pot. If the potatoes are chilled and then reheated, they will turn dry and pasty.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 358 (40% from fat)

Fat: 16g (sat 9g)
Protein: 6g
Carbohydrate: 48g
Fiber: 7g
Cholesterol: 41mg
Sodium: 164mg