To fuck or to cook?
 

Post your mom's secret mashed potato recipe here. What you do with the final product is between you and the potatoes.

Smashed potatos
 

My mom can't cook to save her life, but here's my recipe:


5 lbs. Yukon Gold potatos, peeled and cut into roughly 1-inch cubes.

1/4 lb. butter

1/2 cup milk

kosher salt and pepper to taste.

The recipe is simplicity itself. Boil potatos until fork tender, drain. Add butter in one tbsp. peices and add milk. Mash with your preferred implement until the consistency is semi-smooth. Good mashed potatos need lumps. Add kosher salt and pepper to taste.

eta: RT, couldn't you have started with something a bit more complicated? I bet even Hank can make decent mashed potatos

Smashed potatos
 

Wonk, have you read The Man Who Ate Everything? There's a whole chapter dedicated to the making of the perfect mashed potato.

I highly recommend the book for anyone who enjoys food. It's a little dated, but it's a collection of essays by the food critic for Vogue, and it is excellent. He builds up from the basic concept of nutrition, to ingredients, to simple meals, to regions of the world. There are essays on ketchup, water, bread, the French, Kobe beef, truffles, produce, sustinance, etc. Sometimes he goes into the science of cooking (like in the mashed potato chapter), and sometimes he goes into the culture (his essay on Japan had me ready to buy a ticket immediately). It's pretty funny too. I understand that he has a new collection out and I can't wait to read it.

Smashed potatos
 

Add garlic, leeks, or onion to the boiling water and smash with the potatos. Yummy. My favorite is garlic. Use whole milk. Skim and lowfat are too watery.

Anne
Official Thanksgiving Potato Smasher

Smashed potatos
 

I haven't read Steingarten's book, but I'm a big fan of his writing. I'll have to check it out, along with the new book by Alan Richman, of GQ and Bon Appetit.

My favorite eating books of all time, though, are three out-of-print books by Calvin Trillin: American Fried, Alice, Let's Eat, and Third Helpings. Trillin is an amazing writer, and his passion for "pure research" in the area of good food was truly inspiring.

Smashed potatos
 

Garlic, especially roasted, leeks, and onions aqre all delicious, as is fresh horseradish. However, they all are inappropriate for Thanksgiving, as they tend to clash with the gravy. I also prefer to be a purist when giving a "classic" recipe. Other board denizens will testify as to my fanatical devotion to purity in, for example, discussing the martini.

Smashed potatos
 

Not Fast Food Nation?

thanksgiving dinner
 

I am having two of my best friends over for thanksgiving dinner and I'm going to cook for them and I've promised that they will have real bird and I won't foist tofurkey on them. The question is, do I actually cook for them or do I pick up the pre-cooked turkey from the caterer the night before? I don't want leftovers. Do turkeys come in small enough sizes for just two people? Should I go with Cornish Hens or some other small bird for them? How does one cook a bird? Any books or websites I could go to for advice?

I am quite a good vegetarian cook, but have never cooked a bird before on my own. Suggestions are welcome. For Manhattan, my kitchen is reasonably big, so I can actually cook in it although I think I possess the only electric stove in the city, which is not particularly impressive.

thanksgiving dinner
 

Send them home with the leftovers. As for precooked, it's NYC, so you should be able to get something good. But, if you want to DIY, reserve a small bird and roast in the oven for the proper time, something like 20mins per pound, or check with a meat thermometer. It's not hard. What's hard is the gravy and fixins'.

For a superior turkey, brine it the night before (or purchase kosher, which is also brined). Big bucket of water, lots of salt, soak overnight in a cool place (patio/refrig). Comes out extra juicy and tasty. It might even convert you off of tofurkey.

thanksgiving dinner
 

It seems that ordering it may be easier, especially for that small of a turkey. You usually estimate about a pound a person (if you don't want leftovers), and I can't imagine that there that many turkeys out there less than three pounds out there. You could go with just turkey breasts. Or phesant. Or goose. Or duck. Yummmmmm...

It's actually not that hard to cook a turkey, and usually there are basic instructions on the package*. I agree wholeheartedly with the brining suggestion, and I also recommend that if you cook it, you rub the bird with (olive) oil before you put it in the oven.



*My big problem has always been time miscalculation, which is why I make sure that there is plenty of alcohol around for my guests while we wait around for the turkey to finish up. I also have a tendency to forget that the giblets are usually in a plastic bag somewhere inside the carcass. I've cooked at least three packages of them inside the turkey.

Talking Turkey
 

You could also purchase and roast a turkey breast instead of a whole bird (see frozen foods aisle).

Oh, and if you do decide to cook a whole bird, definitely brine it as suggested above. It does make a difference.

ETA: didn't see the breast suggestion in RT's post, so I can't say I didn't at least try to STP...

Smashed potatos
 

Never read it. Although I do note that I very seldom go to fast food chains. I prefer the mom and pop diner or the many thousands of Greek-run restaurants that populate all parts of Chicago and the Burbs.

thanksgiving dinner
 

You can get a relatively small turkey breast, which will serve the two of them nicely, and will roast up beautifully in your oven. Because white meat alone tends to dry out while roasting, you may want to brine the breast the day before you roast it. Combine 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and about two gallons of water. Add the turkey breast and refrigerate overnight. That will keep the roast nice and moist.

Talking Turkey
 

I'm all about breasts this week.

Talking Turkey
 

just this week?

eta thanks for all the suggestions.