Mashed

  Recipe Ideas

Many operators find that processed Idaho® Mashed Potatoes in flakes, granules, or frozen form offer significant cost and labor savings. Preseasoned, butter-flavored mashed potatoes with made-from-scratch flavor and appearance are also available.

Mashed potatoes can be simple or fancy, inexpensive or upscale. Top with brown gravy and serve with meat loaf or top with butter and serve with fried chicken. Mix with horseradish and serve with steak. Add roasted garlic and serve with lobster tail. Or create your own signature dishes with these ideas:

• Blend with spices, chopped niçoise olives, olive oil, and milk.
• Add sautéed onion, chopped basil, minced garlic, and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
• Add 3 egg yolks per 1 pint mashed potatoes. Add butter and cream until mixture is of piping consistency. Using a star tube, pipe potatoes onto baking sheets. Sprinkle grated Swiss cheese on top. Bake at 300°F until brown.
• Idaho® Instant Mashed Potato Flakes can be used in a number of versatile recipes in their dry form. Add flakes to breading for fish, chicken, and vegetables or use them with a combination of flour, corn meal, or crushed corn flakes. Thicken soups and stews and increase moistness by adding flakes to bread, pancakes, doughnuts, and roll recipes. Simply add 3/4 cup flakes to every 5 to 6 cups of flour.

Mashed Idaho® Potatoes also have a healthy side. Tasty, satisfying, nutrition-oriented mashed potatoes can be made by:

• Using herbs instead of salt to accent the natural flavor of mashed potatoes.
• Adding mashed potatoes to a leek and onion soup base. Add buttermilk and paprika for lively flavor.
• Preparing mashed potatoes with chicken stock and skim milk; add ground nutmeg or ground coriander.

  Prep Tips

Instant
When making Idaho® Mashed Potatoes from flakes or granules, always read and follow the manufacturer's directions carefully. Store unopened containers away from intense heat. After opening, cover each container with a tight-fitting lid and store in a cool, dry area. When adding milk (whole, low-fat, skim, or nonfat dry) to flakes or granules, it must be at refrigerator temperature (35–40°F).

Processed Idaho® Mashed Potatoes can be held in a steam table (moist heat #5). Granules should be held no more than 30 minutes; flakes, no more than 1-1/4 hours. Granules and flakes can also be held in 250°F warming cabinets for 30 and 50 minutes, respectively. Hold potatoes in deep pans and keep covered with a lid or plastic wrap. If a dry heat table is used, set pan in water bath.

Frozen
Frozen Idaho® Potatoes are precooked and precut, meaning less preparation time. Follow the manufacturer's directions for steaming, boiling, or microwaving. Typically, mashed potatoes made from a frozen product can be held longer-usually up to 4 hours on a steam table or in a warming cabinet at 175–200°F. Refer to the manufacturer's directions for specific steaming, boiling, microwaving, and holding times.