The Flying Kitchen

Of course, you’re going to need to be sure you love garlic before cooking this recipe.  This off-the-beaten path recipe for mashed potatoes makes a smooth and glorious dish, spiked with olive oil buttery soft cloves of garlic.  How much garlic?  A dozen cloves of garlic to be exact. 

A “confit” is a French word for “preserve”, but in a culinary sense these days it means to slow simmer in oil, butter or grease.  This does preserve the subject (in this case, garlic) but it also infuses your oil with the distinct flavor of the garlic.

The addition of both the infused oil and the garlic is the key to the glorious flavor and texture of these mashed potaotes.  I’ve added fresh rosemary to the confit here to add a more forest-y complex flavor, but I discard it after it’s infused into the oil.  

Despite it’s fancy name and fancy confit method, this recipe whips up in about 60 minutes but only requires about 15 minutes of hands-on work.  

Ingredients:

Confit:

12 cloves garlic, peeled

3/4 cup olive oil (or more if needed)

2-3 sprigs rosemary

Potatoes:

5 lbs potaotes (Yukon Gold is best), peeled and chopped into (about) 1 inch chunks

Enough salted water for boiling 

Seasonings:

1 tablespoons salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

Garnish:

Additional olive oil for drizzling

Rosemary sprig for decoration

Instructions:

Start the confit first.  In a small saucepan, submerge the garlic and rosemary sprigs in the olive oil.  Simmer lightly the olive oil, garlic and rosemary over medium heat for about thirty minutes, until the garlic is soft enough to squish with the back of a spoon.  You should be able to see tiny bubbles rise from the garlic, but not bubbles large enough to indicate a fry or a rolling boil. 

Boil the peeled and chopped potatoes in salted water until they are fork tender.  Strain them into the bowl of a heavy duty mixer.  Using the paddle attachment of the mixer, blend the potatoes until mashed.  

Using a strainer, strain the oil away from the garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs.  Set solids aside and pour the confit oil into the mashed potatoes as the mixer is running.  The oil will slosh around just a little but will quickly be absorbed into the potatoes. 

Pick the softened garlic cloves from the strainer and add them to the mixing bowl.  Keep the mixer on low to smash garlic and incorporate it into the potatoes.  Discard the rosemary from the confit.

Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon white pepper into the potato mixture. Stir well to combine.

Transfer the mashed potatoes into a serving dish and drizzle a little olive oil to finish.   Pop on a rosemary sprig for decoration. 

These mashed potatoes can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge. Just warm in the oven at 350°F for about 20 minutes before serving.