This is a restaurant way to do mashed potatoes that may seem overly finicky for a home cook. Blanching the potatoes after cooking for the specified 30 minutes, shocks the starch out of the tuber. The work achieves a silky, smooth mash that never becomes gluey no matter how hard it is worked. The high amount of butter and dairy in the recipe also keeps the potatoes from becoming gluey because it insulates the starch and keeps it from developing as it is stirred.

• 2 lbs waxy potato
• 2 C half and half
• 4oz butter
• Lots of salt and pepper

1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to 180F (use a meat probe to test)
2. Peel and slice the potatoes ¼” thick
3. Add the potatoes to the water and cook for 30 min trying to maintain the water temperature at around 160 the whole time (bringing the water to 180 to start allows for the temperature drop that will occur when adding cool potatoes to the hot water)
4. After the 30 minutes, use a slotted spoon or sieve to transfer the potatoes to an ice bath to shock them
5. Bring the boiling water to a low boil and add the potatoes back in
6. Cook until the potatoes are tender
7. Heat the half n half and butter until just simmering
8. Drain the potatoes and pass through a food mill to mash
9. Add the cream and butter mixture along with a hefty pinch of salt and black pepper
10. Taste and add more salt as needed