Stretch It: Mashed Potatoes

Posted by Sandy Gluck

I can't imagine anyone not having some mashed potatoes left over from at least one dinner. My mother-in-law, Margaret, used to whip up a mean mashed potato patty with leftovers -- add a little milk, a little flour, some egg, and, if you're from Wisconsin, cheese. Fry it up and OMG are they good. But there's so much you can do with mashed potatoes, I don't quite know where to start.

First, here's my favorite tooling for doing the mashing. Now, some ideas. Well, how about thinning them out with milk and or cream and some broth for a potato soup? Or simply heat them up (over a double boiler is best) and stir in some cheese. I like goat cheese or cheddar in mine.

SEE THE RECIPES:
Mashed Potatoes with Goat Cheese
Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

For even more ideas, check out these recipes from the Idaho Potato Commission. I still love those pancakes, though, and now, I'm thinking about adding some bacon.

What about you? Do you have some leftover-mashed-potato favorites you'd like to share?

Comments

[amy]

this is perfect for me this week. bravo. merci!

[Joanne]

Sandy, I would like to freeze pesto. Are there special rules--such as omitting cheese and adding when defrosted and ready to serve?

[Alison]

Well, I tried my hand at mashed potato soup. After reading a bunch of recipes, I did my best winging it. I sauteed bacon, used the drippings to cook onions and red peppers, added one 14 oz can chicken broth and my leftover potatoes (maybe 2.5-3 cups); Chopped up leftover broccoli and added it, as well as a small can creamed corn. Topped the soup with cheese and the bacon bits. It was sort of a loaded baked potato soup.
Not sure I did it right, but the final result was yummy!