I Love Potatoes!

I admit it, I’m a potato fan and I’m proud. I like waffles, loaded skins, jackets, rostis, roasts, gratin, chips, but my absolute favourite way to eat a spud? Mashed. I cannot resist mashed potato.

I have fond mash memories. My mum used to make me mashed potato with scrambled egg in it when I was little – loved it! And then as I grew, a mash-topped cottage pie would always get my vote. My friend and I, throughout our twenties, on visiting each other’s homes would always cook for each other the exact same meal – fish fingers, baked beans and cheesy mashed potato – yep, we were in our twenties, not 8. As I recall these meals, I am happy. And hungry.

Anyway, I digress. When I spotted the #MarisPiperBritMums Challenge, I suspected that is was one that I’d been in training my whole life for ;-). The only problem that I have with it, is that it asks us to share our favourite family recipe using potatoes – I can only pick one? And can I just say I love mashed potato? Not sure I can! OK, but I do feel like a bit of a mash connoisseur, so I thought I’d share a few tips for good mash, and then I got a bit wild and decided to invent my own, totally new, mash recipe, just for this fun challenge. Get me! It’s like I’m a confident cook and I know what I’m doing in the kitchen! Although, to be honest, as I was working with mash as my base, I did feel pretty confident that all would be well. So, a few mash tips to start us off then…

For mash, I always use Maris Pipers. That’s the absolute truth, not just because this is the Maris Piper challenge! I’ve tried various potatoes over the years, but these ones definitely make the nicest mash, so start with those. I peel, dice then boil them for around 20-30 minutes, and then drain, add copious amounts of margarine, and mash, mash, mash! And that’s it. I used to add salt, but no longer, as the kids eat with us, too. Sometimes, I’ll add black pepper or cheese for a change (I love cheese and potato pie – yummy!).

cheesy corned beef hashSo, we have perfect mash, now what recipe to create? I decided to try a cheesy corned beef hash thingy…

Ingredients
1 tin of corned beef
4 large potatoes
1/2 cup of margarine
1 cup of grated Cheddar cheese
1 pack of Mini Cheddars

I’d probably add an onion to flavour, too, but the husband hates onions, so that’s not an option in this house.

Peel your potatoes, chop them up, cover with water, and pop them on to boil. While the potatoes are boiling, open up a tin of corned beef and put into a baking dish. Cut off all of the fat first, and then mash it up. Grate a cup’s worth of Cheddar cheese and get your packet of Mini Cheddars and crush and crumble them all up – the smaller the pieces the better. After around 20 minutes, drain your potatoes and mash with the margarine and add in half of the cup of cheese. Once all smooth and creamy, add it to the baking dish and mix in all of the corned beef. Spread it out evenly and sprinkle the remainder of the cheese and the crumbled Mini Cheddars over the top. Bake on 200C for 15 minutes so that’s it’s warmed through and the topping has melted and crisped.

Serve with baked beans or veg. Enjoy!

This post is an entry for #MarisPiperBritMums Linky Challenge (http://bit.ly/185Gtlv) sponsored by Potato Council for Potato Week 7 – 13 October, celebrating the varieties of potatoes and how we like to eat them. Learn more and find recipes at www.lovepotatoes.co.uk

What’s your favourite way to eat potatoes? You do like them, don’t you?!
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10 thoughts on “I Love Potatoes!”

    1. I literally opening the cupboard where the potatoes were, saw the Mini Cheddars there, and thought ‘yes, why not?!’ Try it!

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