Mashed Potatoes - Joel Robuchon
Source of Recipe
Joel Robuchon via Bob Terwilliger, rec.food.cooking
Serves 6 - 8
"Ever homey, ever elegant, ever irresistible, this is the dish that helped
make chef Robuchon's reputation. Clever man that he is, he realized early on
that if you give people potatoes, potatoes, and more potatoes, they'll be
eternally grateful, forever fulfilled."
From _Simply French, Patricia Wells presents the cuisine of Joel Robuchon_
1991, William Morrow and Company, Inc.
2 pounds baking potatoes, such as Idaho Russets
3/4 to 1 1/4 cups whole milk
About 16 tablespoons, 1 cup, unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces
Sea salt to taste
Scrub the potatoes, but do not peel them. Place the potatoes in a large pot,
add salted water, 1 tablespoon salt per quart of water, to cover by at least
1 inch. Simmer, uncovered, over moderate heat until a knife inserted into a
potato comes away easily, 20 to 30 minutes.
Drain the potatoes as soon as they are cooked. If they are allowed to cool
in the water, the potatoes will end up tasting reheated.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil over high
heat. Set aside.
As soon as the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them.[1] Pass the
potatoes through the finest grid of a food mill into a large heavy-bottomed
saucepan set over low heat. With a wooden spatula, stir the potatoes
vigorously to dry them, 4 to 5 minutes. Now begin adding about 12
tablespoons of the butter, little by little, stirring vigorously until each
batch of butter is thoroughly incorporated; the mixture should be fluffy and
light. Then slowly add about three fourths of the hot milk in a thin stream,
stirring vigorously until the milk is thoroughly incorporated.
Pass the mixture through a flat fine-mesh drum sieve into another heavy
bottomed saucepan. Stir vigorously, and if the puree seems a bit heavy and
stiff, add additional butter and milk, stirring all the while. Note: few of
us have a real French flat bottomed screen for scraping potato puree. Simply
use any mesh sieve you have in the kitchen and press down on the potato
puree as you push it through the sieve. This second step of pureeing is the
true secret behind Chef Robuchon's recipe.
Taste for seasoning. The puree may be made up to 1 hour in advance. Place in
the top of a double boiler, uncovered, over simmering water. Stir
occasionally to keep smooth.
[1] I don't get this step. Since the next step is to pass the potatoes
through a food mill, why peel them first? The food mill would remove the
peels, wouldn't it?
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