The perfect potato

Mashed potatoes are the quintessential, goes-with-anything side. They’re always a crowd-pleaser, too.

People have gone to all sorts of elaborate lengths — in equipment and ingredients — to achieve what they claim is the perfect mashed potato recipe. But you can create a beautiful bowl of spuds with nothing more than a pot, a wooden spoon and a handful of pantry staples.

A note on the boiling: Many recipes call for starting the potatoes in cold water to achieve even cooking. Because the potatoes are cut into smaller chunks in this recipe, I found they cooked through at a uniform — not to mention faster — pace when added to the boiling water.

Using extra-virgin olive oil in addition to the butter provides a rich texture and clean flavour that doesn’t mask the potato nuance as much as all-dairy fat would. These mashed potatoes are great the way they are. But you should still feel free to dress them up with whatever accoutrements you like, whether it’s crumbled bacon, grated cheese, chives or an extra pat of melting butter.

The fresh garlic that is boiled and mashed with the potatoes imparts a mild and sweet flavour; if you like things more pungent, you can add garlic powder to taste. Discard the water, dry the bowl and add the potatoes, as artfully scooped as you want. Adapted from Seriously Simple Holidays, by Diane Rossen Worthington (Chronicle, 2007).