Simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are. Next switch the whisk on to slow and continue to break the potatoes up, then gradually increase it to high and whip them up to a smooth, creamy, fluffy mass. Put potatoes and garlic in a large pot with salt and enough water to cover. When you first go in with the whisk, before you turn it on, push the beaters down through all of the potatoes to break them up. Martina McBride's Classic Mashed Potatoes by Martina McBride. Martina McBride's Classic Mashed Potatoes. Never use a food processor or blender, as those larger types of kitchen equipment would over mash the potatoes and make them gummy and gluey. You can do this by hand with an old fashioned potato masher. When the potatoes are cooked drain off the water and lift out the fan steamer leaving the potatoes in the pan and cover with a clean tea cloth for about 4 minutes to absorb some of the steam, then add the butter, milk and crème fraîche or cream. The potatoes can also be mashed with an immersion blender or a potato ricer. One method is to mix the potatoes and other ingredients for a short time to mash them. The way to tell whether they are ready is to pierce them with a skewer in the thickest part: they should not be hard in the centre, and you need to be careful here, because if they are slightly underdone you do get lumps. The recipe also calls for half a cup of cream, half a cup of half-and-half, butter, and optional milk if the mashed potatoes need to be thinned out.

Tyler Essary/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images The Pioneer Woman/YouTube. Put the potato chunks in a steamer fitted over a large pan of boiling water, sprinkle the salt all over them, put a lid on, turn the heat down to low and steam the potatoes until they are absolutely tender – they should take 20-25 minutes. The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, uses cream cheese to make her simple creamy mashed potatoes. Use a potato peeler to pare off the potato skins as thinly as possible, then cut the potatoes into even-sized chunks – not too small if they are large, quarter them, and if they are small, halve them.

How to make mashed potatoes