Why russets?

Different potatoes have different levels of starch. Russets are pretty high in starch, which helps them hold their shape to make these fancy little mounds. Yukon golds do have a slightly more buttery flavor, so you can use those but they may collapse. My next experiment will be a mix of the two.

What should I add?

1 lb of finely grated cheese, like parmesan or manchego. Parmesan is salty, but other cheeses may not provide much salt so you’ll want to add more to taste.
- Hate cheese like some kind of heretic? If you leave out the cheese, scale up the butter to 8 oz (full kerry gold) and reduce from 9 egg yolks to 8
Garlic / garlic confit I always have garlic confit in my fridge (garlic cloves + submerge in oil + 1 hr at 250 in the oven). It gives you all the garlic flavor without the bitterness. Raw cloves work fine here too, just grate finely.
Truffle oil?? This was good, special occasion vibes and differentiates from other rich Thanksgiving sides.
Other herbs because why not.

Why sour cream?

Sour cream adds acidity, which is pretty much always something you want to balance out a flavor profile. In this case, we can add acidity without adding liquid, helping our potatoes stay in their cute little shape when the heat hits.

Why? All mashed potatoes are going to have butter :) Since we’re using cheese, which will melt in the oven, we are scaling down the butter a bit from non-cheesy recipes I referenced. This is to make sure the potatoes don’t collapse. Letting it cool keeps it from liquifying the mixture too much.

Brown?? This just means putting the butter over low heat on the stovetop and stirring occasionally for about 10 min. It causes milk solids to separate and gives a delicious nutty flavor.

Fwiw: 5 oz = roughly 2/3 of a Kerrygold brick

Nine?? 😱

Yeah It’s crazy. It gives richness in flavor and helps prop up the shape.

This is the hard part. I bought an XXL (.75”) frosting tip on Amazon because my usual tip kept getting clogged w/ potato chunks, even when I put the mix through the blender. But it is also VERY FUN!

Chilling in the fridge for an hour or so is optional but helps retain shape.

Just check on the browning to decide when they’re done. A minute under the broiler is good but SIT ON THE FLOOR AND WATCH if you do this, I have ruined so many things by stepping away for a minute