A favorite for mashed potatoes and biscuits, as a kitchen cycle comes to a close
I am fascinated by cycles in the kitchen. I love when making one thing results in making another thing. Cooking beans creates a nice broth. Carrot tops become treasure in a stock bag. Soft, homemade ricotta yields a whey that becomes bread. Part of my pursuit of feeding my family is the search for this knowledge -- how it all is connected. How cooking supports the real work of daily life, and how something that sometimes feels like a chore can be an insight into how humans everywhere put one foot in front of another daily and feed themselves.
For a long time now, you all have been part of my own kitchen cycle. I've tweaked and played and thought over what to cook for you. I've loved putting recipes out there, hoping that, with my teacher's heart, you might learn a new skill and try something out.
In 2015, the Kitsap Sun tasked me with writing a recipe column that would teach basic skills. It's been a joy and an honor, getting to know readers through email, running into questions about ingredients in the grocery store, having people tell me they put my recipe on their fridge. I've grown and maybe you have too. This will be my last column -- I've chosen to move on to other projects and tastes. Thanks for being my audience and thanks for being along for my own journey.
The recipe I'll leave you with is a reprise of one of my favorites and a tidy example of how a busy cook can leverage the kitchen cycle. It represents a lot of things I believe about cooking: use what seasonal ingredients you have to make delicious, simple food, be thrifty and look for ways to cut waste, and use shortcuts like freezing that make it easier for yourself to get it all done. Also, simply, mashed potatoes are one of my favorite foods in the whole world -- always have been. I usually just mash up really good local yellow potatoes with a little milk, butter, salt, and black pepper. In the darker months, going out to pick some herbs and adding them in makes me feel a little closer to the sun.
Here's a very loose procedure for the mashed potatoes and a solid recipe that uses the leftovers. Enjoy and keep on learning new things.
Garlic rosemary mashed potatoes
about 1 potato per person + 2 or 3 more
whole milk, about 1/2 c. for four people, add or subtract as needed
butter
2 cloves garlic
1 long sprig of rosemary, snipped in half
Set a large pot of water on to boil. In another smallish pot, heat milk, garlic, rosemary, and butter on the very lowest setting. When it starts to bubble, turn off the heat, lid, and let steep until you're ready to mash. Peel and halve potatoes unless they're really small. Drop in boiling, salted water and simmer for about 30 minutes. Drain. Strain the milk mixture into the potatoes, saving garlic and rosemary for another purpose, and mash. Salt and pepper to taste. Reserve one cup of potatoes for the biscuits below before serving.
Parmesan pepper potato biscuits
Makes about 12 biscuits
1 c. leftover flavored mashed potatoes or about 8-10 ounce potato
1 c. all purpose flour + more for shaping
1 tbls. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
a loose cup of freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper (or more to taste)
6 tbls. unsalted butter
1/2 c. milk
Measure out the dry ingredients into a bowl.
Gently mix the potatoes into the dry ingredients with a folding motion.
Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Slice the butter and squish between your fingers, squeezing and flaking until you have a bowl of lumpy, uneven crumbs.
Add the milk, gently mixing the dough with a fork and bringing it together.
To begin shaping, keep a little bowl of extra flour on hand. Flour your work surface and your dry hands. Pat the dough into a rectangle and sprinkle with flour. Fold into thirds, pat down again, sprinkling the top again with flour. Shape into your desired thickness. (About 1 inch is a good place to start.) Cut into about 2-3 inch circles or pat the dough into a rectangle and cut squares with a knife.
Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes until nicely browned.
Biscuits for Later
After shaping, place on a lined tray, freeze until solid, and bag. Bake right from frozen, adding about 5 or so minutes to the bake time.
Just potato biscuits
To make up my original favorite biscuit, a useful and savory side, omit the Parmesan and pepper. Use just straight up mashed potatoes. For extra fun, sprinkle everything bagel topping on before the bake.
Anne Willhoit is an educator, community volunteer, and enthusiastic baker who likes to create recipes that use from-scratch techniques and are inspired by local, seasonal ingredients. She's written a cooking column since 2015 for the Kitsap Sun. Find her on Instagram at @aawillhoit or drop her an inquiry at FromScratchKS@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Garlic rosemary mashed potatoes and biscuits with the leftovers
