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Curtis Stone's mashed potatoes with potato skin “crackling”

Curtis Stone's mashed potatoes with potato skin “crackling”

Take classic mashed potato to the next level with Curtis’ mouth watering recipe. Served with crispy potato skins, this side will be the star of the show.

Serves8, as a side
Cook time15 minutes
Prep time20 minutes

Curtis Stone's Mashed potatoes with potato skin “crackling”

Ingredients

1 tbs rosemary leaves, chopped
2 tsp sea salt flakes
2kg brushed potatoes, scrubbed, dried
3 garlic cloves
Vegetable oil, to deep-fry
3/4 cup (185ml) milk, warmed
1/3 cup (80ml) thickened cream
125g butter

Check ingredient labels to make sure they meet your specific dietary requirements and always consult a health professional before changing your diet. View dietary information here.

Percentage Daily Intake information on our recipes is calculated using the nutrition reference values for an average Australian adult.

Method

Step 1
Preheat oven to 100°C (80°C fan-forced). In a small bowl, combine the rosemary and sea salt flakes.
Step 2
Using a vegetable peeler, peel skin from potatoes in long strips and reserve. Cut potatoes into 5cm pieces and place in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and enough water to cover the potato. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat and cook for 15 mins or until tender.
Step 3
Meanwhile, pour enough oil into a wide non-stick saucepan to reach one-third of the way up the side of the pan. Heat over medium-high heat to 180°C (when oil is ready, a cube of bread turns golden brown in 15 secs). Cook potato skins, in batches, for 3-4 mins or until crisp and golden brown. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer potato skins to a baking tray lined with paper towel. Sprinkle with rosemary salt. Keep the potato skins warm in the oven.
Step 4
Drain the potato mixture and return to the pan. Place over medium heat for 1-2 mins to evaporate any excess water. Use a potato masher or fork to mash until smooth.
Step 5
Gradually stir the milk into potato mixture until smooth and combined. Slowly stir in the cream. Cook over medium-low heat for 5 mins or until heated through. Gradually beat in butter. Transfer to a serving dish. Season with pepper and top with potato skins.

Serve with... rosemary sprigs.

Recipe tip

COOK. STORE. SAVE.
Make-ahead mash: For stress-free entertaining, prepare the mashed potatoes up to 2 days ahead, cover and refrigerate. To reheat, preheat oven to 180°C and grease an 8-cup (2L) ovenproof dish with butter. Transfer mashed potato to prepared dish, then cover with foil and bake for 30 mins or until heated through. Remove the foil and top with fried potato skins and bake until golden and crisp.

0:00

Now, if I was a potato, I would be quite offended if you called me a side dish because quite often

0:04

the potato is the star of the meal, and I'm going to show you how to roast them, do a creamy bake,

0:10

a beautiful fancy hasselback potato, even a potato salad can be absolutely fantastic with

0:16

great Aussie grown potatoes, you are in the right place. The first thing you need to do is choose

0:23

the right potato for the right dish. So I'm going to use this beautiful creme gold to make a creamy

0:30

baked potato. Now, the reason the creme gold is the perfect potato for this dish is because it's

0:35

starchy, so it actually thickens up that cream as it cooks down. It also absorbs flavour really

0:40

well. Peel and slice your potato into slices about this thick. We start with thickened cream and some

0:46

milk, garlic and some fresh thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Now, the great thing about this

0:52

potato dish is it takes a while to make, so you can make it well in advance. Get yourself a nice

0:58

big, heavy baking dish just like this one. A quick layer of potatoes on the bottom. No one's going

1:02

to be seeing these bottom layers, so you can make 'em as fancy as you want, or you can just throw it

1:07

down. Get yourself a handful of tasty cheese. So you can either use a vintage cheddar or Gruyere,

1:13

pour over a thin layer of that cream mixture. In between layers, kind of push down on those

1:19

potatoes like that. Now the reason, of course, that you layer these potatoes with the cheese

1:24

and the cream is so that it cooks nice and evenly, and when you cut through it later on,

1:28

that cheese will be beautifully dispersed all the way through. As you get towards the top,

1:32

you can start making these just a little prettier. Knowing that these first couple of layers are the

1:38

ones that people are going to see. 180 degrees for about an hour, don't cover it just straight

1:43

in the oven. The potatoes are done. They've been in for just on an hour. Look at that gorgeousness.

1:50

What could you serve this with? Anything. You could serve it with a piece of grilled fish. You

1:54

could serve it with some roast beef. That's the great thing about potatoes. They make everything

1:58

more delicious. The best part is this is just one incredible potato dish. I've got lots to show you.

2:08

My next potato of choice is the brush potato. Now this is kind of a baked potato, the hasselback,

2:13

but it's much, much more beautiful and it's way more tasty than just a simple baked potato. Here's

2:19

what you do. I want it to have a nice flat edge. So pick the prettiest side and then just trim off

2:24

just a little bit. Cut through the potato, but not all the way through. So here's the trick.

2:28

You get yourself a couple of wooden spoons. Put one on either side, and then you can just

2:32

cut straight on through about a centimetre apart from each other. The last little slice, don't go

2:37

all the way to the bottom. Just cut into it just a little. You can see how it's going to open up

2:42

as it cooks into the melted butter. We put some crushed garlic and a little bit of fresh thyme.