In cooking, the name of many dishes is directly related to the way they are prepared. So, for example, "crushed" is a product that has a puree-like appearance. It got such an unusual name because in order to cook a boiled vegetable, it is necessary to crush it with the help of special devices until it turns into a lush homogeneous mass. How to make a “crushed” and what is needed to make it really tasty?

The simplest option

Any housewife can tell you how to make a pusher. True, each has its own special recipe for this. Nevertheless, there is the simplest standard algorithm, according to which such a process consists of the following steps:

1. First, potatoes need to be washed and peeled.
2. After that, the fruits must be boiled, adding a little salt at the very end.
3. Then the water must be drained.
4. Then the potatoes must be softened in any convenient way.
5. Enter additional ingredients.
6. Knead again to make the mixture as homogeneous as possible. If the mass is dry, then it can be diluted by adding a little liquid.

By following all the above steps step by step, you can easily figure out how to make a “push”. Numerous recipes for this popular dish differ from each other, mainly in the list of additional components. With their help, the product acquires a certain taste and unique aroma. The main addition for potatoes is butter. Usually it is added at the rate of 100 grams per 0.5 kilograms of the main product. As a result, the puree becomes soft, tender and acquires a pleasant creamy taste.

National features

Different nations have their own idea of ​​what mashed potatoes should be like. This is due to long-term national traditions and habits. For example, the French have their own opinion on how to make a "crush". To do this, they need to have:

for 800 grams - potatoes a glass of whole milk, 3 tablespoons of granular mustard, 8 sprigs of tarragon and 150 milliliters of fatty sour cream.

The cooking method in this case is very similar to the standard version:

1. First of all, peeled potatoes must be boiled by putting them in a pot of water.
2. At this time, the leaves of the tarragon should be cut off from the branches and finely chopped.
3. When ready, drain the water from the potatoes, and mash the boiled vegetables themselves into a puree. Usually, a special pusher is used for this.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients according to the recipe and salt, focusing on your own taste.

Then the products must be mixed again. Only after that, the “crushed” can be eaten.

popular way

To have an idea about real mashed potatoes, you need to know how to make a "crush" with milk. This component after butter is considered the most important. It is with its help that it is possible to obtain a soft and delicate finished product. Of the many recipes for this, the best option is the one in which there are:

500 grams of potatoes, 100 milliliters of milk (or cream), salt, 30 grams of butter and 1 raw chicken egg.

It's not hard to make this puree. For this you need:

1. Peel the potatoes from the skin. Large specimens are best cut into pieces.
2. Boil water in a saucepan separately.
3. Dip the prepared vegetables in it and add a little salt. The water must not completely cover the product. It is better to drain the excess.
4. After boiling again, reduce the heat slightly. Cooking time is typically 20 to 30 minutes.
5. When ready, drain the water, and put the oil in the hot potatoes.
6. Mix the products well, and then mash them using a pusher.
7. Add preheated milk and continue whisking.
8. Without stopping the process, add the beaten egg.

Worthy replacement

Not always the necessary products are at hand. Therefore, one must be prepared for different situations and clearly know, for example, how to make a “crushed” without milk. In this case, you will need:

for 1.2 kilograms of potatoes - 1 onion, one and a half teaspoons of salt, 2 bay leaves and 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise.

Everything is done very simply:

1. First, the potatoes must be peeled and put in a pan. Large tubers need to be cut so that they can boil better.
2. Pour vegetables with water and put on fire.
3. Immediately put a whole onion there.
4. After boiling, add salt and bay leaves.
5. As soon as the tubers are boiled, the water should be poured out, leaving only 1 glass of liquid. Onions and leaves can be thrown away. They won't be needed anymore.
6. With rhythmic movements of the pusher, mash the potatoes so that there are no lumps left in it.
7. Add mayonnaise and continue vigorous mixing.

Ready mashed potatoes will be an excellent side dish for almost any hot dish.

Perfect puree

A good hostess to replenish her culinary experience should know several options for how to make a delicious “crushed”. After all, in life you need to be prepared for various surprises. For example, there is a recipe that allows you to make mashed potatoes simply unique. For work you will need:

5 potatoes, a lot of salt, olive oil, onion, ground pepper and coriander.

Puree is prepared in three stages:

1. First, the potatoes must be washed, and then boiled in the usual way.
2. In a separate pan, sauté the chopped onion in olive oil. At the very end, add pepper, coriander and a little salt. With each of these ingredients, you need to be very careful, as an excessive amount of even one of them can ruin everything.
3. Combine both components and mix well.
4. Ceiling potatoes with frying.

Such a fragrant "crushed" is perfect as a side dish for fish cooked in any way. And to make it as airy as possible, it is better to use a mixer or an immersion blender for mixing.

- a popular and tasty side dish that both adults and children eat with pleasure. The method of its preparation is quite simple, and it is combined with almost all products: fish, meat, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs.

Despite the simplicity of the dish, there are some rules and secrets for preparing delicious and healthy mashed potatoes with an airy and tender texture.

With the help of spices, seasonings, herbs, you can diversify the dish, make it spicier, spicier, more refined and change its usual taste. How to make mashed potatoes tasty and tender?

How to choose potatoes for cooking

The main ingredient of the dish is potatoes, and the taste and lightness of mashed potatoes depend on the correct choice of it. The starch contained in potato tubers affects the fluffiness of mashed potatoes. The more starch, the more magnificent and tastier the dish will turn out!

To find out if this variety of potatoes is suitable for mashing, cut the tuber into two parts, and spoil them together. Now connect the halves together. If there is enough starch, the halves of the potato will stick tightly to each other, if not, then this potato variety is low in starch and is not suitable for cooking.

Technology for cooking mashed potatoes

In addition to the correct choice of potato variety, it is necessary to observe the technology of its cooking:

• Wash potatoes, peel and cut into quarters. Do not keep the cut vegetable for a long time in cold water, but immediately put it in boiling water to boil. With a long stay in cold water, the starch is washed out.
• In order for the potatoes to cook evenly, they should be cooked on low heat, with the lid closed. Equally important is the amount of water for cooking. The water should just barely cover the sliced ​​potatoes.
• Cooking time - within 15-20 minutes, you should not digest the vegetable, as it will disintegrate, and the puree will no longer be so tasty, and when whipped, lumps may form in it. To check if the potatoes are ready, pierce them with a fork or a toothpick - they should easily pierce the slice.
• As soon as the potatoes are ready, the water must be drained. To knead it, use a pusher, preferably a wooden one, a blender or a mixer. Experienced chefs advise mashing boiled potatoes with a masher - the puree is unusually soft and airy.

How to make mashed potatoes with milk

To make puree, you will need milk and butter, some recipes include a chicken egg or one egg yolk. The tenderness and taste of mashed potatoes depend on the quality and quantity of butter. Do not use butter substitutes for whipping potatoes: spread, margarine, when using them, the taste of the dish will only worsen and it will not be as useful as with butter.

Calculate the amount of butter approximately 50-100 grams per 0.5 kg of potatoes. In addition to butter, milk gives a delicate creamy taste to mashed potatoes. Its amount should be calculated "by eye", depending on what kind of puree consistency you want to get. Milk should be added hot so that when served, the dish is warm, not cold. There is an opinion that the temperature of the milk affects the color of the puree. This is wrong.

Its color is influenced by the type of potato, which can give the dish a light, creamy, or yellowish hue. Beat the potatoes with a wooden masher until the potato-creamy mass is creamy and smooth, and the lumps disappear. The splendor and lightness of the dish depends on the intensity and vigor of whipping. To facilitate the work, you can use kitchen helpers: a mixer or a blender.

The most delicious mashed potato recipes

Recipe number 1. Classic recipe for mashed potatoes with milk

Puree Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• potatoes - 1 kg;
• milk - about 200 ml;
• butter -50-100 grams;
• salt.

For classic mashed potatoes, boil the chopped potatoes, drain the water. Thoroughly crush it, add soft butter and hot milk, continuing to whisk the mass intensively. When it becomes airy, soft, salt the dish, it is ready to serve.

Recipe number 2. "Paprika" puree with bell pepper

Bulgarian pepper and spices give the dish an unusual taste, aroma and color. "Paprichnaya" Mashed potatoes decorate the festive table.

Ingredients:

• potatoes - 4-5 pcs;
• Bulgarian red pepper - 1pc;
• butter4
• spices: ketchup with bell pepper - 100 ml, thyme, basil, salt.

How to cook:

• Boil peeled, quartered potatoes.
• While it is cooking, prepare the pepper: wash, de-seed and cut into pieces. Add pieces of pepper to the boiled potatoes 10 minutes after it boils and continue to cook.
• After the vegetables are cooked, drain the water from the pan. The peculiarity of the recipe is that it does not use milk, but the water in which the vegetables were cooked, so drain the water into a separate container.
• Mash vegetables with a masher, adding water after cooking and ketchup, turning them into a puree mass. The spicier the ketchup, the spicier the dish will taste.
• Add a piece of butter, spices: thyme, basil to the mixture and mix. Serve the aromatic dish hot.

Recipe number 3. Mashed potatoes with cream cheese and tomatoes

This is a gourmet dish often served in Italian restaurants that you can cook at home for your family. The taste of this puree is unforgettable and very unusual, not at all like the classic one.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 5-6 pcs;
• Tomatoes -2 pieces of medium size;
• Creamy soft cheese - 100 gr;
• Butter, sunflower oil;
• Seasonings: 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp sesame seeds, salt

How to cook:

1. Boil potatoes, cut into 4 parts in water, after boiling water, salt.
2. Wash the tomatoes, cut into cubes (finely), also chop the garlic. In a hot frying pan, greased with butter, fry the garlic quickly and add tomato slices to it. Fry vegetables for a few minutes, sprinkle with sesame seeds at the end.
3. Let's get started on making this amazing puree. Mash the potatoes by adding some of the liquid left after boiling the potatoes, cheese and butter.
4. Put the fried vegetables from the pan into the potato mass, mix and serve hot to the table.

Recipe number 4. French-style mashed potatoes with mustard

Spicy, refined taste of this puree is given by French Dijon mustard with grains, and sour cream, which can also be replaced with heavy cream, will make the dish juicy.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 5-6 pieces;
• Sour cream or cream (fat) -100 ml;
• Pine nuts;
• Dijon mustard - 3 tbsp, spices, salt.\

How to cook:

1. Boil the potatoes until cooked, after boiling, do not forget to salt.
2. Toast the pine nuts in a hot dry frying pan (4-5 minutes) and chop them.
3. Crush the boiled potatoes with a pusher, gradually pouring in the liquid remaining during cooking. Add sour cream or warmed cream, nuts and mustard to the mixture. Blend everything together until smooth and fluffy and serve.

Recipe number 5. Mashed potatoes with cheese

Ingredients:

• Potato - 0.5 kg;
• Butter - 50-100 grams;
• Hard cheese -200 grams;
• Garlic - 2 cloves, salt, pepper.

Cooking:

1. Boil potatoes in boiling water, drain. Blend it to a puree consistency.
2. Peel the garlic, fry in butter for about 2 minutes.
3. Grate hard cheese.
4. Add garlic, cheese, butter, salt and pepper to the crushed potatoes. Serve cream cheese puree hot.

Recipe number 6. Mashed potatoes "Tenderness"

Mashed potatoes prepared according to this recipe are unusually tender and very tasty. Your household will rightly appreciate the recipe, and will beg to cook this dish again!

Ingredients:

• Potato-12 pcs;
• Milk cream - 0.5 cups;
• Butter - 2 tbsp;
• salt.

Cooking:

1. Boil potatoes, drain water. Cover the pot with the potatoes with a towel and put it on a slow fire. Dry the boiled potatoes a little so that moisture evaporates from it. This is done so that the dry potatoes can absorb the butter and cream as much as possible.
2. Mash the potatoes thoroughly so that there are no lumps.
3. Add butter to the mashed potatoes (pre-melt it using the microwave).
4. Add hot cream or milk to the mixture, continuing to beat until creamy.
5. Add salt, spices. We serve to the table.

Recipe number 7. Mashed potatoes with pumpkin and sage

How to cook a delicious, bright and very fragrant puree? The bright yellow pumpkin in this super-recipe gives the dish a sunny color, and the sage makes the dish fragrant.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 0.5 kg;
• Pumpkin - 0.4 kg;
• Parmesan - 50 grams;
• Drain oil - 50 grams;
• Milk-200 ml;
• Sage - 4 sprigs, nutmeg, salt

Cooking:

1. Boil potatoes, drain water.
2. In a separate bowl, boil the pumpkin cut into large pieces, add a sprig of sage for flavor and cook for about 10 minutes.
3. Parmesan should be grated on a coarse grater.
4. In a frying pan, in butter, lightly sage sage sprigs to make sage oil.
5. Boiled vegetables: Mash potatoes and pumpkin until pureed, gradually adding hot milk, parmesan, sage oil and seasoning with nutmeg. Salt to taste.

How to make mashed potatoes tasty and tender - the secrets and subtleties of cooking:

• One important point in preparing a tasty and healthy puree is the thorough cleaning of potato tubers from eyes, dark spots, and unripe places. It is unacceptable to get them into the dish.
• The best cut for cooking potatoes is to cut the tuber into 4 parts, a finely chopped vegetable loses a lot of useful substances during cooking.
• To give the dish lightness and splendor - beat it several times. The first is a pusher, the second is a mixer.
• In addition to milk and the liquid where the potatoes were boiled, you can use hot meat broth.
• By adding an egg, you will add nutrition to the mashed potatoes and make them more satisfying.
• As spices and seasonings, green onions, thyme, basil, nutmeg, saffron are added to the dish.

Making mashed potatoes? It would seem that there is nothing easier. But it wasn't there... For some reason, sometimes it turns out to be completely tasteless, here the most appropriate characteristic is “none”. I used to think that it all depends on the crop and the variety of potatoes. And that if you already got such a potato, then you can’t fix it. It turned out that it is possible, and it is quite simple to do it.

Recently, from my friend's mother, a woman with a "huge" culinary experience, who periodically moonlights as a cook at weddings, I learned a win-win recipe for making delicious mashed potatoes. At first I didn't believe it. that he is able to make tasty even a not very successful potato crop. But no - it works! It's ingeniously simple! Forgot to mention? that this recipe was inherited from an aunt who worked as a cook at a government dacha in the Crimea back in Soviet times!

I know two recipes for making mashed potatoes. The first method is that after the potatoes are boiled, water is drained from it, butter and milk are added. The second method is to add butter and a raw chicken egg to the boiled potatoes, while leaving a little of the water in which the potatoes were boiled, then pound. There is also a variation with butter, milk and a chicken egg.

In general, having tried mashed potatoes at a party, my husband admired his taste. And the mother of a friend said that this puree is prepared with the addition of onions. I was very much surprised by this fact - it was completely inaudible in the dish. And then we asked about all the nuances of making branded mashed potatoes. So, the onion gives the potatoes a special slightly sweetish aftertaste, during the cooking process it is cooked for the same amount of time as the potatoes, it becomes soft and after it has already been crushed along with the potatoes, it becomes “invisible” and imperceptible to taste.

To make delicious mashed potatoes, you will need:

potatoes - 800 g
onion - 1 pc.
bay leaf - 1 pc.
butter - 70 g
salt - to taste
ground black pepper - on the tip of a knife (optional)

How to make delicious mashed potatoes:

1. Peel, wash and cut each potato into quarters to speed up the cooking process. Then pour water, put on the stove and bring to a boil.

2. Peel the onion and finely chop.

3. After the potatoes have boiled, collect the foam, add finely chopped onions to the pan. Add the bay leaf, let it simmer for a couple of minutes, and then take it out, because if overcooked, it can give a bitter taste.

4. Salt and lightly pepper the potatoes, this is optional. When to salt potatoes? The question is very interesting. Everyone salts it in different ways, to whom it is more convenient. But personally, I am a staunch supporter of the fact that you need to salt when the potatoes are half-cooked or almost ready, that is, closer to the end. It is noticed that in salted water, potatoes are cooked longer and acquire an unpleasant aftertaste. And if you put vegetables in salted water, then useful nutrients are digested from them faster. Therefore, it is considered that it is best to salt 2-3 minutes before the end of cooking. It is better not to add salt, in this case you can solve the problem by adding spices to water or milk, then thoroughly mash the potatoes.

5. Drain excess potato broth into a bowl for safety net, leave water in a saucepan, at a level corresponding to a little less than half of the finished potato. Add butter

It's hard to think of a more classic side dish than mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are a welcome dish not only on the festive table, but also on ordinary weekdays. Mashed potatoes can be served with a variety of dishes: fried chicken, roast turkey, stew, or as the main ingredient in shepherd's pie. Mashed potatoes can be fluffy and creamy, or thicker and richer in flavor. In any case, mashed potatoes are not at all a monotonous side dish. After reading this article, you will learn how to make delicious mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

• 4 or 5 medium sized potatoes

• 1/2 - 1 cup milk or chicken broth (depending on how you want to puree)

• 2 or 3 tablespoons butter

• Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

Village puree preparation

Choose a potato. When choosing potatoes, think about what you will cook from it. Different varieties of potatoes intended for boiling, frying, baking have different properties, as well as taste and texture.

1. Wash the potatoes. Wash each potato thoroughly with cold water. Carefully inspect each potato so that there is no dirt left anywhere. If you wash your potatoes in a bowl of water, do so thoroughly before cutting the potatoes.

   • You can use a small brush specially designed for washing potatoes. You will be able to remove all the dirt.

2. You can either cook the potatoes with the skins on, or you can peel the skins before cutting the potatoes into pieces. Cut the potatoes into quarters or cut them into cubes.

   • If you decide to boil potatoes with their skins on, be aware that this will affect the texture of the mashed potatoes. Therefore, it is better to use Yukon Gold, as this variety of potatoes has a thin skin than Russet potatoes.

3. Prepare potatoes.

   • Use chicken broth if you want a richly flavored puree. Thanks to milk, you can cook potatoes with a creamy taste.
   • If you heat milk or broth, your puree will stay hot longer. In addition, potatoes absorb warm liquids better.
4. • Crushing potatoes is better than a regular crush. However, do not overdo it, otherwise you will get mashed potatoes of the wrong consistency, which is suggested by this recipe. Small pieces and peel should remain intact.

5. Add milk or broth. Do it gradually. Stir gently and add a little more liquid if you think your potatoes are dry. Continue adding liquid gradually until the mashed potatoes are the right consistency.

6. Add spices and serve. Add salt, pepper and/or more oil to taste. Serve the puree warm.

   • Alternatively, you can add chopped onions or peppers to your dish.

   Making Creamy Smooth Mashed Potatoes

   1. Choose a potato. When choosing potatoes, consider what you will cook from it. Different varieties of potatoes intended for boiling, frying, baking have different properties, as well as taste and texture.

      • Russet is a common potato variety with a high starch content. Nothing beats it when baking and making light and fluffy mashed potatoes.
      • Use potatoes that are low in starch, such as red skinned potatoes. Such potatoes are sometimes called waxy, they keep their shape better than other varieties.
      • You can cook various dishes from Yukon Gold potatoes. You can fry, boil, bake this variety of potatoes. If you decide to make mashed potatoes from this variety of potatoes, you will get a delicious dish with a creamy taste.

   2. Wash the potatoes. Wash each potato thoroughly with cold water. Carefully inspect each potato so that there is no dirt left anywhere. If you wash your potatoes in a bowl of water, do so thoroughly before you cut the potatoes.

      Prepare potatoes for cooking. Peel the potatoes before cutting them into pieces. Cut the potatoes into quarters or cut them into cubes. The larger the pieces, the longer the potatoes will cook.

      Prepare potatoes. Place the prepared potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Potatoes should be covered with water for a few centimeters. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 20 minutes. Check the readiness of the potatoes with a fork. The potatoes should be soft when pierced with a fork.

   3. Prepare additional ingredients. While the potatoes are cooking, heat up the chicken broth or milk and remove the butter from the refrigerator.

      • Use milk or cream if you want creamy mashed potatoes. You can use cream and milk together by taking these ingredients in equal amounts.
      • If you warm the milk, your puree will stay hot longer. In addition, potatoes absorb warm liquids better.

   4. Drain the water and prepare the potatoes. Use a colander to drain water from potatoes. Put the pot back on the stove. Add room temperature butter and mash potatoes.

      • The best tool for making fluffy and creamy puree is a boiled vegetable press. You need to fill the vegetable puree bowl with boiled potatoes and press down. As a result, you will get a gentle creamy puree.

   5. Add milk and cream. Do it gradually. Stir gently and add a little more liquid if you think your potatoes are dry. Continue adding liquid gradually until the mashed potatoes are the right consistency.

      • Do not add all the milk or broth at once. You can end up adding too much liquid and end up with potato soup instead of mashed potatoes. Add liquid according to the type of potato and its level of starch.

Mashed potatoes are the most popular and beloved side dish in our country. It is difficult to say which dish the hostesses cook as often as mashed potatoes. It is truly universal: tasty, plastic, allows you to experiment with design. Mashed potatoes are wonderfully combined with any meat, vegetables, fish, leaving a feeling of satiety for a long time. Perhaps, in Russia, in popularity, this dish confidently overtakes even pasta, not to mention cereals and vegetables.

But in order for puree to really deliver pleasure - and not only in taste, but also in appearance - it must be properly prepared. It doesn't require any special talent. According to the classical canons (or rather, technical and technological maps developed in the blessed Soviet years), this dish is prepared from boiled potatoes, butter, milk and salt. All. No secret ingredients, no fancy electrical appliances. Armed with an ordinary wooden pestle, you can make the perfect mashed potatoes.

Cook the right potatoes the right way

For the perfect puree, you want to buy the best, young, freshly harvested potatoes. And this is exactly what you shouldn't do. Young potatoes have their own charm: they are crumbly, tasty, but completely unsuitable for mashing. It is better to cook it in its uniform, and for mashed potatoes, take potatoes from the previous crop. Of course, this does not mean that the tubers should be green and sprouted.

Elastic, with a smooth dense skin, the tubers are cleaned, washed thoroughly with water and boiled until cooked, dipped in hot water. Salt should be as soon as the water boils. You don’t need to cut the potatoes very finely: this way, of course, it will cook faster, but it will lose a lot of starch. As soon as the potatoes are ready, they need to be drained and slightly dried over a fire.

Everything must be hot.

Directly preparing mashed potatoes is as easy as shelling pears: dried potatoes are kneaded, and during this process butter and milk are added to it in several steps. The main problem that most cooks have when making mashed potatoes is color and consistency. Let us omit the cases when, in order to save money, water is taken instead of butter - here one cannot count on excellent results. But even with the right ingredients, mashed potatoes can be too gooey and nasty greyish. And the secret is that mashed potatoes should be made exclusively from hot potatoes, the temperature of which is not lower than 80 ° C. The butter and milk added to the potatoes should also be hot. This mixture of hot ingredients will give you smooth, creamy white mashed potatoes.

Options are possible

Any self-respecting chef will try to improve the classic mashed potatoes depending on the moment. Sometimes it turns out so beautifully if you add curly parsley, finely chopped dill or carrot puree to ordinary puree. For children, you can build whole pictures of mashed potatoes, vegetables and herbs on a plate. Sophisticated gourmets emphasize the taste of mashed potatoes with ground pepper, garlic, cheese and even nuts. But most importantly, never reheat cold mashed potatoes. Its shelf life is only two hours. After that, mashed potatoes can be used to make potato pie, zraz, casseroles, fillings, but it can no longer be a side dish.