How to Finish the Whipped Potatoes

Shannon Overmiller: Hello, my name is Shannon Overmiller. I am the Executive Chef at the Majestic in Old Town Alexandria. Today we are making Home Style Meatloaf. While we bake the meatloaf which I previously showed you how to mix and bake the meatloaf, we'll make the side dishes while the meatloaf is baking. Right now we are going to go into making the whipped potatoes for the meatloaf. With the potatoes once they have reached the consistency that you desire, as I said that you have to fork, but not too much. So you see it still holds but it can come apart, it will break. That's the consistency you want. Yeah, see that fell apart but it's not mush okay. So now what you do is you take your potatoes, get a strainer and then you simply pour your potatoes into the colander. So after the potatoes have come out of the water, then you want to put them into a ricer or some sort of mechanism to make them more fine. Now you have hand held potatoes ricers as well. But we use at the restaurant a little bigger scale something underneath to catch the potato as it comes through. This is called the ricer, like I said they have little hand held ones that are just like a clamp almost like a garlic press that you can use. You put your potatoes into that and squeeze it, that's more designed for home. With this then you take your potatoes and they go through the mechanism. At this stage your potatoes have been put through the ricer and you want to go back into the pot at this stage. The pot that you cooked the potatoes in, no water of course. This process is called drying the potatoes out after they have been riced, you put them back into the pot on a low heat just to release the steam out of the potatoes and as I said this will help to ensure a fluffier, smoother whipped potato. This is a whipped potato not a mashed potato, there is a difference. We mash them, it's fine to do it at home as well, but just it have a heavier texture, more lumps, but this is a classic whipped potato. At this point you have reached a nice smooth consistency in your potato and the steam is now being released out, it's pretty much gone. So I am pretty much there. At this stage this is where I want to turn off the heat. Now I will add to my potatoes, butter, cold not freezing cold but room temperature I mean cold butter and heavy cream and salt. Lot generous in salt in potatoes it needs it, it really needs it. Potatoes are beautiful thing, you just have to treat them right, they are so good. A pinch or salt, a little nutmeg for your potatoes, just a pinch. Don't go crazy with it, you don't want to taste nutmeg but you want to add sort of a hint of it. Now you fold in your -- as we showed you earlier fold in your mixture off the heat, no fire now. So that was the whipped potatoes and now we will finish the gravy for the meatloaf.