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There's nothing better than good old-fashioned mashed potatoes! Well, that's what I thought until I took a spoonful of these old-fashioned mashed potatoes with an new-fangled twist!
This recipe takes an old, predictably-good standby and ................ well, just brings it to a whole new level, without adding a lot of time and fuss. Throw a few parsnips in while cooking your potatoes along with a few cloves of garlic. A bit of butter and milk add creaminess and flavor then finish up by using a super simple method to create a spectacular presentation. You might just have a side dish that steals the show!
P.S. If you haven't cooked much with parsnips, you're in for a treat. They have a mellow, slightly sweet flavor and combine beautifully with the potatoes and yummy garlic. If you want to experiment a bit more with this under appreciated, delicious vegetable, check out this recipe for Simple Sticky Roasted Rosemary Root Veggies or this fabulous, fun Parsnip/Pecan Pound Cake. I have a feeling you might just get as hooked on them as I am!
- 4 pounds russet potatoes peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
- 4 medium parsnips about 12 ounces, peeled and cut into approximately 2 inch pieces
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ½ cup panko panko are Japanese bread crumbs.They are available at many grocery stores. I found them at Super Walmart in the Asian section.
- ¼ cup melted butter
- freshly ground black pepper
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Place potatoes, parsnips and garlic cloves into a medium size sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until potatoes are very tender when pierced with a fork.
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Mash potato mixture with a potato masher. Heat butter and milk in the microwave for one minute. Stir milk mixture into potato/parsnips, add salt and mash again until smooth and creamy.
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Either spoon or pipe potato mixture on to small individual size serving dishes or parchment-lined baking sheets leaving 2 inches between mounds.
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To pipe, place a large star tip on a pastry bag and fill bag with potato mixture. Pipe circular swirls into small serving dishes on parchment-lined baking sheet. If you don't have a pastry bag, snip one bottom corner off of a plastic zippered freezer bag. Place large star tip into snipped out opening in bag. Carefully spoon the potato mixture into bag. Squeeze the air out of bag and twist the top closed. To pipe, hold the filled bag perpendicular to the serving dish or baking sheet, then force the potato mixture through the top by squeezing the end of the bag with your writing hand and supporting the bag with your other hand. Pipe circular swirls.
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Sprinkle mounds or swirls with panko and drizzle with melted butter. I used about 1 teaspoon per swirl. Sprinkle liberally with freshly ground pepper.
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At this point the potatoes can be baked at 350˚ for 25-30 minutes until heated through and tips are slightly browned. They can also be frozen on a baking sheet, then wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a zip lock bag. To bake frozen potatoes, remove while still frozen from bag and place on a baking sheet. Allow to unthaw for 1 hour then bake as directed above.
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