In this video, Chef John blends three milks for an ultra-rich, velvety texture that’s unlike any mash you’ve had before. Perfect for special occasions or anytime you need that perfect steak side, these mashed potatoes are easy to whip up and make an especially indulgent addition to your meal.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with Tres Leches Mashed Potatoes.
00:08That's right, just like the cake that inspired the name, we're going to use three different
00:12kinds of milk to turn something already great into something extraordinary.
00:16And no, we're not using the exact same three milks, but as Meatloaf once said, two out
00:22of three ain't bad, which reminds me, these would be great with meatloaf.
00:27And to get started, let me show you how to actually peel potatoes.
00:30And the best way to do these is with nice long strokes, going all the way from the top
00:34of the potato to the bottom, which removes the most skin with the least effort.
00:38All right, what we don't want to be doing is slapping the potato with little strokes,
00:43taking off what I call micro peels.
00:45Okay, that's going to take you way longer.
00:48So like I said, use nice long steady strokes going all the way from the top to the bottom.
00:53And if you do that, this task is only going to take you a couple minutes.
00:57But no matter what method you use, we will peel five pounds of russet potatoes, transferring
01:01those into a bowl of water as we do.
01:04And once peeled, we can go ahead and cut these up.
01:07And for this, I'm recommending we quarter the potatoes, which we'll start by cutting
01:11them exactly in half right down the center.
01:13And then, and this is very important, we want to turn them up on the flat side, which makes
01:18it fairly easy to get a nice straight cut down the center.
01:20Okay, if you try to cut these on their side on a rounded surface, it's much, much harder.
01:26So that is my official recommendation for how to quarter these potatoes.
01:30And once our potatoes are cut in a nice big pot, we will head to the stove and we'll make
01:34sure they're covered with at least an inch or two of water, and we'll place those on
01:38high heat.
01:40And then we'll also want to salt these very generously with at least a couple tablespoons
01:43of salt, which is going to give us a nice head start on the seasoning.
01:47Okay, we can boil these with no salt and try to season later, but they just don't seem
01:51to come out tasting as good.
01:53And what we'll do is wait for this to come up to a boil, at which point we'll give our
01:56potatoes a quick stir.
01:58And I really want you to enjoy that stir, because it's going to be the last one.
02:02Okay, we don't want to keep stirring these as they boil, since we'll end up breaking
02:06off pieces from the edge.
02:08So that's going to be our one and only stir.
02:11And then what we'll do is reduce our heat down somewhere between low and medium low,
02:15and we will maintain a nice steady but very gentle simmer for as long as it takes for
02:19these potatoes to become very, very tender.
02:22And while we're waiting for that, we can put together our tres leches.
02:26And we'll begin that by very, very carefully reading the label on the first leche, which
02:31is going to be evaporated milk.
02:33So we need to check the label to make sure it doesn't say sweetened condensed milk.
02:38Or if you do use sweetened condensed milk instead, you're going to invent a new recipe
02:42that no one will want to eat.
02:45And once we're sure we have the right thing, we will add a half a cup to a saucepan, followed
02:49by a half a cup of plain regular milk.
02:52And I'm going full fat, but 2% would be fine.
02:56And then for our third and final leche, we will do a little bit of buttermilk, which
03:00will provide some beautiful tanginess, and help balance the richness and subtle sweetness
03:05of the evaporated milk.
03:07And once we have those milks combined, we will put those on the back of the stove on
03:11low heat, so that they're nice and hot when we add them to our potatoes.
03:15But we don't want that to boil or reduce, so make sure that's on very low, and we just
03:19basically want it hot.
03:22And then as far as checking our potatoes for doneness, I think the tip of a nice thin
03:25small knife is the best tool.
03:27And what we want is for that to slide in with no effort, but when it does, the potato doesn't
03:32fall apart.
03:33OK, if the potato falls apart when you test it, you went too far.
03:37Alright, it's OK for these potatoes to break up when we drain them, but they must not.
03:42They cannot break up while they're boiling.
03:45And once those are perfect, we will drain those very, very well, at which point I'm
03:49going to transfer them into a nice big bowl.
03:52And then give these an initial mashing with the classic wire-style potato masher, which
03:56I think is by far the best tool.
03:59And I think one of the keys to perfect mashed potatoes is to give them an initial mashing
04:03first before you start tossing in your other ingredients.
04:06Since the denser the mixture, the easier it is to mash everything nice and smooth.
04:12So we'll give those an initial mashing for about a half a minute or so, or until they
04:16look like this, at which point we will toss in the best butter we can find, which as you
04:21can see, I think we should slice into pieces.
04:24And we'll give this another mashing for about a half a minute, or until that butter disappears.
04:30And I know, they're already looking awesome, but hold on, they get much better.
04:35Since what we'll do after those have been buttered is season these up with a little
04:38more salt, some pepper, and I went with white pepper this time, as well as exactly three
04:44shakes of cayenne, one for good luck, one for good health, and one for good sleep.
04:51And then last but not least, we will transfer in our tres leches.
04:54But just to be safe, I don't put all of it in.
04:56I save a tablespoon or so, just in case I don't need it.
05:00And then, instead of finishing these by mashing them, we're going to use my late great mom
05:04Pauline's method, and finish these by using a hand mixer, which produces what we used
05:09to call back in the 70s, whipped potatoes.
05:12Oh yeah, you don't see whipped potatoes on menus anymore, and I'm not sure why, but by
05:17finishing these with an electric mixer on high speed, we're going to get an even lighter,
05:21even fluffier, more luxurious texture, which is why, by the way, you have to use russet
05:27potatoes.
05:28Okay, if you try this with red or yellow potatoes even, you're going to end up with something
05:32very stodgy and kind of gluey.
05:34So please make sure you're using the right potato.
05:37And that's it.
05:38Once our potatoes have been thoroughly whipped, we will grab a fork and give them a taste.
05:42And we're checking for two things.
05:44Do they need more salt, which mine didn't.
05:47And also we're checking the texture.
05:49And after doing so, I decided it could take those last couple tablespoons of milk, so
05:54I added that in and gave it one last whipping.
05:57And by the way, if you wanted to add some garlic to these, or maybe a little bit of
06:00fresh herb, go ahead.
06:02I mean, you are after all the Paul Rudd of your triple milk spud, but I decided to keep
06:07these fairly pure.
06:10And after mixing the last of my milk in, I gave that one last taste before transferring
06:14it into a serving bowl, even though I didn't need to and I knew it was perfect.
06:19But these potatoes are really hard not to taste.
06:22And then what I like to do after I transfer them into the bowl is take the edge of the
06:26spoon and go around making some ridges, not just to create some dramatic shadows and make
06:32it more visually interesting, but also to catch and hold on to the melted butter.
06:36I think we should drizzle over the top.
06:38Okay, on the list of common mashed potato complaints, too much butter does not appear.
06:43And once we've drizzled over some of that, we'll finish up with some freshly snipped
06:47chives, and that's it.
06:49My tres leches mashed potatoes were ready to enjoy.
06:53And just any perfectly made mashed potato using regular milk is great.
06:57But when you add in that little bit of tanginess from the buttermilk, plus that evaporated
07:01milk, which is richer because it's concentrated and has that little touch of extra sweetness,
07:07we're enjoying something that's even more delicious.
07:10And while these really do have an incredible flavor, I'm pretty sure what's going to
07:13impress you the most is the texture, which comes from salting the water and making sure
07:18our potatoes are cooked enough, and then giving them a pre-mash before we add the ingredients,
07:23and then of course finishing them by whipping them up nice and light and fluffy.
07:27And as good as these are eaten plain right out of the bowl, when you pair them with some
07:31meat and gravy, like this shawarma-spiced roast turkey breast, for example, you'll
07:36be able to appreciate them in all their glory.
07:39And glorious they were.
07:40But whether you serve these with some fancy turkey, or just a basic weeknight meatloaf,
07:45these are going to be some of the best mashed potatoes you've ever had.
07:49Which is why I really do hope you give them a try soon.
07:52So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,
07:55a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual.
07:58And as always, enjoy!