Chantilly Mashed Potatoes

This is just a simple variation on your basic mashed potato that makes them special.  The name alone makes you feel like you are having a fancy dinner, doesn't it? But really, you are just adding cream and parmesan to your mashed potatoes. Now - I want to say - this is a GREAT dish for fussy eaters. I normally do not like cheese anywhere near my potatoes. No potato skins, no cheese fries, no cheddar in my baked potato. Nothing. But there isn't a lot of cheese here and it's very mild.  Even my very fussy children love it when I make these.

Yummy!

 

Now, I could go into how to make mashed potatoes, blah, blah, blah. But, I am going to assume you know how to make them. If you don't, you can use a box or buy the ready made in the supermarket.  One thing I will say, if you make them from scratch, use an electric hand mixer, not a hand masher. You want these to be as smooth as possible. No lumps.  Also - please salt your water when you cook your potatoes. You can't add that flavor in later on. I know some people are very salt conscious - but that salt brings out the flavor and no amount of table salt after the fact can make up for not having the salt in when you cook them. [climbs down off her soap box]


Ok.... so - you have your mashed potatoes already made - one way or another. Season them with butter, salt and pepper. (I used 24 oz of potatoes - about 3 cups)

Now we are going to turn them into Chantilly Mashed Potatoes!

Approx. 1 tbsp. softened butter
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese - divided
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Grease the inside of a 9x13 baking dish (or large round casserole) with the softened butter. Be sure to get the bottom and all up the sides to the rim.  Put the breadcrumbs in the dish and shake/turn to cover the entire buttered surface. Dump out any extra crumbs. Set dish aside.

this is what your dish should look like



Whip the heavy cream in a metal bowl until soft peaks form.  Beat 1/3 of the whipped cream into the mashed potatoes along with 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese.  Fold in the remaining whipped cream gently.  Spread potato mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over the top of the potatoes.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.  If desired, you can finish them off under the broiler for a minute or two to get a darker, crispier top.

You can also add seasoning to the potatoes, such as rosemary (one of my favorites with potatoes!), garlic, onion, etc.  You could even sprinkle the top with crumbled bacon.  Because you are using parmesan as opposed to cheddar or any other, stronger cheese, you will only get a very mild flavor - but very nice.  Also, the cheese on top won't melt and get bubbly. Instead it makes a lovely crust. And you won't ever have creamy potatoes!

This dish comes together very quickly but looks like something very complicated when you bring it to the table.  When I made these at Thanksgiving my dinner guests were very impressed and could not stop talking about how much they loved the potatoes.

Hope you enjoy!