Everyone knows how to make mashed potatoes. This knowledge is written in our subconscious, somewhere between fried potatoes and scrambled eggs.

The best side dish of all times and peoples of the post-Soviet space is mashed potatoes, and this is not discussed. But boiled potatoes are so boring on weekdays that you don’t want to cook them for a holiday. Of course, nowadays there is no time for delights, because you want it on a budget and tasty. Therefore, you don’t have to give up tender and soft puree, you just need to learn how to serve it beautifully on the table!

I present to your attention 12 ideas from styrnet on how to serve mashed potatoes so that they become the signature dish on the holiday table.

UNUSUAL WAYS TO SERVE MASHED POTATOES

The simplest and most original way is to make shaped pyramids out of the puree using a pastry syringe.

Place the puree on top of the minced meat and vegetables and bake the dish for a few minutes in the oven.

Cover a small portion of a meat dish with a portion of a delicate side dish.

Great idea for potato ice cream!

No one will guess that puff pastries can contain delicious mashed potatoes.

Guests will be surprised by spicy mashed potatoes with dill in glasses. Add a layer of sour cream between the potatoes to enhance the flavor of the dish.

Try throwing a potato party too!

Fake pig made from mashed potatoes will appeal to adults and children. To keep the dish in shape, add hard cheese to the potatoes. Inside you can put fried minced meat with onions and vegetables.

Make a colorful side dish by adding carrot, spinach or beet juice to the puree. And you can mask the excess taste with spices and aromatic herbs.

Colored potato balls will decorate any holiday!

Another option for oven-baked potato pyramids.

Gorgeous potato pears!

And if time is short, there is a little trick on how to cook jacket potatoes in a couple of minutes. You need to fill the washed tubers with water, wrap the container tightly with cling film and place it in the microwave. Cook at maximum power for 5-7 minutes, the time depends on the size of the potatoes.

According to the site - http://maminy-shpargalki.com/

Anastasia Orlova | 11/12/2015 | 3089

Anastasia Orlova 11/12/2015 3089

It would seem that nothing could be simpler - boil the potatoes, mash them and serve them as a side dish or an independent dish. However, this can be done in non-standard ways.

1. Kaleidoscope on a plate

Divide the puree into three equal parts. Add finely chopped parsley or spinach puree to one, finely grated beets to the other, carrot juice or finely grated boiled carrots to the third.

Place colorful portions of puree on one plate and serve to your guests.

2. Potato roses

Using a pastry syringe or a bag with a shaped nozzle, make beautiful roses from the puree on a greased baking sheet. Bake them until golden brown in the oven and serve as a holiday dish.

3. Cobweb

Place a portion of mashed potatoes on a dish and smooth it out with a spoon. Ketchup
draw a web.

Cut the green onion feathers into six equal pieces, bend each in the middle and along the edges. Place onions in the shape of spider legs on the drawn web, and an olive on them.

Make eyes from canned corn (cut the grain across, without cutting all the way through, unfold the halves) and small pieces of olive.

4. Cheerful clown

Distribute the mashed potatoes on a plate and level it out - it will be the face of a clown, place fresh cabbage salad on top in the form of a head of hair.

Make eyes from boiled quail eggs and pieces of olives. Cheeks and mouth - from boiled carrots; bow - made from boiled sausage and corn grains.

Most often, not a single holiday feast is complete without potatoes. Every time housewives try to come up with new and original ways to serve it in order to give an ordinary dish some zest. We have prepared a wonderful recipe for potato roses, which is definitely worth taking note of. Who would have thought that potatoes could be served so beautifully! It turns out very tasty and requires minimal effort. INGREDIENTS boiled potatoes salt and pepper 2 egg yolks melted butter nutmeg (optional) PREPARATION Mash the potatoes boiled in salted water. Add yolks and butter. Then add salt and pepper. Add a pinch of nutmeg if desired. Beat well with a spoon. The mass should be homogeneous and without lumps. Using a piping bag fitted with a star tip, pipe rosettes onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 190 degrees for about 20 minutes. Serve this delicious side dish hot. It’s hard not to appreciate such an original presentation!

Potatoes under sails))

The originality of this dish is in its design.. The rest of the dish is very simple, essentially potatoes baked with lard and garlic. Although potatoes baked in this way acquire an excellent, juicy, aromatic, and satisfying taste. The lard is rendered, becoming simply weightless, literally melting in your mouth. Such an original side dish as potatoes under sail in the oven will look unusual even on a holiday table. We will need: potatoes to taste salted lard to taste garlic to taste recipe Prepare the ingredients for making potatoes with lard. The number of products is arbitrary, depending on the eaters in your family)). Each “boat” represents half a potato. It will require one piece of lard. In addition, the recipe will require wooden toothpicks. It is better to use large, smooth potatoes. We wash it and dry it with a towel. Lard can be used salted or smoked. Cut the lard into small rectangular pieces. Peel and wash the garlic. Peel the potatoes, wash them and cut them into two halves lengthwise. Mix vegetable oil with crushed garlic, generously coat the half-potatoes, place them on a baking sheet. Sprinkle salt on top, sprinkle with red pepper, seasonings to your taste and stick lard on a toothpick in the shape of a sail. To make the halves stand straight, you can slightly cut off the lower part. Bake in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees, until cooked, 30-35 minutes. checking readiness with a toothpick. During baking, take out the baking sheet 1-2 times and pour the resulting fat over the potatoes. The lard melts and becomes simply weightless, melting in your mouth... Mmmmm.... Place the potatoes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees and bake until done for 30-35 minutes.

Potato cheesecakes

POTATO COOKIES Friends, I was making potato cheesecakes. I've had the recipe for a long time. In general, I did it almost exactly according to it, the only thing was that I had more potatoes and no greens. But let me tell you in order! For the dough (I’m writing as it was in the recipe) 0.5 kg of potatoes (I had more than a kilogram for sure, I can’t cook in small portions. Well, what is half a kilo of potatoes, I ask you?! It will take you longer to peel them than to eat them !) 2 eggs - one in the potato dough, one - to grease the cheesecakes themselves 2 tablespoons of flour (I put a heaping amount of flour) greens - I didn’t have cheese (grated, put on top of the cheesecakes) salt - to taste I also added a little curry. This is already when the potatoes are crushed. Filling 250 g minced chicken (I didn’t weigh it, to be honest. I had two chicken fillets. I put them through the meat grinder) 2 onions (I added one, but a large one) 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise (I didn’t add it at all!) Added it to the minced meat when it was ready I overcooked the grated tomato and garlic to taste (I forgot about the garlic). (next time I will add garlic not to the minced meat, but to the potato dough, as I do when I prepare potato casserole) Preparation I rolled the chicken fillet with a good onion, salted it, pepper it and grated the tomato into it. I fried the minced meat, but forgot to take a photo! (I didn’t add garlic or mayonnaise) Boiled the potatoes. I drained the water. Added an egg, butter, flour and a little curry. (I didn’t add any greens. I didn’t have any.) Let the dough cool. Grease a baking sheet with butter (not thickly) and place potato cakes on it. Brush with egg. On top - stuffing - minced meat. For minced meat - grated cheese. And place in a preheated oven. The recipe says for 15 minutes. They cooked in my oven a little longer - 20-25 minutes (I checked how melted the cheese was) Done! *************************************** ALSO SEE THE BEST RECIPES VISIT THE LINK

To make the puree smooth and airy, choose starchy varieties. These are round potatoes with light brown skin and light flesh. Starchy potatoes become very soft when cooked, which ensures the delicate consistency of the puree.

But it is better not to use potatoes with red skin. It does not boil so much, and the puree may end up with lumps.

What to put in mashed potatoes, except potatoes

Classic mashed potatoes would not be complete without cream. If you want the dish to have a sophisticated aroma, add a few sprigs of thyme, rosemary or other herbs to the liquid and heat over low heat.

Skillet.lifehacker.com

Another product that makes mashed potatoes tasty and airy is butter. Do not feel sorry for it and do not skimp when purchasing: the oil should be high in fat content. As an alternative, you can take refined sunflower or olive oil. However, the taste of the puree in this case will be slightly different.

skillet.lifehacker.com

Both milk and butter should be at room temperature. If they are cold, the potatoes will cool faster and the mashed potatoes will have to be stirred longer. This means that it may turn out sticky.

Some people add a few tablespoons of sour cream, mayonnaise, natural yogurt or grated cheese to mashed potatoes. You can also add a raw egg, fried onions or mushrooms for flavor.

If you want to give the mashed potatoes an unusual color, boil the potatoes along with beets, carrots or pumpkin.

Fresh herbs will add a special aroma to the finished puree. It can be stirred with the rest of the ingredients or sprinkled on the dish.

How to make mashed potatoes

Peel the tubers and cut them into equal large cubes. This way the potatoes will cook more evenly.

Place the cubes in a saucepan and fill with cold water so that it covers them by about 1 cm. Salt and put on fire.

By the way, people are still arguing about when to salt the puree. Alone Perfect Mashed Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes with Buttermilk, Black Pepper and Green Onion chefs salt at the beginning, others Emeril Lagasse's Garlic Mashed Potatoes- at the end, third Mashed Potatoes, Kind Of Robuchon-Style- after the water boils. Famous professionals also have divided opinions about what kind of water to put potatoes in: cold Perfect Mashed Potatoes or already boiling How to make mashed potatoes.

One thing is certain: the potatoes must be completely boiled. It is easier to check the degree of readiness with a knife. It should pierce the potato cube easily.

pluckytree/Flickr.com

When the potatoes are ready, drain the liquid from the pan, drain the cubes in a colander and dry them slightly. To do this, you need to put them back into the hot pan and leave for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. This will evaporate excess liquid from the potatoes, which is not needed at all in the puree.

Remember: the colder the potatoes, the more difficult it is to mash them.

The puree should not be mixed in a blender: because of this, it can become viscous, sticky and, of course, tasteless. It is better to make the puree by hand using a masher with holes. This won't take much effort because the starchy potatoes become very soft after boiling.

To prepare mashed potatoes from harder varieties, you can use a potato press. It will help get rid of lumps.

LexnGer/Flickr.com

Then you need to add the remaining ingredients to the puree and mix well. Do not waste time and effort on this if you want the puree to be airy. At the end, you can season the puree with spices to taste and mix everything again.

Bonus: 4 unusual mashed potato recipes

Stacy Spensley / flickr.com

Ingredients

• 400 g potatoes;
• 400 g cauliflower;
• 1 tablespoon butter;
• ½ cup cream;
• ¼ cup grated cheese;
• salt - to taste;
• a few sprigs of green onions.

Preparation

Let the potatoes cook. 10 minutes after the water boils, add the cauliflower florets and cook until tender.

Add butter, cream, cheese, salt to the mashed vegetables and mix well until smooth.

Before serving, sprinkle the puree with chopped green onions.

Ernesto Andrade / flickr.com

Ingredients

• 1 kg of potatoes;
• 1 onion;
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil;
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar;
• a few teaspoons of salt;
• ½ teaspoon sugar;
• 2 cups unsalted coconut milk;
• 1 tablespoon dried garlic.

Preparation

Boil the potatoes. Place the chopped onion in a frying pan with oil, add vinegar, a teaspoon of salt and sugar and cook for a few minutes. The onion should soften and turn golden brown.

Add garlic and fried onions to crushed potatoes. Mix well until smooth.

3. Baked potato and celery puree - Jamie Oliver's recipe

jamieoliver.com

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes;
• sea ​​salt - to taste;
• 300 g celery root;
• 1 head of garlic;
• 4 tablespoons olive oil;
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme;
• spices - to taste.

Preparation

Wash the potatoes and sprinkle with salt. Pierce the peel with a fork and place the tubers on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 190°C.

Chop the celery root into large pieces. Place it and the garlic cloves on baking paper, sprinkle with salt, pepper, pour two tablespoons of olive oil and mix with your hands. Wrap the paper to make a package.

Half an hour after you start cooking the potatoes, place the bundle on a baking sheet and bake for another 20–30 minutes. The potatoes and celery root should be completely baked.

Peel the potatoes, squeeze out the pulp of the baked garlic and mix these ingredients with the celery. Add thyme leaves, olive oil and mix well. Season the puree with spices.

finedininglovers.com

Ingredients

• 800 g potatoes;
• 500 g pumpkin;
• a little ghee;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• salt - to taste;
• 125 ml milk;
• 100 ml cream;
• 2 tablespoons butter;
• ground black pepper - to taste;
• a little nutmeg;

Preparation

Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes and boil for 25-30 minutes. Heat ghee in a frying pan and fry chopped garlic in it.

Drain the liquid from the pan, dry the vegetables and add milk, cream and butter to them. Mix well, season with salt, pepper, garlic and nutmeg and stir again.

Firstly, there must be a large, beautiful dish; this, as they say, is half the battle.

You can sprinkle the potatoes with herbs and/or finely chopped multi-colored peppers - it will look very festive. If it is mashed potatoes, then you can lay it out in a pattern.

You shouldn’t overdo it with decoration either, especially if there are a lot of dishes and they are all decorated in one way or another, you will end up with a visual vinaigrette. The best is a minimum of everything, but with taste. Moreover, potatoes are a traditional dish, without which not a single holiday table, especially a family one, is often complete, so it will be eaten in any case))

As a rule, more than one feast is complete without potatoes. But I don’t want to put a dish with banal boiled potatoes on the table. And it is not necessary! The simplest and most everyday dish can be made original and festive.

You can serve the potatoes in portions, beautifully placing them on everyone’s plate. For example, like this:



You can make one dish for the table in the form of a casserole:



You can simply bake the potatoes in some original way, for example in the form of mushrooms or boats:





If you want to decorate dishes on the table beautifully and elegantly using potatoes, you can make roses from them.



This does not require any special abilities or skills. We take the potatoes and cut the tuber into circles, and place the circles in an overlapping row, one overlapping the other. We roll up the finished ribbon from potato circles and can bake inside a silicone mold:





And if you take a strip of potato slices and a strip of bacon and roll them together, you get a potato-bacon rose:

You can also fasten the potato rosette with a toothpick and fry it in sunflower oil.

Some dishes are quite beautiful in themselves and serve as decoration on the table. For example, potatoes arranged in rings and placed in a spiral in a mold around the middle, topped with pieces of fried bacon:

You can beautifully serve potatoes in wedges on the table with slices of cheese and a coat of sauce and pieces of bacon:

A potato dish with eggs in potatoes looks very nice:





Halves of baked potatoes stuffed with potato-cheese mixture and broccoli (take out the pulp from the baked potatoes, mix with cheese, stuff the potatoes, decorate the broccoli):



or in the form of a Christmas tree:



These potato roses will decorate any dish with meat:

Peel, wash, boil and mash the potatoes. Add salt, pepper (red and black), butter, one beaten egg, cream cheese (delicate, soft): Brie, Camembert, Coulommiers cheese to taste. Grind everything well, put it in a cornet with a star attachment, squeeze out small roses onto a baking sheet. Place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, depending on your oven, so that the roses have a beautiful, soft golden crust.

Or put the finished puree into cake tins and bake as well:





Potatoes wrapped in bacon, just first boil the potatoes in their skins until half cooked, peel them, wrap them tightly in bacon, stick them with a toothpick and put them in the oven.



Potatoes on a skewer - how simple and at the same time original! It’s absolutely great if you also have a kebab, then paired with each other they will create a very harmonious duet.



I also like it when potatoes are used to make some kind of living creature, for example, mice, as in the example below. If you serve mashed potatoes, then you can use them to make anything at all.



Potatoes are a fruit! Don't believe me? Of course, real miracles happen on New Year’s Eve!



I couldn’t help but post the following photo. Such a humorous and original presentation is quite appropriate for a close family circle, where everyone is okay with humor.



Serving and beautifully decorating New Year's dishes will always be a pressing issue.

Who doesn’t want the New Year’s table to attract the attention of guests and be extraordinarily tasty.

Without potatoes, the table is not complete.

But it can also be served beautifully and elegantly.

For children, the potato side dish can be served in the form of a cool Cheburashka, an owl or any other animal, both real and cartoon.







Potato nests with mushrooms. Top with garlic sauce.



Moreover, the nests can be filled with both fried and pickled mushrooms.



Potatoes baked in the oven.



Stuffed potatoes.



Potato mushrooms.



But such potatoes will be very useful with meat.





You can come up with these potato pineapples.



Preparing it is a piece of cake. Peel the potatoes, make cuts like on a pineapple and fry in oil.

And where would a New Year's table be without a snowman?



Cut the potatoes into thin slices and place them in roses, add salt and pepper, fasten them with a toothpick, if the roses are small and put them in the oven, and when they dry out a little, coat them with oil or mayonnaise (whatever you like) and put them back in the oven until done. There are many variations of this particular presentation. For example, sprinkle with cheese, paprika, coat with ketchup)) - this is mayonnaise with ketchup, etc. Can be folded potato rose in cooking form and simply top with seasoned cream.



can be cooked mashed potatoes with or without filler, it can be any spices, vegetables and even meat and cheese. Certain spices and vegetables add color to mashed potatoes. For example turmeric will color the puree yellow or ocher, sweet paprika will color it orange, spinach will turn green and so on. Cheese, broccoli and mushrooms will improve the taste of the puree. In general, markers have different tastes and colors, so you can easily come up with your own additions. After cooling the puree a little, you need to put it on a baking sheet with a pastry syringe and bake it a little.



can be done mashed potato balls, bread them in: crackers, sesame seeds, cheese. Fry and serve on a common platter. They will be delicious even when cold. They can be made with fillings of your choice.



There are a lot of options for serving potatoes on the holiday table. The main thing is to decide for yourself whether you want it to be ordinary, but well decorated, or unusually prepared.

Some people will manage to do it mashed potato cakes



, baked stuffed potatoes looks beautiful too. You can also do potatoes with parsley leaves inside(MK)



The most important thing in your question is How to serve potatoes beautifully, but it seems to me that the options for its preparation themselves dictate the design and it will not be difficult for you to serve it if it is beautifully executed

You can serve potatoes to the holiday table in the form of roses. Potato flowers will decorate any salad, meat and fish dishes. Connect thin slices of 3-4 mm with toothpicks and fry in boiling oil for 2-3 minutes. Place along the edge of the salad or among vegetables and herbs.







Or like this. According to the principle of the first recipe, the straws are fried in oil and connected with sticks. The filling for the well is at the discretion of the hostess.