Make an Overly Decadent Mashed Potato With Bagna Cauda
There is (obviously, obviously) nothing wrong with “plain” mashed potatoes that are flavored with butter and cream. They are flawless. But sometimes gilding a lily is fun, because perfection is not necessarily decadent – to be decadent you have to rely on excesses. That’s what bagna cauda mashed potatoes are – excessive.
Bagna cauda , if you remember, is an immersion in luxury. This is done by slowly cooking a whole can of anchovies with a whole garlic bulb in olive oil until they are tender and turn into a slightly sweet umami mass. Then you add the oil. Its dull beige appearance belies its deep, developed flavor, and while anchovies are palpable to anyone familiar with the aroma, any direct fishy note is softened by the sweet garlic stew. In short: it’s awesome and I really love it.
Bagna Cauda is traditionally served as a sauce for seasonal vegetables, including fried potatoes, so stirring it into mashed potatoes seemed like a logical thing to do. It turns out I was right (again), but not in the way I originally suspected. While the flavor of the jar was amazing, the small chunks of chewy garlic created texture problems, destroying and distracting from the otherwise uniform wort.
Fortunately, the solution was simple. I strained half the butter and butter (to which the garlic and fish were added), mixed this with the potatoes and sprinkled small pieces of garlic on top . Ideally.
To make this sumptuous mashed potato you will need:
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 10 large cloves of garlic
- 1 can of anchovies in oil (should be 12 in one can)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2-3 pounds of yellow potatoes, cut into 2-inch cubes (you will have an extra bagna cauda, but that’s okay)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)
Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over very low heat (I used the lowest setting on my electric stove) and chop the garlic (you can use a knife or chop it in a food processor; the former will give you more uniform mince, but the latter is faster). Add the garlic and anchovies to the oil and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and kneading with a wooden spoon, until the garlic is flavorful and the anchovies are completely melted in the oil. (Be sure to keep the heat very low – the garlic shouldn’t brown even a little.)
While the bagna cauda is cooking, simmer the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain and return to the pot to ward off excess moisture. Pass the potatoes through mashed potatoes or mash with mashed potatoes. When the bagna cauda is done, remove from heat and add butter. Strain about half of the added fat, then add it to the potatoes, stir and mash until completely combined. Add mayonnaise to emulsify, then taste and add more bagna cauda oils if desired. Sprinkle the rest of the bagna cauda over the potatoes before serving.