Broccoli-Mashed Potatoes

Admit it, how many of you have bought those frozen microwavable mashed potatoes? Or even worse, the boxed powdered kind? (Don't be ashamed, I've done the powdered once or twice in my life!) But, tell me how much better mashed potatoes taste when they are made fresh from REAL potatoes. And delicious, fancy, home-made mashed potatoes are as easy as boiling water. Today, I'm going to show you a recipe I got from the Neely's and added my own twists (of course)--Broccoli-Mashed Potatoes.

First start with a few washed potatoes (I had red the day I made this recipe, but like I always say, use whatever kind you have on hand). Scrub them really good, since we aren't going to peel them. (You can peel them if you are a super freak about potato skins, but all the nutrients live in the peels!)

Cut the potatoes up into 1/2 chunks. Try to cut all the potatoes into the same size chunks, so that they cook evenly in the water. Put some heavily-salted water on to boil with the potatoes in the water. For potatoes, we usually start them in cold water, whereas with green veggies, we put them into already-boiling water.

While you're waiting for the water to boil, in a small skillet, put about 1/2 cup of milk (or cream--whatever you have!) and a few cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed. Put it over LOW heat, and just let it chill out while you're cooking the potatoes. You don't want the milk to boil or anything, just keep it over very low heat. Just a little heat will let the garlic infuse into the milk.

Next, if you want, shred up some Parmesan cheese, or just get the pre-shredded kind from the store.

Keep an eye on the potatoes, and when they are almost done, add in your broccoli. You can use fresh or frozen. I usually buy a big bag of frozen broccoli from Sam's Club to have on hand whenever I need a 5-minute green veggie for dinner. Cook the broccoli with the potatoes until both are done fully. You want to test the potatoes to make sure they are fork-tender--use a fork and if the potato is easily broken by the fork, it's done. Drain both the broccoli and potatoes and return to the cooking pot.

Add some butter and a little bit of the milk (don't add the garlic chunks though!), get your trusty potato-masher, and get to work. Keep in mind, you can always add more milk or butter, but if you put too much, you can't take any out. It's better to put in little by little, than having runny mashed potatoes. Keep mashing until they are as mashed as you would like.

Stir in your cheese with a spoon, if you'd like. Don't forget to taste the potatoes to see if they need any salt or pepper.

Cook your favorite steak (coming soon--stay tuned!) and enjoy!