One small problem. They were too good. No one warned me "not to cut the recipe in half." And there I went trying to whip up a lighter dinner, and Chris looked up from licking his plate with the "what? no left overs?" look on his face.
Insert lesson here: there's never any need to cut Ina Garten's recipes in half... it will be eaten, or you will be glad to have lunch for tomorrow.
Simple ingredients as usual: (and remember this is HALF of Ina's recipe amounts, barely fed three hungry golfers on a Sunday afternoon)
1 pound yukon gold potatoes
1 cup fresh basil lightly packed
1/2 cup heavy cream (Ina uses half and half)
just less than a 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
freshly group salt and pepper
Begin with a pot of boiling water and a bowl of ice water. It's time to "blanch" the basil. Don't be too impressed, my basil does not look that good! This basil was a gift from a client from her organic garden. I love home grown/home made food gifts.
Toss them in for just a few (10-15) seconds and then fetch them out with a spider/skimmer/whatever you have and throw 'em into the ice water. This shocking process seals in the color.
Reminds me of when we were kids- how we would jump out of the hot tub and into the pool, back and forth, back and forth on vacation at the hotel. We're lucky we didn't have heart attacks.
It's a little bit of work, but worth it to keep the basil pretty and green for the potatoes!
Wash and peel the potatoes.
Cut them down to quarters and then cook them till tender. Mine took about 20 min. Drain and return to pot.
In a smaller pot bring cream and parm to a simmer over medium heat.
Puree the wet but rung out basil in a food processor. Add the chopped basil to the simmering cream begging for color.
Lastly, with an electric mixer, puree your potatoes and slowly add the cream/basil mixture until it reaches your desired texture. Season with salt and pepper.
Right about now, a few of you will notice my garnish breaking the cardinal rule of presentation: the garish must be an included ingredient. The basil was so yummy, I used it all without thinking?! What's a girl to do, but depend on her trusty parsley. Forgiven?
As you know, I jumped on this recipe, too. It's really good. Someday, invest in an OXO food mill. It will change your culinary world, immensely. I use mine to make the BEST mashed potatoes. It's way easier than mashing, and I used it for all kinds of things. Beaters can, at times, make potatoes gluey. Yours, however, look perfect. I didn't even noticed the faux pas on the garnish.
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