Mashed Potato - Lowering the Sinfulness!

Continuing with the lower fat culinary experiments, I have tried to see if the all time favorite mashed potato could be made a bit less sinful. This one has no butter and I have even replaced the whole milk with a low fat version. The result does not compromise on the smooth fluffy comforting taste of a mashed potato. The suggested variation gives the mashed potato a lovely nutty flavor and is excellent with poultry or meat. Yes it is full of carb, but sometimes you just have to give in a bit :)

The Less Sinful Mashed Potato
Serves 4

Medium Sized White Potato - 4 to 6
Low fat/non fat milk - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Ground black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon (more if you like)

1. Boil the potatoes until they are tender and cooked through. Make sure you don't over boil the potatoes or they will become very soggy making your mashed potato unappetizing.

2. Skin the potatoes while they are quite hot and quickly mash the potatoes well. I use a potato masher which is easily available in all kitchen utensil shops. It is important that you mash the potatoes while they are hot as it will make the mash much smoother and also make it easier for you to mix in the milk.

3. Using a wooden spoon gently mix in the milk. Once the milk is incorporated well, add the salt and the pepper. Taste the potato and adjust seasoning.

4. Beat the mash potato with the spoon for 1-2 minutes. This will make the the texture light and fluffy and the mashed potato much more yummy. If you want you can also use an electric beater to do this. Beat on low or medium setting for 1-2 minutes. Do not over-beat.

5. Serve with any kind of fish/meat/poultry/vegetable.

Enjoy!!!!

Variation: This is a very easy and yummy variation to the dish. Take a head of garlic with skin on. Chop off a bit of the top part (not the root side) so that each of the cloves have a tiny bit exposed out of the skin. Rub some oil (I prefer olive oil) on the outer skin of the garlic head. Bake the garlic in a 180 degree C oven for about 20 - 45 minutes until the garlic cloves inside become nice and soft. Press the skin and each of the pods will come out easily. Mash the roasted garlic well and add according to your taste to the mashed potato when you mix in the salt and pepper.