Monday, November 7, 2011

Bleu Cheese and Thyme Mashed Potatoes

Hey everyone! So you all know that I am fairly new to this blogging thing. I am trying to get my site out there for others to see and hopefully spread some happiness with my baking and cooking. I found this awesome blogger, Tina, over at Mom's Crazy Cooking who puts on these cooking challenges and decided to try out a cooking challenge.....or 2! She got me all squared away and off I went in search of the perfect recipe to share.

The purpose of this challenge is to go out into blog land and find a recipe that relates to the current month's topic, bake about it, then blog about it, and then a bunch of different bloggers read and vote on the recipes. This month's topic (so the month of November) is mashed potatoes. Let me tell you, finding a mashed potato recipe that is not the generic butter and garlic mashed potatoes is not as easy as you would think. After lots of searching I finally found one that I thought would stand a chance.

I found a recipe for bleu cheese and thyme mashed potatoes. I love bleu cheese, so I just had to try these.  This recipe was posted over at Wilde in the Kitchen. Once I found this recipe, I went straight to the store to get everything I needed and then started mashing away on those potatoes!!!!

Bleu Cheese and Thyme Mashed Potatoes
(as adapted from Wilde in the Kitchen)

INGREDIENTS:
5 russet potatoes
2 TBSP butter
1/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk
2 tsp fresh thyme
2-4 TBSP crumbled bleu cheese
Salt and black pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS:
-Peel and cube potatoes and place them in a large pot with cold water
Look at all that starch!!!! <3

-Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are fork tender
-Drain the water and place potatoes back in pot (or if you're as clever as me, just place a lid over the top of the pot and let the water drain out while keeping the potatoes in the pot!)
-Mash away at the potatoes until they are at the consistency you like them. Some like chunky mashed potatoes, some like smooth. I don't care either way (mashed potatoes are just yummy!!!!) but made them smooth for others in my family!!!
-Add in the butter and mash until it melts
-Add in heavy cream (or milk) and stir until it blends together
-Add salt, pepper, thyme, and bleu cheese and mix 

I am going to pause for a quick "dork moment"......So, I have never worked with FRESH herbs before. Finding the thyme in the grocery store was an adventure in itself. I got home and was amazed at how cute the little sprigs of thyme were!!!!
But then it hit me.......how am I supposed to do this? Like pluck each leaf off individually.....to make 2 tsp?? That would be a lot of plucking. Then I realized that all you have to do is start at one end and slide your fingers up. All the leaves easily come off! :D Woo hoo!!!!

Ok, back to mashed potatoes now!

How do you photograph mashed potatoes and make them look pretty??? 

The potatoes were so delicious. Bleu cheese is a strong flavored cheese and surprisingly, not many people like it. Start off with 2 TBSP and increase to desired amount. I took these over to share with my family at my dad's birthday and everyone liked them. I agreed with my dad, though, that they needed more bleu cheese. Next time I make them (since there WILL be a next time), I am going to go straight into adding 4 TBSP of the cheese........or maybe get a little crazy and add even more! Hahahahaha!!!! 


Hope you enjoy these taters and if you're in need of any awesome recipes, make sure to check out Wilde in the Kitchen and Mom's Crazy Cooking!!!

Have a great day everyone!!!
<3 Amy


Photobucket

8 comments:

  1. Haha, I think everyone has had a *dork* moment when it comes to cooking! Blue cheese is a favorite of mine and sounds great in potatoes! Visiting from entry #72. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Blue cheese and thyme together! I'll bet this is delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the use of fresh thyme in this recipe!

    Jen #14
    Jenny's Cookbook

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh I bet the bleu cheese was amazing! I wonder how gorgonzola would taste??

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks everyone! These 'tators were really tasty. I added more bleu cheese to them after the fact and made them even better. Depends on how much you like bleu cheese though.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ooooo! Gorgonzola would be amazing in them!!!!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. New follower from CCC. So nice to meet you. This recipe is amazing. I love the thyme and bleu cheese in this. Great job.
    Kim #65

    ReplyDelete
  8. Woo hoo! Thanks Kim!!!! They were amazing!!! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!!!! <3

    ReplyDelete