Potato purée
The French have fond childhood memories of this, and while nothing will ever be as good as "Maman" made, here's a fairly straightforward way to make it.
218K 34 4.3
Last modified on: October 3rd 2010
Keywords for this recipe:For 1 kg 300 g, you will need:
1 kg 
125 g 
125 g 
How long does it take?
Time required for this recipe:
| Preparation | Cooking | Start to finish |
|---|---|---|
| 50 min. | 45 min. | 1 hour 35 min. |
At what time:
- When will I finish if I start the recipe at ... ?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at ... ? - Work this out...
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 40 min.
Wash 1 kg potatoes but don't peel them. Put on to boil in a large pan of lightly-salted water.
The potatoes are cooked when a knife blade goes through them easily.
The potatoes are cooked when a knife blade goes through them easily.
Stage 2 - 2 min.
Remove them from the water as soon as they are cooked (don't leave them to cool in the water, they might take on an unpleasant taste).
Stage 3 - 5 min.
As soon as they are cool enough to handle, peel them and remove any small blemishes (the "eyes" of the potato).
Stage 4 - 15 min.
Cut into pieces and pass through a vegetable mill using the finest setting.
If you don't have a vegetable mill, use a potato masher (a sort of grid on a handle), but it's hard work.
If you don't have a vegetable mill, use a potato masher (a sort of grid on a handle), but it's hard work.
Stage 5 - 2 min.
Put the mashed potatoes in a pan.
Stage 6 - 5 min.
Stir constantly over low heat for 4 or 5 minutes to dry the purée.
This is to improve the texture.
This is to improve the texture.
Stage 7 - 3 min.
Then add 125 g butter cut into small pieces, a little at a time, stirring well until the butter is completely incorporated.
Stage 8 - 2 min.
Add 125 g cream and mix again thoroughly.
Stage 9 - 1 min.
Salt and pepper. Your potato purée is ready.
Already quite delicious just as it is, you can serve it "Irish style", for example, with a little chopped chives.
Already quite delicious just as it is, you can serve it "Irish style", for example, with a little chopped chives.
Stage 10 - 20 min.
You can improve it even further by passing it through a sieve. It's long and tiring...
Stage 11
...but you'll have the finest, smoothest potato purée ever.
Remarks
I advise you to use white pepper rather than black; it's less noticable in the finished purée (no little black bits).
The great chef Joel Robuchon liked to say that he built his restaurant's reputation on its potato purée and green salad. Indeed, I got the idea of using the sieve from him, but please note that in his day he used 250g (½ lb) of butter for 1 kg (just over 2 lb) of potatoes!
The great chef Joel Robuchon liked to say that he built his restaurant's reputation on its potato purée and green salad. Indeed, I got the idea of using the sieve from him, but please note that in his day he used 250g (½ lb) of butter for 1 kg (just over 2 lb) of potatoes!
Keeping
Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
Source
Home made.
Nutritional information
| Whole recipe | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 2,171 Kcal or 9,090 Kj | 25 gr | 195 gr | 144 gr |
| 109 % | 9 % | 18 % | 22 % |
| Per 100 g | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 174 Kcal or 729 Kj | 2 gr | 16 gr | 11 gr |
| 9 % | 1 % | 1 % | 2 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 1 kg 300 g : 2.38 €
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
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This recipe uses (among others)
 | Potatoes: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Mushroom velouté, Grated potato cakes, Turnip top soup, Sarladaise potatoes, Ramekins of duchess potatoes, ... All |
 | Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Canadian apple crumble, How to prepare cockles, Hearty leek and sprout soup, Mushroom velouté, Spinach and Comté Loaf, ... All |
 | Cream: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Cream sauce with Vin Jaune, Fisherman's Ragout, Tuna pasta, Nanou's apple and almond cake, Clementine Chantilly, ... All |
 | Pepper: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Rolls of fish in smoked ham, Greek salad, Eggs meurette, Paté en croute (terrine in a pie crust), Roquefort sauce, ... All |
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