Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes..... Oh Yeahhhhh!!!
I found a
recipe on Pinterest a while back for CrockPot mashed potatoes and thought to myself.... "What's the point in that?" Main dishes in the CrockPot I get, maybe even a dessert every once in a while was understandable, but side dishes in the CrockPot.... that one threw me a bit. BUT one day I got a bright idea to actually try some of the million and one recipes I had pinned on Pinterest and came across this one. So in true PV fashion I put my own little spin on it and voila, a favorite was born!
Ingredients:
5 pounds potatoes (you can use any potato you choose, you can either peel or leave the skins on)
1 cup water
1 1/3 cup milk (warmed)
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder (or better yet, 3 cloves fresh garlic... minced)
1 cup butter (spread around the pot)
Wash, peel (if desired), and dice the potatoes and drop into Crock Pot. Add water, salt, pepper, garlic and butter. Then pour warm milk over the top. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon and place in large bowl, add liquid a little at a time (depending on the type of potato you use, you may not need all the liquid) and use potato masher or hand mixer to mash the potatoes.
I don't know if it is because of the slow cooking process or what, but these potatoes have such a GREAT flavor!! I will NEVER make mashed potatoes any other way!!
They are actually pretty easy to shape, I just simply shaped them like a hot dog! I know, brilliant right!!! Just be sure not to make them too big around, because they are, of course, going to rise and spread. It took me a couple of times of making the hamburger buns to get the shape and size down just right, one time I made them for a friend and they turned out looking like big fat Frisbees instead of buns! So I wasn't full of confidence that they would be the right size on the first try, although as you can see, it's pretty close! This is a super economical and VERY yummy general bread recipe so even if the shape isn't great you can always use the bread for something other than it's original intent if it doesn't come out right :)
