shallot and thyme mashed potatoes

• 1 bag of yukon gold potatoes
• fresh shallots, chopped fine
• fresh thyme, chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• olivio
• coarse salt

Peel and chop potatoes into large cubes, boil over a high flame for 10 minutes or until they are soft and slide off a fork. Meanwhile, saute shallots in a little olivio over a medium flame for 10 minutes. Add cooked potatoes and shallots to large bowl, add cream and olivio, salt and thyme to taste, mash until smooth.

The dish: I've said it before; it's hard to find a dish that's more well liked and yet as easy and versatile as mashed potatoes are. Boil some potatoes, add some dairy and seasonings and wham- an instant crowd pleaser that goes with pretty much any dish. As you can tell from reading these pages I tend to like potatoes with some thyme in them, but pretty much any green herb will work. Any variety will work, but in a tradtitonal "meat and potato" recipe, splurge and go for the yukon golds, they're well worth the extra few pennies. I really try to not depend too heavily on salt in these recipes, but potatoes are one of those few things that just need a little to bring out their natural flavor.

mashed potatoes with leeks and thyme

• 3 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
• 4oz fat free sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• fresh thyme
• 1 large leek

Slice potatoes and boil until tender in salted water, drain. Chop thyme and white section of leek finely, saute in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil for 5 minutes over medium flame, stirring occasionally. In large bowl combine cooked potatoes with leeks and thyme and add remainder of ingredients. If you like very smooth whipped potatoes beat with a hand or stand mixer, otherwise a spoon works just fine. Once mixture is at your desired consistency, season to taste with kosher salt and serve.

The dish: Potatoes are a great canvas to run with and add pretty much anything you can dream of. The thyme and leek combo worked well, but I've added all kinds of crazy things to the mix. You can omit the sour cream and add pretty much any creamy dairy that suits you; more milk, heavy cream, butter, buttermilk or even yogurt if you get down with the active cultures. I made this mix a little creamier than I would have normally, but I wasn't sure when we'd be eating and as with pretty much everything but our own bodies mashed potatoes tend to firm up as they sit around.