Recipe #1 - Pomme Purée
A French classic. At Harveys, Marco Pierre White would serve this with pan fried chump of lamb, roasted garlic and crispy thyme. The purée is so rich that it acts as both the starch and sauce of the dish.
High-starch potatoes, such as Yukon Gold or Russets. Typically, one medium-to-large potato will be enough for one person, but this recipe is so delicious that you’ll likely want to use more.
Garlic cloves. Quantity depends on taste - I use 4-5 medium sized cloves for 2 servings of purée.
Milk.
Single Cream.
Olive oil.
Butter. Important to use a good quality product, I suggest M&S organic British salted butter.
Salt and pepper.
Wash, peel and chop the potatoes. Peel the cloves of garlic
Boil the potatoes with the cloves of garlic in salted water.
Once soft, drain the potatoes and garlic, and add them to a blender.
Add small amounts of milk and olive oil (you can always add more, but you don’t want wet purée) to the blender, as well as a dash of single cream. Blend the potatoes, and after 30 seconds, add liberal quantities of soft, room temperature butter. The texture of the purée should resemble a thick custard.
N.B. - do not use butter straight from the fridge as this will decrease the temperature of the purée.
Season to taste.