cooking vegetables for mashing
Inspired by some of the answers and comments on a recent question on boiling potatoes whole or diced, I'm curious:
What's the best way to cook a combination of vegetables to be mashed? I'm thinking of a subset of potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, carrots, and anything else that sounds good. Obviously if boiling, one wants to avoid waterlogged vegetables, but the cooking times of the various vegetables are different. Is there a reliable way to cook everything together (at least for some subsets)?
Edit: As mentioned in the comment below, I know that the best one can do may be starting with the longest-cooking vegetables and incrementally adding the rest. What I was wondering was things like if some or all were better baked, or if boiling is good, if some besides potatoes are better boiled whole...
Best Answer
After trying steaming a few times as renegade suggested, I've decided I prefer roasting:
- As with steaming, everything stays in the vegetables, they're pretty easy to test, and they don't get waterlogged.
- It gives some nice caramelization, contributing a little to the end flavor.
- It leaves them drier than steaming, which I like because it gives me the freedom to add plenty of other liquids (e.g. milk).
- It's easy to roast large quantities of whole vegetables (which wouldn't fit in anything I have to steam in), so I can make large batches. And cooking them whole means there's less to sort through when pulling out ones that got done faster.
To each their own, but this works for me!
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How do you mash vegetables?
How to make vegetable mash - Step by stepIs it better to bake or boil potatoes before mashing?
Baking potatoes (rather than boiling them) is completely hands-off, frees up a burner (clutch on Thanksgiving when stovetop space is at a premium), and also reduces the water content of the cooked spuds, resulting in the easiest and most flavorful mash of all time.What vegetables taste good mashed?
Below some of the best vegetables you can mash that aren't potatoes (and no, sweet potatoes don't count).- Cauliflower. rachelbradley/Food52. ...
- Celery Root. James Ransom/Food52. ...
- Pumpkin. Veg Recipes of India. ...
- Butternut Squash. Adventures in Cooking. ...
- Beets & Parsnips. Vanilla & Spice. ...
- Turnips. Simply Recipes. ...
- Carrots. ...
- Parsnips.
What is the best way to mash?
The absolute best way to mash potatoes depends entirely on how you prefer to eat them: If you like them fluffy and somewhat lumpy, use a hand masher. If you like them perfectly smooth and airy, use a food mill. If you like them velvety but not at all gluey, use a tamis.Simple pureed vegetables techniques you can use with all vegetables
More answers regarding cooking vegetables for mashing
Answer 2
For mashing I've always found steam to give the best results. It makes fully cooked vegetables that are easy to test for doneness along the way, they don't get waterlogged, and most importantly their sugars and starches don't dissolve into the water so you get better flavor.
In a pinch if you find you miscalculated and one veggie is done before the other you can pull the basket off the pot and fish out whatever is done and then let the rest finish.
Answer 3
root vegetables will all cook at nearly the same speed given assuming the size of the pieces are equal. Root vegetables can be tricky to cut into equal sizes because of their tapered and oblong nature. I find a batonnet cut to be the best for this.
roasting in the oven at a low temperature (200-300F) will impart more flavor as well, but might dry the surface out too much for a consistant mash.
http://culinaryarts.about.com/b/2008/03/14/how-to-make-a-batonnet-cut.htm
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