Olive-oil mash with slow-cooked garlic
I’ve been making olive-oil-whipped mash for many years, so I thought I’d develop it with the addition of some slow-cooked, caramel-y garlic. If you get a taste for this, throw some garlic bulbs on the barbecue when you’re doing other stuff and have them ready to use in the fridge, where they’ll keep for at least a week.
1 large garlic bulb
1kg (2¼lb) Desiree potatoes, peeled
100ml (generous 1/3 cup) double (heavy) cream
50g (3½ Tbsp) diced unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp good-quality extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
Light the barbecue and set for indirect cooking.
Wrap the garlic in foil and use long-handled tongs to nestle it in the coals. The garlic will take about 1 hour to become soft and tender. Remove and leave to cool slightly before unwrapping the foil, cutting the very top off the bulb and then squeezing the soft cloves of garlic out onto a chopping board. Chop to form a rough paste.
Evenly dice the potatoes and cook slowly in a pan of simmering salted water on the stovetop, until nice and tender. Drain then return to the hot pan and let the potatoes steam-dry for a few minutes before pressing through a potato ricer or masher.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat to reduce by about a third before stirring into the mash, along with the butter. Finally, whisk in the olive oil and stir in the garlic paste. I really like garlic, so I add the lot, but you may like a little less. Season the mash and serve immediately.