Step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe for our delicious, creamy, red skin mashed potatoes. We’ve got a quick and easy side dish that can be table ready in just a few minutes. Everybody loves mashed potatoes. These are so good, you don’t even need gravy. It’s a perfect addition to your favorite meat dish.
Red Skin Mashed Potatoes Recipe:
I’ve been craving mashed potatoes for days now. I’ve always loved home made mashed potatoes, but the last few days have had me wanting to try some made from “new” potatoes, or red skin potatoes. Let me explain. Or, you can skip on down and see the recipe…it’s your choice.
I recently rode along with my brother as he delivered one of the pig cookers he sells way up above Richmond, Virginia. It was suppose to be about a 5 hour road trip one way, but when we got bogged down in bumper-t0-bumper traffic headed towards Washington, DC, the trip suddenly grew a bit longer.
We had left around 7am that morning and knew we’d be riding for most of the day, but we were both looking forward to the trip. The 3 lanes of Northbound 95, above Richmond, that was now crawling at a snails pace, didn’t dampen our spirits too much. Well, at least not on the journey up. Seems we also ran back into it on the return trip home and having just experienced it, we weren’t all that thrilled about riding through it again so soon.
After passing back through Richmond, we took Interstate 85 South towards home. Feeling a bit hungry, we decided to get off the Interstate and search out some local place that might serve seafood. That of course was after about 30 minutes of one of those “what do you want for lunch..it doesn’t matter…what do you want” back and forth sessions. It was time to eat. We travelled Hwy. #1 for awhile but failed to see anything that caught our interest.
Finally, we stopped for some gas and asked the cashier if she could suggest a good place to get seafood. Now, to us Carolina boys, seafood means Calabash style fried fish and shrimp, and maybe some oysters. The cashier asked if were thinking “lobster and crab legs.” The fact that she even thought of that first, threw up a red flag…but her next words…..solved the problem. “There’s a nice restaurant beside of Bass Pro Shop,” she said. Now, if you’re not much into fishing, you probably don’t know about Bass Pro Shops. However, ever since I really got hooked on fishing about 3 years ago, I’ve dreamed of visiting Bass Pro Shops. The nearest one to home is about 3 hours away and for some reason, I’d never been able to make the journey. Two problems solved. We were on our way. We were only about 5 minutes away according to the cashier.
“God is good,” I thought, as we pulled into the parking lot of our first visit to Bass Pro Shop. We had somehow managed to come in from the back side and seeing the front of the store for the first time, was, well, a bit of an experience for me. Standing out front, I told my brother this was like a visit to Disney World. He laughed. Again, if you aren’t familiar with them, you too would be surprised by what you might find inside. I didn’t take my camera in with me but you can look them up online and get a pretty good idea of what to expect.
I had spotted a sign on our trip up that said Bass Pro Shops, but I never saw anything else about where it was located. Again I thought, “God is good,” when we had just happened to pull off near this Bass Pro Shop store in Ashland, Virginia. I mean seriously, we could have been anywhere…but here we were…just minutes away from a Bass Pro Shop store. Yeah….”God is good.”
This is the front of the building. I had to get at least one picture before we left. It’s hard to see but way down there on the right hand end is the “World Famous, Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant.” Seems they have them at most all of the Bass Pro Shop stores I think.
The store itself was amazing. They sell about anything you could ever want regarding fishing and hunting equipment. And, they do it up RIGHT. They have all types and manners of animal type “props” that fill the walls of the store from the floor to the ceiling. But, the big attraction, is the large aquarium tank that appears to be about 10ft tall and about 20ft wide. It’s loaded with fish and you could spend hours just sitting there watching them swim around. At least I could.
We looked around a bit and surprisingly, we never made it into the fishing department. My brother use to hunt some but I never have….we’re more of the fisherman type. Still, we were looking for food and just never got into shopping for rods, reels and things of that nature. We ended up inside the General Store, which is INSIDE of the whole Bass Pro Shop complex. Again, the walls were lined with all types of antique items that we looked at and talked about more than anything else. They sell homemade fudge, made right in the General Store, but we opted not to buy any.
The Fish Company Restaurant had a 30 minute waiting line so we secured our place in line, and my brother went off looking around while I waited near the restaurant door. The restaurant itself has yet another large aquarium and you can’t help but just stand or sit and watch all the unique and different types of fish swimming around. Then, we got called in.
Once seated and looking at the menu, I decided I wanted the Hickory Fired Rotisserie Chicken…instead of fish. I’m just a chicken eating kind of fellow and love smoked chicken. It had my attention. I was surprised when my brother told the waitress he’d have the same. And, in just a few minutes we were both looking down on a big old plate of half a chicken that was smelling awesome. They even brought us a little loaf of bread to accompany the meal. Time to eat.
OK, I’ve said all that to bring you to the point of the Red Skinned Mashed Potatoes. I had ordered them as a side, because I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy, and they were the first thing I tasted. Maybe I was just really hungry, but those were the best mashed potatoes I think I’ve ever enjoyed. I was ready to just put the chicken aside and order up a large bowl of potatoes instead. They really were that good to me.
We enjoyed our meal and I wanted to ask the waitress about possibly getting a recipe, but the opportunity just never presented itself. Back home, I went online and looked up the restaurant, sent an email to the manager, and asked if I could possibly get the recipe. Alas, I never got a response back. So, not to be outdone, I set off to at least make some Red Skin Mashed Potatoes here at home. No, they didn’t taste as good as the one’s I had enjoyed up in Virginia, but I think they turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I hope you’ll agree. Thanks for reading about my road trip with my older brother. If I’ve got you in the mood for some red skinned mashed potatoes…what are we waiting for….Let’s Get Cooking!
Red Skin Mashed Potatoes Recipe: You’ll need these ingredients.
Begin by washing the potatoes well. You’ll want to give them a light scrubbing to remove any dirt and dust that might be left on them. A vegetable brush is good for that….if only I could have found mine.
Place the potatoes in a medium sized sauce pot and cover them with about an inch of water. Set the pot on your stove over medium heat and let them come to a low boil.
Let the potatoes cook at a low boil for about 20-25 minutes, or until they are fork tender. In other words, when you push a fork into the potato, it goes in easily without much resistance. You want them done but not overly mushy.
Use a slotted spoon or tongs and remove the potatoes from the water. Don’t toss the water just yet, you might need some of it later. Place the potatoes in a bowl and let them cool for a few minutes.
Use a potato masher if you have one to break up the potatoes, skin and all. Mash them up as fine as you’d like them or leave a few chunks….like I do.
Add about one half cup of buttermilk.
Add a big heaping Tablespoon of Duke’s Mayonnaise. I certainly hope you can find Duke’s where you live. In my book, it’s the only Mayonnaise there is….it’s just a Southern thing I guess. You might even want to add TWO big heaping Tablespoons.
Add about 3 or 4 pats..or tablespoons of real Butter. You know…the good stuff.
Sprinkle in a half teaspoon of Granulated Garlic Powder.
Sprinkle on a little Black Pepper to taste. Start out easy, you can add more later if desired.
Then, sprinkle on a little salt. Again, start off gradually with just a shake or two…you can add more later if needed.
Now, here’s where I can’t really help you out much. I’m sorry. It’s just the nature of potatoes. Yours may be a bit dry and require a little more moisture to make them creamy. Mine did, so I’m adding just a little of the leftover water that I boiled the potatoes in. Give them a good stir, and taste them. Do they need more salt? More pepper? Add it if you think it’s missing something. Also, instead of adding the water from the sauce pot, you could add a bit more buttermilk or even a little more mayonnaise. Go ahead, make them your own and adjust the ingredients until you get some really delicious, creamy, mashed potatoes that your family will enjoy.
Plant a few trees in the top and serve them up warm. OK, I thought a little color would be nice and all I had was some fresh Rosemary. It just looks like some shrubbery is growing out of them in the closeup picture. It was the idea that counts though…right?
I do hope you’ll give them a try. I could have eat this whole bowl as well. Wait…I think I did…only…not at one sitting. I’m even wanting some more right now as I look at this picture. I also want to go outside and plant a few shrubs around the property.
This is just a basic recipe, experiment with the flavors and make them your own. That’s what cooking is all about anyway. Don’t you agree?
Let me know if you give them a try, and if you’re ever near a Bass Pro Shop….think about me.
You can learn more about Bass Pro Shop and their World Famous Islamorada Fish Company Restaurants by clicking the link.
Enjoy!!!
