Mashed Potatoes!
One of the easiest side dishes you could probably ever make. It is also probably one of the first things I learned to make as a little girl helping my mom out in the kitchen. Although my mom’s version is very simple, but tastes great nonetheless, I like to experiment with my recipes a bit. My mom’s mashed potatoes are made with milk and butter and she’d whip them up in a mixer so they were always light and fluffy.
I’ve said this many times before. I love being able to search the internet for all kinds of recipes. Honestly if you think about it, it’s a shame nowadays to say you can’t cook because you don’t have any recipes. All you need to do is go and google anything you’re in the mood for eating and I guarantee you will find a few recipes. That’s what I do. Needless to say I also love to buy cookbooks so I have a lot of them, but as I’ve said, google is my friend. 
So having said all that, I found this wonderful recipe on www.sippitysup.com and I was ecstatic.  I modified the recipe a bit and added another type of cheese, so now these mashed potatoes are loaded with 3 kinds of cheeses, bacon and let’s not forget our friend, the butter. And for those of you on a diet, I threw in some chives. I’ve also modified the quantities of the original recipe. I love bacon, and I love cheese, so how can you go wrong?
You can’t! I have to admit this isn’t for those who are on a diet, but if you aren’t counting calories, well this is for you! These mashed potatoes are rich and full of flavor, they could literally be eaten as a meal on their own.
Without further ado, here is the recipe.
Ingredients:
- 2.5 lbs russet potatoes
- 8 slices bacon
- 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup chives, minced
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- Peel the potatoes, and cut them into cubes. Add the potatoes to a large sauce pan and add enough cold water to cover them by a couple inches. Cook the potatoes on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Transfer to a colander to drain.
- In the meantime chop the bacon slices into small pieces. Cook the bacon until crispy and browned. Place the bacon on paper towels to remove some of the fat.
- Using a potato masher or fork, mash the potatoes in a big bowl until fluffy. Add the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, half the cheddar cheese, half the mozzarella cheese and mix until well combined. Add the chives, half the bacon and salt and pepper. You might also want to reserve some chives for the topping.
- Stir everything together and transfer to a buttered baking dish. Top with remaining cheddar, mozzarella, bacon and chives.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
- Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Cool! Looks fantastic. GREG