Garlic Mashed Potatoes go Blue

My boyfriend loves my garlic mashed potatoes. They are rustic, thick and creamy which is the best comfort food gets I think. But unlike a lot of people’s mashed potatoes, which resemble mountains of pure, white snow, my potatoes still have their skins on, either red or Yukon gold and are mashed into big chunks, not whipped into peaks. This is because I love tasting chunks of potato and roasted garlic- what a flavor!

Usually, I steam my potatoes first, then toss them in with milk, butter, fresh or roasted garlic, salt and pepper and mash away until I am satisfied with their consistency. This past week, in celebrating my boyfriend’s recent accomplishments in his career, I decided to make him garlic mashed potatoes….with a twist!

The day before we had gone to Central Market to purchase some fruit and cheese for our monthly indoor picnic. He was craving a good blue, so we bought a decent sized wedge of Maytag blue cheese. It is so thick and creamy, perfect with apple wedges or crumbled up in salads. But I decided that we should try them in the mashed potatoes and what a great decisions that was indeed.

The real trick to adding a strong cheese in with mashed potatoes is to not over do it. Put a little bit in, stir, melt taste. Repeat until you have the desired amount, keeping in mind that the blue cheese flavor should be a hint in the background, not in the forefront.