The Rules Matter.

When you cook stuff the rules matter. Put a piece of chicken in a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes and it will be cooked and it will be edible, but you're not going to want to eat it. That's because of the rules. The rules of physics actually. No matter how much you want say "screw the rules" if you put that piece of chicken in that pot of boiling water you are going to have some nasty, gnarly, dried-out, tough chicken. So just change the rules, right? You can't dumb-ass! Physics is above your pay grade. There are rules that can be changed though.

Wisconsin wants to change the rules for state employee unions. They want to take away the right to collective bargaining. So what, you say. " I think unions need a good spanking. We need to balance our budgets, why do they have stuff I don't have?" The thing is you don't need to strip away a right in order to balance a budget. Your church would probably suggest that hating on someone because they have a good deal is a bad thing. I might even concede that unions need a good spanking, I might if they hadn't been getting spanked ever since Ronny Ray-gun told the air traffic controllers to take a walk. We can go round and round on that, but can we agree that if they take away a "right" we all lose the use of that right. Hey, maybe we might need that "right" down the line.



You'll have to wait until the end of the clip before you get to my point, but it might be worth your time. Old George could really nail things when he wanted to.

Us? We have to deal with the rules of physics. Namely important stuff like how heat caramelizes sugar, starch is water soluble,  and butter, Mmmm butter!, brings on the goodness.

Potatoes are natures way of packaging starch. In fact all fruits and vegetables are some combination of starch and sugar. Brownies, just like apples, Who knew? So why do your kids hate vegetables? Because you cook them the way my Scotch/Irish Mom cooked them. You put them in a pot of water, apply heat, and wait for the Mayan calender to run out. So while cooking is all about the rules of physics the one rule that can be arbitrarily change is this.

"You cook it until it is done."

Thats all, because if you cook it more than that you end up with that horrible crap you are feeding your kids. So for the mashed potatoes you will need a potato for each person you want to serve plus extra ones because nothing succeeds like excess. Now you don't want just any kind of potato, you want a baking potato like a Russet. Why? You want a potato with a high starch content so when you apply the heat the potato will break down easily. The high starch content means you have to be careful though because if you are not you will end up with a gluey mess and your kids will be screaming for french fries.

Grab 5 or 6 good sized potatoes, a head of garlic, a stick of butter,Mmmm butter!, salt and pepper, and some olive oil. Scrub the potatoes well. You want them clean. I like the skins so I leave them on. If you don't like the skins peel the potatoes you whiner baby; it won't change the recipe.

1. Cut the blossom end off the garlic, leave the head intact, rub with the olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and wrap in foil. Bake in a 400 degree oven until soft. 30 minutes are good. Leave the head in the foil to cool while you make the potatoes.
2. Cut each potato into similar sized chunks, 8 per potato, place in a pot with water to cover. Salt well.
3. Turn the heat to high. (if you have a crappy thin pan boil the water first, or keep the potatoes moving while the water heats. you don't want the potatoes to stick to the pan. (Trust me, starch+direct heat will cause sticking water or no water.)
4. Boil the potatoes just until a knife pierces them easily ( be watchful, more than easily will give you goo.)
5. Pour off the water. Put the potatoes back in the pot.
6. Unwrap the garlic. Hold over the potatoes, squeeze the whole head.
7. See? Caramelized goodness.
8. Add butter, Mmmm butter, mash with a hand masher. I like the hand masher, electric power tools take the potatoes from good to goo really quickly. If the kids don't like lumps ( fussy little crumb pickers) use a ricer. (No I am not going to tell you how to use a ricer right now. Just figure it out on your own or tell the fruit of your loins that texture is good.)
9. Add cream in small amounts with more salt and pepper.
10. Done! You can hold them in a 200 degree oven for awhile so you can finish other stuff
11. If you don't like the way the roasted garlic looks peel the cloves, smash them with the side of a knife, and heat them in the cream. Strain and add the garlic latte to the potatoes.

Got to go. It's friday night and an adult beverage is calling my name. Green beans tomorrow. Remember, it's all about the rules. Change them at your own risk. You might need them down the line.