Holiday Mashed Potatoes

Next time you’re invited to pot luck (or if you are in the mood for some at home), try my Holiday Mashed Potatoes jazzed up with a few surprises inside – sweet Chinese sausage bits, mild chive bits, and sweet-tangy cranberries.

You can either use real potatoes, an instant mashed potato mix, or a combination of both.

I won’t really get into recommending one or the other, since everybody’s tastes vary. But I will say that I’ve had good success no matter what method I used. The last time I made my Holiday Mashed Potatoes, I did a combination.

Lup cheong sausage can be found in the Asian foods section of your supermarket. If you can’t find lup cheong, use any sausage you want. I use cream, but you can substitute milk (skim, 1%, 2% … your preference). Here’s the way I make it:

Ingredients

• POTATOES, 1 large Russet, plus instant from a package.
• HALF-AND-HALF CREAM, 1 pint
• BUTTER, 1 stick
• GARLIC, 1 bulb, roasted
• LUP CHEONG SAUSAGE, 2, chopped small
• CHIVES, ½ cup
• DRIED CRANBERRIES, ¼ cup
• PARMESIANO REGGIANO, 1/2 cup, grated
• GARLIC SALT and PEPPER, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Rehydrate the cranberries by soaking in water for 15 minutes, drain, and set aside.
3. Cut about a half-inch off the top of the garlic bulb. Place on aluminum foil, drizzle on olive oil, wrap it up in the foil, and roast in the oven for 15 minutes.
4. Take it out, unwrap it and allow to cool slightly. Squeeze the garlic into a small bowl and mash it up.
5. While the garlic is roasting, rehydrate the cranberries by soaking in water for 15 minutes, then drain and set aside.
6. Slice two sweet Chinese lup cheong sausages in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again. Mince the sausage and sauté lightly in an unoiled pan. Remove and blot off the oil. Put aside.
7. Chop the chives, grate the cheese separately and put aside.
8. Peel and chunk the potato into 8 equal-sized pieces. Boil it until fork tender, remove from water and place into a large mixing bowl.
9. Mash the potato along with ¼-cup of cream and ¼ of the butter stick until smooth and creamy.
10. Prepare the mashed potatoes according to package directions, using the remaining butter in the measured  cooking water. Instead of milk, add an equivalent amount of cream.
11. When the instant potatoes are done, add to the previously mashed russet potato and combine.
12. Stir the garlic and cranberries into the potatoes. Reserve some of the sausage and chives for garnish. Stir the rest into the potatoes.
13. Salt and pepper to taste.
14. Transfer the potatoes into a serving bowl or casserole, garnish with the reserved sausage bits and chives.