One of my favorite ingredients to add into a bowl of mashed potatoes is creme fraiche. Available in most grocery stores nowadays, creme fraiche is the French version of sour cream but is less tart in flavor and has a creamier, denser texture due to its higher fat content. It adds an inherent richness to mashed potatoes and is a great way to enrich a pureed soup, a slice of fruit pie or even to use as a base for a unique homemade ice cream idea.
With a hankering for mashed potatoes, I decided not only to add in a touch of creme fraiche for creaminess, but a splash of truffle oil for that decadent earthy mushroom flavor. Did someone say mushrooms? While in the store I was elated to find fresh morel mushrooms as well. A quick saute of the morels in a splash of olive oil with some fresh thyme leaves and voila–a unique topping for the creamy truffled mashed potatoes was born. The morels get a bit crunchy on the outside when you cook them in the oil, which is a lovely texture pairing for each bite of creamy mashed potatoes.
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Truffled Mashed Potatoes with Morels
Ingredients:
- 4 Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch chunks
- ½ cup crème fraiche
- 1 teaspoon truffle oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup morel mushrooms (any variety of mushrooms will do fine–sliced or quartered if large*)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- Fresh thyme
Directions:
- Place the cut potatoes in a large soup pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, simmer, and cook the potatoes for approximately 12 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a knife.
- Drain the potatoes, but save about 1 cup of the warm cooking liquid. Place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl along with the creme fraiche and truffle oil. With a hand mixer whip up the potatoes until smooth. Add in some of the cooking liquid a a little at a time to smooth out the mashed potatoes. (you don’t necessarily need to use the whole cup of liquid, but just use enough to make them perfectly creamy!**)
- Taste the potatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- To make the topping, heat the olive oil in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add in the morel mushrooms along with the fresh thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes or until tender and browned from the hot oil.
- Top the mashed potatoes with the cooked morel mushrooms and thyme.
Tagged: creamy mashed potatoes, creme fraiche, fresh thyme, mashed potatoes, morel mushrooms, morels, potatoes, Russet potatoes, truffle oil, truffled mashed potatoes, truffled mashed potatoes with morels, truffles, white truffle oil
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