Fantastic Mashed Potatoes (with a secret ingredient)

 The original recipe came from a co-worker of mine and it is delicious!  It is my go-to recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.  I must say that I have tweaked it a bit by adding something that no one should be able to taste:  a can of white kidney beans.  Inspired by a bean cookbook by Julie Van Rosendaal I decided to try adding one can of pureed beans to the original recipe and it was delicious!  The best part is that no one noticed anything different.  Yes, I served this at Christmas dinner.  This is definitely worth a try, especially because you will be adding a lot of fibre and nutrition to your mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

10 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks

6-8 large cloves of garlic peeled

1-250g package of cream cheese

1-2 cups sour cream

1/3 cup butter

Salt and Pepper to taste 

1 can white kidney beans (540ml), rinsed and drained

Method

1.  Boil potatoes and garlic until potatoes are soft (about 10 minutes).  Drain.

2.  Mash potatoes and garlic.  Add butter and cream cheese and allow to soften/melt. 

3.  Puree rinsed and drained kidney beans.  This is an important step.  You want to ensure that the beans are fully pureed.  You may need to add 1/4 cup of water to help with this process.  Once fully pureed, add to potato mixture. 

4.  Mash and mix, adding 1-2 cups of sour cream, depending on desired consistency.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Tasting is important here - especially because you want to ensure that you cannot taste the beans. 

5.  At this point you can bake the potatoes right away, put them in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze for up to two weeks.  If frozen, thaw in the fridge for 48 hours.  Place in greased casserole dish and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, but don't worry if you are cooking the turkey at a much lower temperature as it will just take longer, but the potatoes will be fine.  I typically make these ahead of time, freeze, thaw, and bake in a slow cooker.  This recipe makes 8-10 cups.

 Bring the potatoes and garlic to a boil; reduce to low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

 Rinse and drain beans

 Once the potatoes and garlic are drained, add butter and cream cheese. I put the lid back on and let the steam soften both.

 Puree the beans well.  This is key.

 You might be amazed at how little beans there are once they have been pureed.

 Add sour cream, depending on consistency

 Fluffy and delicious

 

These are ready to eat now or later