Gorgonzola Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Meat and potatoes.  Basic.  Simple.  Everybody's favorite!  Here's one quick and easy, and yet somehow a little bit fancy, mashed potato recipe to go with steaks or a roast. Okay, it's quick and easy IF you roast the garlic ahead of time...and really, isn't it a good idea to keep roasted garlic handy?

Roast a few bulbs, squeeze the soft buttery cloves out of the bulb (after it's cooled) and freeze the lovely golden stuff in a snack size freezer bag.  If you press the bag out flat and thin, it's easy to break off a piece that's just the right amount any time you need it.

Gorgonzola Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• 3 pounds russet potatoes, peel, cut into size-sized chunks
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup milk, more or less, depending upon how dry your potatoes are (buttermilk is really good for a nice tart zing!)
• 1 head garlic, roasted, cooled and garlic pulp squeezed out
• 3 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled & extra to sprinkle on each serving
• salt and pepper, to taste

Put potato chunks into a pot of cold water - just to cover.  Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer.  Remove from heat & drain immediately when a knife pierces the potato easily.
 

Add butter and mash with a potato masher - these aren't light fluffy potatoes, they're hearty.  Add the milk - a little less than called for and if the potatoes are thick, add more.  If the potatoes are still too thick add more milk until a nice consistency, but not too thin.  Add the rest of the ingredients except for cheese.  Mix well.  Add gorgonzola, adjust seasonings and serve.  Garnish with a little more gorgonzola before serving.

To Roast Garlic:  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cut carefully across the top of a WHOLE head of garlic just exposing the very top of the inside cloves - do NOT separate the cloves.  Place the head of garlic on a double square of aluminum foil.  Drizzle with a little olive oil and seal up the foil around the garlic tightly.  Roast until the garlic is soft and golden - 45 minutes to an hour.  Don't burn it, just roast until soft.  Remove from oven and cool.  Make several heads at once, squeeze out the soft pulp and freeze in small snack size freezer bags.  Don't put too much in a bag so you can spread it out about 1/4" thick so once it's frozen you can snap off pieces of the frozen garlic pulp as needed.  No need to thaw!