Stop boiling your potatoes in water and try this simple change for a tastier result

Everyone has their own tricks for crafting the perfect mash, but most recipes only start to get interesting once the spuds are peeled, boiled and ready for mashing. The usual method involves peeling and rinsing the potatoes, boiling them until they're tender enough to pierce with a fork, then mashing or whipping them to your preferred consistency.

Most people add milk, butter and seasonings to create a dish that's bursting with flavour. However, I've recently discovered a technique that infuses the potatoes with flavour from the very beginning of the cooking process, and I was keen to give it a go. Instead of boiling my potatoes in water, I used chicken stock.

The theory is that the potatoes will soak up all the wonderful flavours of the broth as they cook. I still added milk and butter when mashing to boost the creaminess, but I tasted the potatoes after cooking and found they'd absorbed the delicious taste of the stock, reports the Express.

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Normally, the potatoes would be quite bland after cooking, requiring extra butter and milk to achieve a silky smooth texture, but not this time. If you're looking for an even more intense flavour, I'd suggest adding chopped onions, garlic and bay leaves to the water. Just remember to remove the bay leaves before mashing.

Whenever I whip up a batch of mashed potatoes, I loosely follow the ultimate method devised by Michelin-trained chef Poppy O'Toole, tweaking it slightly each time.

Ingredients

Four to five Maris Piper potatoes

75g salted butter

50ml of milk

Two chicken stock cubes in 500ml of water

Method

After weighing out the ingredients, I peeled and sliced the potatoes into 1cm thick rounds. It's crucial to cut them into rounds for even cooking.

Next, I prepared my chicken stock and allowed it to cool before adding the potatoes, ensuring they cook evenly. Although I usually add salt to the water, the stock already had sufficient salt.

I let the potatoes simmer rather than boil, which also aids in even cooking.

After 23 minutes, the potatoes were done, I could tell by poking a knife into them. If the potato slides straight off, you're good to go.

I then drained the potatoes and let them dry in their own steam for about three to five minutes, covering them with a tea towel during steam drying.

Once drained, I melted the butter and milk and poured it in before mashing the potatoes. If you want a creamier texture and are willing to put in the effort, pass the potatoes through a sieve.

Alternatively, a potato ricer yields similar results.

I savoured the mashed potatoes with a three-ingredient chicken recipe I've been whipping up non-stop recently. This recipe serves two or three people and is a great side to add to many main meals to accompany protein.