On the rare occasions that I make mashed potatoes I usually just add salt, pepper, herbes de Provence, and a little cream. And then I put a pat of butter on to serve. :)

The mustard idea above sounds good too. Almost a potato-salad ingredient.

Butter, cream and kosher salt goes in mine. Then mashed using a hand masher. Never in a blender. I prefer a couple of lumps in my mashed potatoes.

I don't bother peeling the skins... I just chop the potatoes up, remove any spoiled parts and toss them into the water. I like the texture of the skins.

Robuchon was named chef of the century by the Gault Miller restaurant guide. I found his recipe online and it was about 2 pounds of potatoes and one pound of butter.

I also like the skins. My grandma used to tell me "that's where all the vitamins are!" and part of me still believes her...

I like it both ways actually, but they are noticeably different dishes dishes I think.

I have used Yukon Golds recently and the skins are so thin you almost don’t notice. I usually make my mash with red potatoes and peel them. Which I won’t do if they’re going into potato salad.

Statin manufacturers voted him #1 as well ;)

From a flavor standpoint, you could add just about anything in. Mashed potato is good vessel for a lot of flavors. Personally, I'm a huge fan of brandade (cod and olive oil added usually) scooped on a nice crostini. But for a more typical mashed potato side: butter, milk (or sometimes sour cream - makes it thicker but good flavor), and S&P are enough. Maybe some grated parm or a soft cheese.

The egg is odd to me because I think of it as a binding agent. I would mix a beaten egg with leftover mashed potatoes and cheese to make mashed potato cakes or into a ball, covered in bread crumbs, and fried. The egg holds it together. Not sure I want that in regular mashed, but based on this thread maybe it works out.

And I 100% agree with the poster who mentioned it's just a good reason to eat gravy!

If Robuchon’s recipe isn’t quite rich enough, why not try pommes aligot

https://amp.theguardian.com/food/202...elicity-cloake

For me the ne plus ultra of potato decadence is tartiflette. But you can't buy reblochon in the US since it's a raw milk cheese. You can use raclette instead but it's not quite the same.

There used to be a French Market in my town. One of the street food vendors sold tartiflette - it was divine and when I knew it was in town I would make the effort to buy a container of it.

Reading this as someone that doesn't mind mashed potatoes, I still remain convinced that if the mashed potatoes now have a health profile worse than a fatty steak, I'd rather eat french fries.

A bit of cream and butter and some salt y pepper - fine with me. All the other stuff, just put them over a basket of fries instead.

Neighbour asked me today if I wanted some of those instant mash potatoes (don't judge) packs... I took a few packs... planning on making an improvised sheppards pie tonight with one of them (ground pork, some frozen corn/carrots/peas, brown gravy... not likely to bother broiling it, but we'll see).

Now to see what else I can do with them...

I tend to agree. Although I'd take wedges or fat crinkle cut chips over french fries.