On the ball

Introducing two favorites for your holiday table

Rich-tasting Yukon Gold potatoes make a tasty side dish.
Rich-tasting Yukon Gold potatoes make a tasty side dish.

Baseball ended just a few weeks ago, and I can’t stop thinking about how the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years.

So why am I thinking about baseball as we approach the holiday season, with Thanksgiving almost here? The answer may be found in a term I love from America’s pastime: utility player. This refers to a team member who is good at all the positions, someone you can count on in a pinch to do just what needs to be done to help win.

I think of certain recipes as utility players, too. Usually side dishes, they’re easy to make, versatile and capable of elevating any meal to success. Today, I’d like to share two of my favorites, ready to help you throughout the holidays.

The first is mashed potatoes, without which many people consider a holiday table incomplete. Yet you’d be surprised by how many people forget about them, at least almost until the last minute. Fortunately, mashed potatoes are easy to make.

I like to use rich-tasting potatoes typified by the now widespread Yukon Gold, and I take care to cook them just until they’re tender enough to be pierced easily; cooked any longer, they’ll turn watery. I also briefly dry out the potatoes, which helps yield fluffier results. For the same reason, I like to puree them by pressing them through a ricer, which easily reduces the potatoes to uniform, ricelike particles into which you can smoothly incorporate butter, warm milk or cream, and seasonings.

Speaking of seasonings, mashed potatoes provide a great blank canvas for creating whatever flavor profile you like. Here, I incorporate grated horseradish and some pesto sauce (buy it store-bought or use your own favorite recipe) for a fragrant, festive-looking puree; but you could also incorporate grated cheese, chopped herbs, bits of crispy bacon or anything else that sounds good or goes well with the other dishes on your table.

Another holiday side I like to make is often some sort of cranberry relish. Yet, again, that dish often happens as an afterthought, with many people simply relying on something from a can. This year, though, why not consider making your own cranberry dish? As you’ll see from my simple recipe, it takes well under half an hour to produce something truly delicious. And, just like the mashed potatoes, you can easily modify the cranberry relish with other sweet spices, orange or lemon zest, or even a handful of other fruit such as chopped apple or dried cherries.

You can keep using these utility players all through the coming months. I hope they’ll help you win the game of holiday entertaining.

HORSERADISH AND PESTO MASHED POTATOES

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into halves or quarters

Kosher salt

6 large cloves garlic, peeled

1 cup heavy cream

Freshly grated nutmeg

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature

2 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish or bottled prepared horseradish

2 tablespoons prepared pesto sauce, plus a little oil floating on top of the pesto

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh basil sprigs, for garnish

Directions:

Put the potatoes in a large saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover, and season with salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Add the garlic. Partially cover the pan. Cook until the potatoes are just tender enough to offer no resistance when pierced with a wooden skewer or a sharp knife tip, about 25 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and garlic in a colander. Return to the same pan. Place over medium-low heat, partially cover, and leave until any excess water evaporates and the potatoes are dry, shaking the pan or stirring occasionally, 3 to 4 minutes.

Bring the cream to a simmer in a small heavy saucepan. Meanwhile, working in batches, rice the potatoes and garlic back into the same pan you cooked them in. (Or use a hand-held masher, mashing the potatoes and garlic in the pan.)

Add just a hint of nutmeg to the potatoes. Place the pan over low heat. A little at a time, stir in the hot cream and the butter. Stir in the horseradish and pesto to taste. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer the potatoes to a heated serving bowl, and make ridges in the surface with a moistened serving spoon. Spoon up some of the bright-green oil floating on top of the pesto, and drizzle over the potatoes. Garnish with basil, and serve immediately.

QUICK CRANBERRY RELISH

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

3/4 pound fresh whole cranberries or frozen unsweetened cranberries

1/2 cup light-brown sugar

Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Directions:

In a medium heavy saucepan, combine the cranberries and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar softens, about 3 minutes.

Cover and continue cooking until the cranberries pop and turn tender, about 10 minutes, seasoning to taste with salt.

Stir in the cinnamon and some cardamom to taste, cover, and cook until thick, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately, or set aside to cool to room temperature; then cover and chill before serving.

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