This Is How Rachael Ray Keeps Her Mashed Potatoes Hot For Hours
Once the holiday season hits full swing, it means holiday parties galore. If it's not the annual family Christmas party or Hanukkah Shabbat dinner, then it's the dreaded office potluck. Among the many festivities and gatherings that define the holiday season, one common denominator unifies them all — food. From pumpkin pies to pot roasts and charcuterie boards, food brings us together during the holidays. As joyous as eating hearty holiday meals with loved ones can be, the cooking and preparation process isn't always rainbows and butterflies.
When you're cooking an assortment of large dishes for a dinner party, it can be challenging to get the timing just right. If one recipe calls for 45 minutes of baking while another calls for an hour, you might end up with a cold plate of food if you don't time it perfectly. Between the peeling, chopping, seasoning, and cooking that goes into preparing multiple dishes for a holiday party, it's easy to let one of them go cold.
Although they're a family favorite, mashed potatoes are one of the fastest side dishes to turn cold. If you've ever timed your mashed potatoes to perfection only to find out your casserole needs 20 extra minutes of baking, you know how frustrating it can be to watch them lose their fresh-out-of-the-pot pizzazz. However, Rachael Ray has the perfect kitchen hack for keeping mashed potatoes hot while your other dishes finish cooking.
A little water goes a long way in keeping mashed potatoes hot
A celebrity chef and the host of her very own cooking show, Rachael Ray is a trusted figure in the culinary world. Frequently offering kitchen life hacks to home cooks across the nation, Ray has tips for cooking fresh clams, simplifying steaks, and keeping mashed potatoes warm for hours at a time.
In an interview with Allrecipes, Ray says that water is key when keeping your mashed potatoes hot and fresh. She suggests submerging your mashed potato pot in a water bath or bain-marie with a lid on top to keep those world-famous mashed potatoes hot for hours, even days at a time! A bain-marie is a kitchen appliance specifically designed to keep pots and jars hot for hours on end. However, you don't need a name-brand bain-marie to follow Ray's tip. Simply find a pot that's larger than the one you've cooked your mashed potatoes in, fill it with water, submerge your pot in the water, top it with a lid, simmer on low for as long as you need, et voila! Hot potatoes for hours.
Impress your dinner guests this holiday season with Rachael Ray's easy mashed potato hack.