What Columbus Was Missing - Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

After having wonderful houseguests for a long weekend, I'm back! Lots of cooking, lots of eating, lots of laughter. One of the things that we had this weekend was roast beef in the crock pot with roasted garlic and chives mashed potatoes. Easy and packed with flavor, roasted garlic and chives mashed potatoes really add some zip to your dinner and have the added bonus of freezing well for later eating. I used white potatoes and removed the jackets, but I've also made these with red-skinned mashed potatoes and mashed with the skins on, making for a nice texture and color contrast plus an added boost to the nutrition count.

Roasted Garlic
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Rub or peel the extra paper from a whole head of garlic, just enough to expose the cloves but not to break the cloves off the head. Lay the head of garlic on its side and slice off the very top of the head, which will take off the tips of some of the cloves.
Take a square of foil about 8"x8" and lay it on the counter, then sit the head of garlic on the foil. Drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil or vegetable oil over the head. Wrap the garlic in the foil, making a packet.
Bake the garlic for 30-40 minutes until the garlic is soft. Cool the garlic, then peel the roasted cloves or squeeze them through the holes in the end of the peels.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
2-3 lb potatoes, cut into chunks 1"-2" across
water to cover the potatoes in a pot by 1"-2"
1/4 c. butter or margarine, room temperture or melted
1/2 c. milk, soy milk, soy creamer, broth, or whatever your preference for mashed potatoes, warm
1/4 c. chopped fresh chives
1 head of roasted garlic, out of the peels
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Boil the potatoes until fork tender, then drain and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Break them up with a mixer, then pour in the melted butter and the warm milk - using warm will keep from cooling the potatoes and make for better incorporation. Add in the roated garlic.
Mix until creamy, making sure not to overmix. Beating them too long will break down the cell structure too much and produce glue-like mashed potatoes. Adding the milk slowly will also ensure that you add in only as much as you want - everyone likes mashed potatoes a little different!
When just about done mixing, add in the chives and the black pepper and finish mixing. Serve hot with butter or gravy, freeze in individual portion sizes, use leftovers to make potato pancakes and just enjoy a gourmet mashed potato with extra nutrients, color, and texture along with an explosion of flavor!