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Mashed Potatoes Milanese

A creamy mashed potato dish topped with grated cheese and baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,756 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-decenal, which smells green, must. The science ↓

Mashed Potatoes Milanese

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the potatoes

  1. Peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water until tender.

  2. Drain the potatoes and shake them over the stove to let the steam escape.

Mash and season

  1. Mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy, adding chicken stock as needed.

  2. Season with salt and pepper, then add enough cream to beat with an egg beater.

  3. Transfer to a dish without smoothing the top.

Bake and serve

  1. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top and brown in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C).

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + chickentop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Chicken + cheesetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,936 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Potato + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together959 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  5. Cream + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the dish, becoming fluffy and creamy when mashed.
Chicken stock
Adds moisture and savory flavor to loosen the mashed potatoes.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, giving the mash a smooth, silky texture.
Grated cheese
Melts over the top and browns in the oven, adding flavor and a golden crust.

The step that matters

Draining and steaming off the potatoes. Excess surface water dilutes the mash and makes it loose. Shaking the drained potatoes over the stove evaporates that moisture, so the mash holds its shape and takes in cream well.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, cream, cheese):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Potatothe original
  3. Onionfits less well
  4. Tomatofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, cream, cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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