These May be the Best Mashed Potatoes Ever!

As prep for a visit to the pop-up shop at the French Cheese Board, the Accidental Locavore was looking at the recipes on their website and came across this one for what they call “Warm Potato Salad With Raclette.” It looked easy and delicious so I gave it a try the other night. It was indeed easy and delicious, but in no way would I call it potato salad—see the notes at the end for why. Serves 2-4 depending on how gluttonous you are.

• 1 pound waxy potatoes, such as Yukon Gold, peeled
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter (in 1 tablespoon pieces)
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 cup Raclette, chopped and lightly warmed in the oven

Preheat the oven to 350°F. You can put the Raclette in an ovenproof dish to warm while the oven is heating.

In a large pot of salted water, bring the potatoes to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until they are tender when pierced with a fork. Drain them and transfer to a large bowl.

Using a fork crush the warm potatoes. Add the salt, butter, mustard and Raclette and stir well to combine. Scrape the potato mixture into a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

My verdict: These may be the best mashed potatoes ever! What’s not to like — good potatoes from our CSA, French butter and Raclette? There might have been a smidge too much Dijon, and going forward, I might use both smooth and grainy mustard. The recipe originally had dill sprinkled over it at the end, but since our dinner plans got messed up, we decided to just treat it like we normally do with Raclette and served the potatoes with slices of prosciutto, my smoked pork tenderloin and cornichons — magnifique!