Duchess Potatoes

via

This recipe is from Cynthia Nelson at stabroeknews. See her recipe or follow the recipe here (with my additions and improvements in red):
Duchess Potatoes - Serves 6
2 lbs potatoes
Water
Salt to taste
2 T salted butter
3/4 cp grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp water (I ended up needing 2 full tsps of water)
1 T chopped parsley
Nonstick spray
1. Peel potatoes, add to pot, cover and bring to a boil. When the pot comes to a boil add salt to taste. (I don't know what salt to taste means since we were not actually going to drink the potato water. So, I added 1 tsp and called it good.) Cook until fork tender.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3. Mash potatoes while hot and ensure there are no lumps. (I always mash my potatoes with a hand mixer, fast and easy.) Add butter, white pepper (white pepper makes me cough. A lot. Uncontrollably. For a long time. It is never pretty. So, no white pepper in my dinner. And I didn't miss it.) and cheese to the potatoes while it is still hot. Mix thoroughly and season to taste (salt and pepper).
4. Mix in beaten egg ensuring that it is fully incorporated into the mixture.
5. Lightly spray 6 ramekins with nonstick spray.
6. Snip one bottom-end of the plastic zip bag about 3/4-inch across. (I actually think it's better to fill the bag first and then snip.)
7. Add the potato mixture to the bag and squeeze the top in order to force the mixture through the hole in the bag. (If you don't know how to do this there are many examples on Youtube.)
8. Pipe the potatoes into the ramekins going in a circular motion until the ramekin is filled about 1 inch above the rim. Repeat until all the bowl are filled. Transfer the bowls onto a baking sheet/tray.
9. In a small bowl, add the paprika and 1/2 tsp water and make into a paste. (I need to add 2 tsps of water to make this a workable paste) Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the edges of the potatoes. (My Duchess Potatoes looked nothing like the picture above. That picture is highly stylized. They probably used a Q-Tip to make the swirl of paprika look that good. Mine looked like a chicken had walked all over the top. No, I am not sharing the picture. Too embarrassing.)
10. Sprinkle the top with chopped parsley.
11. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. 
Serving Suggestions: My gang ate these potatoes with Lemon Chicken and broccoli.
Nutritional Information:
6 Servings
Amount per serving: 
Calories:                    218
Fat:                             9.5g
Carbs:                       26.4g
Fiber                           3.3g
Protein:                       7.6g
Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 6 points
Thoughts:
The prep time for this recipe was 34 minutes. It does require many extra steps beyond making plain mashed potatoes, but the presentation really was lovely. Even though mine looked like chicken scratch, I think I was the only one at the table who noticed that fact. Also these potatoes were good the day they were served. Warmed up the next day, not so much. Therefore, I give this recipe four pins.
If you just hopped over here from Pinterest, Welcome! Feel free to check out any of the other recipes I have reviewed. And come back for another visit sometime soon. - Lynn