Crawfish Mashed Potatoes

• 2 pounds Idaho Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes (actually, I like to mix them)
• 2/3 to 3/4 cups half and half (I generally a bit more cream if the potatoes sit for a while before serving, hence the two amounts)
• 1 large garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with a bit of kosher salt
• 5 ounces of butter
• 6 ounces crawfish tails
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper
• Fresh chives for garnishing

1. Cut up and boil the potatoes in salted water until soft, about 20 minutes.

2. Warm together the half and half, butter and minced garlic until the butter is melted and the cream scalded.

3. Give the crawfish tails a quick sauté in butter, as they are packed only partially cooked.

4. Drain the potatoes in a colander, then run them through a food mill* (you will probably have to do this in steps) into the pot of butter, cream etc.

5.  Add the crawfish tails to the potatoes, and  gently stir it all together. Season to taste, and garnish with snipped chives.

6-8 servings as a side dish.

* A note here about food mills. Yes, you can mash the potatoes with one of those old mashing hand tools, but my experience is you’ll never get fluffy, lump free mashed potatoes without a food mill- of course, if you like lumps…