I briefly marinated the meat in soy sauce, red pepper flakes, pepper, olive oil, and garlic powder after practically shaving it on the diagonal across the grain.
The meat was a gift so do didn’t contribute to the cost but if you know the price of 3 ounces of whole tissue steak or chicken you could add that in. If I had any provolone I would have put it between the toppings and the potatoes.
Cost per person, $1.24
Pound for pound? Probably more expensive. But it has a much longer shelf life and they can be made much faster
That shelf life is very nice. They take about a sixth the time as scratch made.
But, yeah, they cost way more, even on sale. But even way more is less than a dollar per person.
Yeah. I always do scratch made but peeling does take a hot minute. Other than that it’s all passive time cooking then I strain and throw the cooked potatoes in the stand mixer and it mashes them for me. Throw in some butter, salt/pepper, maybe a bit of heavy cream or half/half. Also I throw in some garlic cloves in with the potatoes before cooking, once cooked they mash up just fine. Sometimes a few egg yolks at the end too if I’m feeling fancy.
I am a “leave the peels on” person. By the time the hand mixer gets done with them they are barely noticeable.
I don’t have room for my stand mixer to live in the kitchen and I’m not carrying that beast 20 feet so I’m all about the hand mixer.
I literally never understood the TV trope about lumpy mashed potatoes. I assumed everyone’s were as creamy and smooth as mine. Then I had a friend’s mashed potatoes. Lumps. So many lumps. Like they mashed with a fork. Suddenly it all became clear.
Honestly a bit of lumps is a good thing sometimes. But yeah with the mixer usually don’t get any.