# Melissa Perello’s Mashed Potatoes - Made In

Inspired by her love of baked potatoes and roasted vegetables, Chef Melissa Perello adds fennel and garlic to creamy Yukon golds for a flavorful mash.

It’s hard to improve upon a classic, but with her rendition of mashed potatoes, Chef Melissa Perello of [Frances](https://www.frances-sf.com/) and [Octavia](https://www.octavia-sf.com/) in San Francisco, enriches the side with earthy flavors in her contribution to our [1st Annual Thanksgiving Menu](/blogs/thanksgiving-menu-2022). Chef Perello loves the rich sweetness brought on by roasting vegetables, so she adds in garlic and fennel. Instead of roasting them however, she slow-cooks the aromatics in our [Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven](https://madeincookware.com/products/dutch-oven/). It also serves as a large enough pot to mash potatoes in before crisping up in the oven.

Like twice-baked potatoes, there's no need to smooth the potatoes out as the more rustic the top, the better the golden brown crust will be. Like Chef Perello, we agree Yukon Golds are the [superior potato for mashing](https://madeincookware.com/blogs/best-potatoes-for-mashing), with their buttery flavor adding to the delicious richness of the dish which is amped up by heavy cream, sour cream, and plenty of butter. 

While this recipe calls for a ricer, you can also use a potato masher depending on your preferred consistency, but regardless, we suggest mashing in the Stainless Stock Pot and then transferring to the Dutch Oven with the fennel mixture.







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URL: https://madeincookware.com/recipes/melissa-perello-mashed-potatoes