Buttery Stewed Potatoes

With or without the peels? I love them both ways, so I'll leave that call up to how picky your kids are. Now, if I'm sick, I could eat a vat of creamy, smooth, stewed potatoes, but they have to be peeled. I remember when I had my wisdom teeth removed many moons ago and my mother-in-law brought over a big pot of stewed potatoes. I had not eaten for a few days thanks to some dry sockets and those potatoes really hit the spot.


The other night Blair called to ask me how I fixed them and I could have sworn I had already posted the recipe. Well, I am a little behind, and no I had not. You might be sitting there thinking, how hard can it be to stew potatoes? Well, it's not hard, but for them to be top notch and the kind people remember eating, there are a few secrets. Let me tell you, I've eaten plenty that weren't very impressive.If they're watery, the cook didn't pay them enough attention.

We love to eat these with kraut and wieners, black eyed peas and cornbread. They are a great mashed potato substitute if you get the texture just right.

INGREDIENTS:
About 8 medium potatoes (peeled/unpeeled and chopped into 1" + cubes
1 stick of butter (or more)
Salt and pepper to taste

Barely cover chopped potatoes with water in a medium to large pan. Add stick of butter, salt and pepper and bring to a rolling boil. Turn heat down to medium-high. After 15 minutes stir potatoes real well. Now is the time to really start paying attention. You may have to adjust the temperature if the water is cooking down too fast. As the potatoes continue to cook, stir frequently. When the edges of the potatoes start to soften, using your spoon, chop/scrape the sides down some more. As you do this, the water starts to thicken with the cooked down potatoes. They will be done once the broth is creamy and smooth. The potato cubes will dissolve down to about 1/2".