Today I’ve decided to address this horrible oversight (though, if asked, I could have sworn I had written this post already, alas, it was not so). So here is everything I know about making mash potato!

Classic Everyday Mash potatoes (serves 4)

Peel 800g of floury potatoes (approx. 4 large potatoes) and cut into large chunks. Place in a large saucepan of salted, cold water (the water should just cover the potatoes). Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes until tender (you should be able to easily pierce the flesh with a knife). Drain the potatoes and let them sit for a minute to make sure as much water as possible evaporates. Return the potatoes to the saucepan, over a low heat and mash the potatoes. Add 40g unsalted butter (chopped) and 1/3 cup hot milk (full fat) then beat with a wooden spoon til light and fluffy. Add salt and freshly cracked white pepper to taste.

Tips for heavenly mash

• Ultra smooth: Roughly mash the potatoes, then push the potatoes through a sieve or potato ricer before adding the milk/butter. Another trick is to par-boil the potatoes whole, then place them in the oven for approx. 2hrs, then mash them (this makes them super dry & floury so the only liquid in the final product is the milk/cream/egg).
• Ultra fancy & rich: Add 1-2 egg yolks and/or replace the milk with cream.

A few words of warning

• Don’t cut the potatoes into small pieces to cook them faster – you’ll end up with too much water in your mash.
• Avoid using electric whizzy things or over-mashing your potatoes – it will turn to glue.
• Don’t forget to taste your mash before serving!

Top 3 tips for making mash healthier

1. Keep it rustic and leave the skins on the potatoes (all the nutrients are in the skin).
2. Use olive oil instead of butter.
3. Use sweet potato instead (lower GI), or at least 1/2 sweet, 1/2 regular potatoes.

Not so boring mash

By now, you must be getting sick of plain Jane potato mash, so I’ve listed my favourite mash options below. If you’re looking for more nutritious & colourful options I’d highly recommend beetroot, carrot, celeriac or parsnip mash (or a variety of all). You can mash pretty much any root vegetable using the above method, so be brave and experiment!

• Garlic mash
  • Slight hint – add 1-2 cloves of peeled garlic to the water when you boil the potatoes, then mash the garlic with the potatoes.
  • Mighty kick – add 1/2-1 fresh minced garlic to the potatoes when you add the milk/butter.
  • Vampire slayer – add 1-3 cloves of roasted garlic to the potatoes when you add the milk/butter.
• Parmesan mash – add 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan to the mash after you add the milk/butter (then season to taste).
• Pesto mash – add 1-2 tablespoons of fresh pesto to the mash BEFORE seasoning.
• Olive mash – add 1-2 tablespoons of chopped olives or 1 tablespoon of olive tepanade to the mash after you add the milk/butter, then add pepper only (as the olives are quite salty).
• Sage butter mash – instead of using plain butter, melt the butter with some fresh sage leaves (or any herb for that matter) and saute til the butter ever so slightly changes colour and the sage is fragrant, then pour it into the potato mix when you add the milk. You can also infuse the butter (or oil) with other herbs or spices and use this to perk up your mash.
• Vegan mash – replace the cows milk with soy, almond or rice milk, and replace the butter with good quality olive oil.

Picking your potato

Not sure what kind of potato you need? All you need to know is that there are two main types of potatoes: floury (for mashing) and waxy (for salads). If in doubt, ask your greengrocer which kind you should get as it can be a little confusing! Worst case, if you use waxy potatoes for mash potato, you’ll end up with a not so smooth mash. But not to worry, just tell everyone it’s ‘rustic’.

• For smooth mash, you’re after floury potato varieties as these fall apart easily when cooked (high in starch, low in sugar and moisture). Examples include: russet, kennebec, coliban.
• For smashed potatoes, salads or any other dish where you want the potato to hold together, use waxy potatoes (low in starch, high in moisture). Examples include: desiree, kipfler, red pontiac.
• If possible, buy organic – especially if you plan on eating the skins, and ALWAYS remember to scrub your potatoes BEFORE boiling them to remove any bitter chemical residue or scum.

Well, I’ve pretty much exhausted my knowledge of mash potatoes, but I’m keen to hear your tips, so if you have any, add them below.

Happy mashing!

Mishymash

Although it’s easy to distinguish between the ‘pain’ and ‘suffering’, it’s worth noting that they oft go hand in hand. In my experience, it goes something like this:

You’re in the middle of preparing dinner for your friends, when you accidentally cut your finger, which causes pain.

Almost instantly, the suffering sets in… you (if you’re like me) start to worry that this is the downfall of your dinner party… now that you have to go and clean out your wound the fish will be overcooked, the pasta will be way, way, way past al dente and FFS who is going to top up the wine?!?

This is where mindfulness is useful, ie, stop and think about what you are thinking about. Result: Instant calm & clarity. In a matter of seconds, your mind turns from calamity to clarity. You see a path to dinner party greatness, which in this scenario, includes delegation.

You pick the most food-savvy guest to look after the dinner, and the quietest guest to pour the wine (it’s a great way to get to know the crowd!). You let everyone know that dinner will be a few minutes late and grab another guest to help tend your bloody finger (a great opportunity to have an intimate chat with aforementioned friend). Crisis averted. Suffering subsides.

Here’s another scenario… a really disorganised, annoying colleague (or someone you equally dislike), let’s call him Harry, sends you a message at 6am marked ‘urgent’. You see it and decide not to reply… to make him suffer for his inability to organise himself.

Note, whilst on the rare occasion, delaying your response may cause the person in question to change their behavior, in my experience it’s a fairly inefficient way to ask someone to change – it’s much better to have a direct conversation with them about their annoying habits.

Anyway, it’s 6am after you worked late the night before… and it’s 6am!…So, you decide you’ll reply to Harry’s message when your work day officially starts.

Enter suffering… you try to fall back to sleep but you start wondering what will happen if you forget to reply? What if the matter really is urgent this time? What is Harry going to do/say/think/harm if you delay your response? How will you feel if it is urgent AND you know you could have done something to help? In comes guilt (another form of suffering). Now, not only is Harry suffering (all be it deserving), but now you’re suffering too!

But what’s the option? Replying immediately causes disappointment or feelings of stupidity for succumbing to Harry’s request, and delaying your response leads to guilt and worry.

OK, so maybe there isn’t an all in one solution for avoiding suffering in every situation (or perhaps I need to read a few more books on Buddhism), but at least there is choice in the type of suffering we inflict on ourselves. Personally, if I have to choose between ego (feeling silly) and guilt, I’d prefer a bash to my ego (I find guilt has a longer tail, though perhaps that’s just a personal thing). Plus, in this scenario, ending my suffering, ends Harry’s suffering (so I can feel good/superior etc about doing the right thing according to my moral code).

In sum, if you want to avoid pain, stay away from sharp objects. However, if you want to avoid or reduce suffering, approach each obstacle with mindful clarity and decide what course of action will minimise your own suffering.

Oh, and I highly recommend reading The Wise Heart

Thx for reading… may your suffering be swift and your enjoyment eternal.
Mishy

All I could remember of my friends recipe was: 1 bunch of kale (shredded), some cooked rice, 1 cup grated cheese, 1 cup of milk (& bacon on top, which being vege, I would need to omit).

I’m terrible at following other peoples recipes, so I decided to add a few more ingredients (in part to add flavour to my baconless version): 1/2 cup crumbled feta, a few pinches of nutmeg, cayenne, lemon zest, s&p to taste. I then added a garnish of anchovies, pine nuts and roasted tomatoes (in place of the bacon).

I baked it for about 1 hour at 180C degrees & it was lush.

Enjoy,
mishy

Kittens, Puppies & Other Fluffy Stuff.

Collaboration typically means “the act of working together”. Nice. Simple. Easy. For product managers, this means things like “rational discussions with key stakeholders about product objectives, strategies and the like ”.

War, Blood and Miscellaneous Body Parts.

Now we turn to the alternate meaning of the word: “to betray one’s country by cooperating with an enemy”. Harsh. This is a pretty serious crime. We’re talking treachery. We’re talking accomplices. We’re talking reprimand. And heads will roll. For product managers, this means things like “heated arguments resulting in red faces and walkouts”.

Considering the dual meaning, is collaboration doomed from the outset? If collaboration is the cornerstone of product management, what does this mean for product managers? How do you balance “working together” with “acts of treason”?

As a product manager, chief negotiator and ally to all, it’s important to know some tactics to prevent an all out war.

Here’s my strategy for collaboration:

1. No secrets, no spies, no lies. Allow everyone to share their perspective and maintain clear communication paths to build trust and prevent betrayal.
2. Find some neutral territory. This not only refers to things like product features, approaches and techniques, but also to the location of the discussion.
3. Know what you’re aiming to achieve. Identify the end result and know what the collaboration is aiming to achieve before discussions start.
4. Have a process for conflict resolution. Be clear from the outset regarding issues like who has the final say when there’s a dead-lock?
5. Look out for bad apples. Not everyone is cut out for collaboration, so learn to recognise the signs of an apple going bad, and try to address any issues early on (I recommend lemon, salt or vodka for neutralising the bad apple).

So, how do you prevent an all out war?

Interested in catching up with other product managers? Join Product Maven’s on 2-June, from 8.30am at Cook & Archies in Surry Hills. RSVP here.

A friend asked me to put together a little website for his new short film. The obvious choice was to use WordPress as the CMS so my friend could have total control over the site. I set it up within about 3 hours… then, decided to apply the same WP-theme to this blog, which took less than an hour!

Here’s all the details:

Thurs-17-Mar
From 8.30am (til about 10am)
Cook & Archies, 1a/4 Buckingham St Surry Hills NSW 2010
Topic:  Agile or Waterfall?

RSVP: http://twtvite.com/pmm-mar18

My preference? It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Agile, and here’s why:

• Greater transparency
• Manageable deliverables
• Ability to identify issues early on
• Improved morale (through constant communication)

Now you get to vote!

Looking forward to seeing y’all on Thursday!

@mishymash

Ps. There’s only a few days left til Product Camp – so if you haven’t registered yet, you can do so here… http://www.pcampsydney.com/

At the tender age of 15, I decided I wanted to become a chef. Being a strict vegetarian at the time (borderline pain-in-the-ass-vegan – no disrespect to my vegan friends), I decided the traditional chefing paths weren’t for me (too many animal bits), so I found myself working at Laurie’s Vegetarian Restaurant as a salad hand and cook’s assistant. I have many stories about my time there, but I’ll try to stick to the point of this post and tell you a little about how and why Genevieve Maynard impressed me.

It was a cold winter morning, around 5.43am and I just arrived at work to start my day – first up, bake the vegan muffins, then prep the vegetables for lunch. I did a lot of prep… mostly cutting bags full of partially rotting onions, mincing chili and (the worst job of all) shredding cheese with an antique electric grater that spewed flecks of cheese all over the kitchen and sat ominously waiting to munch on my chili stained fingers.

Now, you have to remember, I was 15 years old. Genevieve was (and no doubt still is) older, wiser and far cooler than I’ll ever be. She rode a bike, played base, had dreds, acted tough and commandeered the kitchen with style. In contrast, and much like most 15 year olds, I lacked respect for my elders, had an annoying high pitched voice (which hasn’t changed much over time), and I thought I knew everything about everything. So, I’m guessing I annoyed the shit out of Gen, and I’m surprised with all the knives in the kitchen that she managed to resist the urge to stab me (or at least scare me a little).

Anyway, I digress.

On this one particular morning, I was doing my usual prep. We were making lentil casserole, so I needed to chop up celery (amongst a range of other ingredients). I walked into the coolroom to grab the aformentioned celery.

Now, remember, it was a cold wintery morning, and coolrooms are, as you would expect, cold. I diligently scanned the coolroom alas the celery was nowhere to be seen (ie. I walked in, thought ‘fuck it’s cold’, then walked back out again). Upon exiting the coolroom, I said (in my squeaky 15 year old voice):

“Gen, where’s the celery?”

At this point, there was utter silence in the kitchen. Then Gen turned around, knife in hand, scowl faced and said:

“OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES!”

So I did. And I found the celery.

I don’t know if it was my impressionable age, or the murderous look on Gen’s face, but this gem really stuck with me. So much so, that to this day whenever I’m looking for something, an object, a solution to a problem, my house keys etc, I still hear Gen’s words of wisdom, which is why, Genevieve Maynard is #1 on my list of people who impressed me.

Sadly (for me, not for her), I don’t see Gen anymore, though I’m always pleased to see that her music career took off.

So, who’s impressed you lately?

Tip: See Gen’s advice above – and trust me, it really does help in so many ways.

Details:

Cook & Archie’s
1a/4 Buckingham St, Surry Hills
Thursday, 25 Feb
From 8.30am onwards

Topic: Innovation – how (not) to kill it!

By now, most of you will be well settled into the new year, with new objectives, new recruits and new deadlines… but have you allowed time to really drive innovation? And if you are one of the lucky ones who have the time, where do you start?

Regardless of whether you are ‘naturally innovative’, it’s important to note that business innovation rarely happens in isolation. It requires teamwork. It requires key stakeholers to work together. And this is where it gets messy. Whilst you might be a natural innovator that doesn’t mean everyone on your team is. So how are you going to work together to innovate?

This is where your good friend PROCESS steps in!

I have to admit, at first, the idea of a ‘creative process’ seemed counterintuitive (perhaps because it sounded too much like an oxymoron).

But after delving deeper, I’m pleased to report to the naysayers that process can guide innovation – offering hidden pathways on an otherwise dead end road. For some, the creative process can be so dauntinging, it’s sometimes reassuring to know that at each step you have a little handy helper to set you on your way. It’s like your innovation GPS.

Here’s my tips for innovation (inspired by a recent Innovation workshop with Brainmates):

1. Know when you are in ‘innovation mode’ and when it’s time to knuckle down and focus on what can really be achieved.
2. Stay positive, listen and play nicely together.
3. Have an innovation plan so you know when you’re meeting your targets.
4. Get out of your meeting rooms, kick off your shoes & have some fun!
5. And… when it doubt – call in The Consultants (they really can be helpful sometimes!)

What works for you?

Looking forward to seeing you at #pmm

@mishymash

Ps. And for anyone looking for a great innovation workshop, keep an eye on Brainmates for more details.

PPs. For anyone interested, join me for Vindaloo against violence #VagainstVon Wed-24 Feb http://vagainstvsurryhills.eventbrite.com