Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Fennel

I absolutely love mashed potatoes, especially with other stuff in it!  I think mashed potatoes are one the most fun things to play around with because you can totally change the taste by adding different things to it.  The recipe I'm posting today is based on two things: 1. I messed up initially so had to change plans, and 2. I had some stuff left over from making other Thanksgiving food.  As far as the messing up goes, I had a lot of potatoes, so I thought a fast way to mash them would be to mix it with an egg beater- bad idea.  The consistency became all weird and sticky.  Anyhow, here's the recipe I ended up with.

Ingredients

6 potatoes

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

6 tbsp heavy cream (or milk if you want a healthier recipe)

3 tbsp butter

8 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

1/2 bell pepper, cut into small pieces

Green, leafy part of fennel root (the top), chopped finely

1 scallion, chopped fine

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.  Boil the potatoes in salt water until done (knife goes into the middle easily).  Peel.

3.  In a sauce pan, heat the butter and garlic on low heat until light brown.

4.  Add the cream, salt, pepper, and potatoes.  Mash everything together.

5.  Min in the bell pepper, fennel tops, scallions, and Parmesan cheese.6.  Put into casserole dish and bake at 350 F for half an hour, or until the top turns golden brown.