Garlic and olive oil mashed potatoes

• 1¼ kg or 2½ lb floury potatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• ¼ cup (2 fl oz, 50 ml) good olive oil
• about 1 cup (8 fl oz, 200 ml) warm milk
• S & P

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Boil them in salted water with one of the garlic cloves, peeled and squashed slightly with the flat of a knife, for 15 or 20 minutes, until tender.
2. Crush or finely chop the remaining garlic clove.
3. Drain the potatoes and mash them with the olive oil and raw garlic, adding enough warmed milk to get the consistency you like (some people like it stiff and fluffy, others like it smooth and runny...).
4. Check for salt and pepper, and serve with lots of onion gravy.

This is a minor variation on the mash proposed by Rick Stein in his Seafood Odyssey. It's thoroughly decadent, and you can serve it with anything, from sausages to seared swordfish. The flavour is quite robust, so make sure your other bits and pieces are tasty enough to compete.