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When steak is the main attraction, side dishes sometimes pale in comparison. The chefs at Mastro’s offer a remedy: luxurious lobster mashed potatoes. Bathed in butter and topped with sweet hunks of lobster, these decadent spuds will elevate your dinner to a new level. Mastro’s City Hall executive chef Richard Rodriguez has a few tips for the home cook tackling this recipe. If you’re going to use fresh lobster, Rodriguez advises purchasing from a reputable...

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As a kid growing up in Texas and Louisiana, TEXAZ Grill owner Steve Freidkin now has fond memories of his mama’s mashed tater salad. So when he got tired of throwing away the leftover mashed potatoes at his popular Phoenix restaurant, he recalled the potato salad of his youth. “I thought, well, dang. It worked for my family. Maybe it will work here.”

The verdict? “Some people like it and some people are a little freaked out by it,” he says. “It’s a little different, but c’mon, it’s got bacon in it so it’s got to be good.”

Freidken uses russet potatoes with the skin on and makes the dressing separately from the salad. “It has most of the ingredients of a Southern-style potato salad, but it’s got a little Louisiana flair to it.”