Hummus Mashed Potatoes

The book is happening. The book is HAPPENING. Katherine from the press sent a contract and I read it at the kitchen table with Derek, who applied his project-management brain to legal language and translated it into human: they want to publish "From Brenda's Kitchen" in spring 2034 (almost a year away — publishing timelines are glacial, but so is good barbecue, so I understand the principle of slow). They want to keep the stories. They want the recipes. They want, specifically, "the voice" — Katherine said that on the phone. "Don't change the voice. The voice is the book." The voice is Mama's and mine and the kitchen's and the Folgers can's. The voice is forty-three years of standing at a stove and talking while I cook. The voice was never something I tried to have. It's just what happens when you've been loved by Brenda Jackson.

Called everyone. Vanessa first — she screamed loud enough to hear without the phone. Marcus — "Mama, that's AMAZING" (he gets his enthusiasm honestly; I got mine from Mama). Jasmine — she cried. Isaiah — "That's cool, Mom T" (Isaiah communicates in the low registers). Zoe — "Can I still do the illustrations?" Yes, baby. Your illustrations are in the contract.

Darnell called me back that night. Quiet, the way Darnell always is. He said, "Mama would have been embarrassed by the attention. And she would have loved every second of it." He's right. Mama would have pretended she didn't want a book and then told everyone at church about it before the ink was dry.

Made jollof rice this week — a West African recipe I've been learning, tomato-based, spiced with curry and thyme and scotch bonnet. It's not Mama's tradition. It's the tradition behind the tradition — the African root that became the Southern tree. Cooking jollof in my kitchen in College Park is an act of tracing the line backward, past Alabama, past the plantation records, past the Middle Passage, to the kitchens where the original recipes lived. Curtis ate it and said, "What is this?" I said, "The beginning." He said, "Hm." The "hm" was confused but not unhappy. 7.0. I'll build from there.

The week I signed a contract for “From Brenda's Kitchen” and cooked jollof rice for the first time, I kept thinking about what it means to borrow from a tradition that is, in truth, your own — to reach back past what you were taught and touch something older. These hummus mashed potatoes came out of that same impulse: two staples from two lineages, neither one diminished by the company of the other, both made richer for the meeting. It felt like the right thing to put on the table on a week when everything was about tracing lines backward and finding out they all connect.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup plain hummus (store-bought or homemade)
1/4 cup warm whole milk or unsweetened oat milk
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus more for garnish
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

Boil the potatoes. Place the cubed potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold salted water by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook 18–22 minutes, until the potatoes are completely tender when pierced with a fork.
Warm the garlic. While the potatoes cook, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and cumin and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute until fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.
Drain and dry. Drain the potatoes thoroughly in a colander, then return them to the hot pot for 1–2 minutes over low heat, shaking gently, to evaporate any remaining moisture. This keeps the mash from going watery.
Mash and combine. Remove the pot from heat. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or ricer until smooth. Stir in the hummus, warm milk, the garlic-cumin oil, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix until creamy and fully incorporated. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve. Transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, dust lightly with extra smoked paprika, and scatter fresh parsley over the top. Serve warm alongside roasted chicken, grilled fish, or as a stand-alone bowl with pita.

Nutrition (per serving)

Hummus Mashed Potatoes — Where One Tradition Reaches for Another