Potatoes rank first in importance in the vegetable line, and conse-
quently should be properly served. It requires some little intelligence to
cook even so simple and common a dish as boiled potatoes. In the first
place, all defective or green ones should be cast out; a bad one will flavor
a whole dish. If they are not uniform in size, they should be made so by
cutting after they are peeled. The best part of a potato, or the most
nutritious, is next to the skin, therefore they should be pared very thinly,
if at all; then, if old, the cores should be cut out, thrown into cold water
salted a little, and boiled until soft enough for a fork to pierce through
easily; drain immediately, and replace the kettle on the fire with the cover
partly removed, until they are completely dried. New potatoes should be
put into boiling water, and when partly done salted a little. They should
be prepared just in time for cooking by scraping off the thin outside skin.
They require about twenty minutes to boil.
TO BOIL NEW POTATOES.
Do NOT have the potatoes dug long before they are dressed, as they are
never good when they have been out of the ground for some time. Well
(182)
VEGETABLES.
183
wash them, rub off the skins with a coarse cloth, and put them in boiling
water salted. Let them boil until tender; try them with a fork, and when
done pour the water away from them; let them stand by the side of the
fire with the lid of the saucepan partially removed, and when the potatoes
are thoroughly dry, put them in a hot vegetable dish, with a piece of but-
ter the size of a walnut; pile the potatoes over this and serve. If the pota-
toes are too old to have the skins rubbed off; boil them in their jackets;
drain, peel and serve them as above, with a piece of butter placed in the
midst of them. They require twenty to thirty minutes to cook. Serve
them hot and plain, or with melted butter over them.
MASHED POTATOES.
Take the quantity needed, pare off the skins and lay them in cold water
half an hour; then put them into a saucepan with a little salt; cover with
water and boil them until done. Drain off the water and mash them fine
with a potato masher. Have ready a piece of butter the size of an egg,
melted in half a cup of boiling hot milk and a good pinch of salt ; mix it
well with the mashed potatoes until they are a smooth paste, taking care
that they are not too wet. Put them into a vegetable dish, heap them up
and smooth over the top, put a small piece of butter on the top in the
centre, and have dots of pepper here and there on the surface as large as a
half dime.
Some prefer using a heavy fork or wire beater, instead of a potato
masher, beating the potatoes quite light and heaping them up in the dish
without smoothing over the top.
BROWNED POTATOES.
Mash them the same as the above, put them into a dish that they are
to be served in, smooth over the top and brush over with the yolk of an
egg, or spread on a bountiful supply of butter and dust well with flour✪ Browned Potatoes. Set
in the oven to brown; it will brown in fifteen minutes with a quick fire.
MASHED POTATOES. (Warmed Over.) ✪ Mashed Potatoes (Warmed Over)
Page 121 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1887. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Potatoes rank first in importance in the vegetable line, and consequently should be properly served. It requires some little intelligence to cook even so simple and common a dish as boiled potatoes. In the first place, all defective or green ones should be cast out; a bad one will flavor a whole dish. If they are not uniform in size, they should be made so by cutting after they are peeled. The best part of a potato, or the most nutritious, is next to the skin, therefore they should be pared very thinly, if at all; then, if old, the cores should be cut out, thrown into cold water salted a little, and boiled until soft enough for a fork to pierce through easily; drain immediately, and replace the kettle on the fire with the cover partly removed, until they are completely dried. New potatoes should be put into boiling water, and when partly done salted a little. They should be prepared just in time for cooking by scraping off the thin outside skin. They require about twenty minutes to boil.
TO BOIL NEW POTATOES.
Do NOT have the potatoes dug long before they are dressed, as they are never good when they have been out of the ground for some time. Well
wash them, rub off the skins with a coarse cloth, and put them in boiling water salted. Let them boil until tender; try them with a fork, and when done pour the water away from them; let them stand by the side of the fire with the lid of the saucepan partially removed, and when the potatoes are thoroughly dry, put them in a hot vegetable dish, with a piece of butter the size of a walnut; pile the potatoes over this and serve. If the potatoes are too old to have the skins rubbed off; boil them in their jackets; drain, peel and serve them as above, with a piece of butter placed in the midst of them. They require twenty to thirty minutes to cook. Serve them hot and plain, or with melted butter over them.
MASHED POTATOES.
Take the quantity needed, pare off the skins and lay them in cold water half an hour; then put them into a saucepan with a little salt; cover with water and boil them until done. Drain off the water and mash them fine with a potato masher. Have ready a piece of butter the size of an egg, melted in half a cup of boiling hot milk and a good pinch of salt ; mix it well with the mashed potatoes until they are a smooth paste, taking care that they are not too wet. Put them into a vegetable dish, heap them up and smooth over the top, put a small piece of butter on the top in the centre, and have dots of pepper here and there on the surface as large as a half dime.
Some prefer using a heavy fork or wire beater, instead of a potato masher, beating the potatoes quite light and heaping them up in the dish without smoothing over the top.
BROWNED POTATOES.
Mash them the same as the above, put them into a dish that they are to be served in, smooth over the top and brush over with the yolk of an egg, or spread on a bountiful supply of butter and dust well with flour. Set in the oven to brown; it will brown in fifteen minutes with a quick fire.
MASHED POTATOES. (Warmed Over.)
Records on this page
Browned PotatoesMashed Potatoes (Warmed Over)