Cassell's dictionary of cookery

artichokes, seakale, and celery, are the most suitable. Stew these until they are quite tender, and press them through a hair sieve. Make the soup hot, mix with it half a pint of Ijoiling cream, and serve. Send fried crusts to table on a separate dish. Time to simmer the soup, five hours the first day from the time the water reaches the boiling point; one hour and a half the second. Probable cost, varying with the ingredients. Sufficient for eight or nine persons. Potato. — The potato on its introduction into the British Islands {sec Potato, History of the) was served at first as a delicacy, and came vei-y slowly into general use, though now it constitutes one of the cheapest and most common Ivinds of vegetable food. It is not very nutritious ; indeed, it is less so than any other vegetable {see Potato, Nutritive Properties of the) ; nevertheless its cultivation has again and again prevented famine in agricultural districts, and it is well known that the Irish — a hardy and healthy race — subsisted for some time almost entirely upon it. There are a great many varieties of potato, and generally each locality has its favourite, which is known by the local name. Its excellence, however, depends to a very large extent upon the cooking; and whilst a good potato may be spoiled by bad cooking, an inferior potato may, v/ith proper management, be rendered comparatively good. It is to be feared, however, that large quantities of potatoes are constantly wasted in many families, owing to the way in which they are dressed. Potato and Almond Pudding.— Mash six oimces of boiled potatoes, dry and fiom-y, till they are perfectly smooth. Blanch three ounces of sweet almonds and four bitter ones, and pound them, but not finely, with a little orange-flower water. Let them simmer in half a pint of new milk until the flavour is drawn out, and dissolve in the milk four ounces of fresh butter and four ounces of powdered sugar. Stir the mixture into the potatoes, add a pinch of salt, a little grated nutmeg, and the rind and juice of half a lemon. Beat the pudding till it is light and smooth, and add separately the yelks and well-whisked whites of five eggs. Line a pie-dish with pufl'-paste, and pour in the mixture. Chop half a dozen almonds rather coarsely, strew them over the pudding, and bake in a well-heated oven for one hour. Probable cost, Is. 8d. Sufficient for four or five persons. Potato and Almond Pudding (another way) . — Si-e Almond and Potato Pudding. Potato and Leek Soup {see Leek and Potato Soup). Potato Balls. — Steam two pounds of mealy potatoes, and beat them till they are quite smooth and free from lumps. Mix with them two ounces of fresh butter, a tea-spoonful of salt, and two table-spoonfuls of boiling cream or milk. Make them into baUs the size of a walnut, brush each one over with beaten egg, and fry in hot butter until they are nicely browned. If liked, a little grated ham, a finelyminced shallot, or a little chopped parsley, may be added to the potatoes, and the mixture may be bound together with the yolk of an egg. Send good brown gravy to table with the potato balls. Time, ten minutes to fry the potatoes. Probable cost. Id. or 2d. per pound. Sufficient for four or five persons.