Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Potato Turnovers.— Mince finely the remains of cold roast meat — beef, mutton, veal, or ham. Take away the pieces of skin and gristle, season the mince highly with salt and cayenne, and add a small proportion of chopped pickles. Mash some cold boiled potatoes, and make them into a paste with a little flour and one or two beaten eggs. Dredge a little flour over this, and roll it out. Cut it into rounds the size of a saucer. Put a little of the mince upon one half of one of these rounds, and fold the other half over it like a turnover. Pinch the edges neatly, and make up the rest of the pastry in the same way. Fry the turnovers in hot fat till they are brightly browned. Drain them, and serve very hot. Time to fry-, four or five minutes. Probable cost, 2d. each. Potato, "WTiolesomeness of the.— The potato forms an excellent article of diet, as it contains a large quantity of farinaceous nutriment. When well boiled it is generally easy of digestion. " There are, however," says a medical authority, " certain states of the stomach when potatoes are hurtful, as where there is a tendency to flatulency and feeling of fullness after meals ; and also in persons who are just recovering from severe illness, or in cases of bowel complaint, as they are apt to increase the irritation in the intestinal canal." I Such potatoes as boil "waxy" are far from j wholesome. The same may be said of early potatoes, by which is meant those which are in an immature condition. Mashed potatoes labour under the disadvantage that they do not get sufficiently mixed with the saliva to secure their full digestion. When soaked with gravy and dripping from roasted meat potatoes should be avoided by dyspeptics, though they may agree well enough with those of strong digestive powers. The use of potatoes is a preventative against scurvy, if not an actual cure for it. Potatoes that have been exposed to the air and have become green are not wholesome, and new potatoes, i.e., unripe ones, are greatly answerable for the prevalence of cholera and such like diseases during the summer months. Potato Wine. — Wine of considerable quality may be made from frosted potatoes, if not so much frosted as to have become soft and waterish. The potatoes must be crushed or bruised ; a wooden mallet answers the purpose. If a plank of wood is made hollow, in the manner of a shallow bowl, they may be bruised with a mallet or put into a cider-press. A Winchester bushel must have ten gallons of water, prepared by boiling it mixed with half a pound of hops and half a pound of common white ginger. This water, after having boiled for about half an hour, must be poured upon the bruised potatoes, into a tub or vessel suited to the quantity to bo made. After standing in this mixid state for three days, yeast must be added to ferment the liquor. When the fermentation has subsided, the liquor must be drawn olf as pure as possible into a cask, adding half a pound of raw sugar for every gallon. After it has remained in the cask for three months it will be ready for use. — Farmer's Magazine.