Part 104 (1/2)

1111. Potatoes Roasted under Meat.

Half boil large potatoes; drain the water; put them into an earthen dish, or small tin pan, under meat roasting before the fire; baste them with the dripping. Turn them to brown on all sides; send up in a separate dish.

1112. Potato b.a.l.l.s Ragout.

Add to a pound of potatoes a quarter of a pound of grated ham, or some sweet herbs, or chopped parsley, an onion or shalot, salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg, and other spice, with the yolk of a couple of eggs; then dress as _Potatoes Escalloped_. (1116).

1113. Potato Snow.

Pick out the whitest potatoes, put them on in cold water; when they begin to crack, strain, and put them in a clean stewpan before the fire till they are quite dry, and fall to pieces; rub them through a wire sieve upon the dish they are to be sent up on, and do not disturb them afterwards.

1114. Potatoes Fried Whole.

When nearly boiled enough, put them into a stewpan with a bit of b.u.t.ter, or some clean beef dripping; shake them about often, to prevent burning, till they are brown and crisp; drain them from the fat. It will be an improvement if they are floured and dipped into the yoke of an egg, and then rolled in finely sifted bread-crumbs.

1115. Potatoes Fried in Slices.

Peel large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them into shavings, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping. Take care that the fat and frying-pan are quite clean; put it on a quick fire, and as soon as the lard boils, and is still, put in the slices of potato, and keep moving them until they are crisp; take them up, and lay them to drain on a sieve. Send to table with a little salt sprinkled over them.

1116. Potatoes Escalloped.

Mash potatoes in the usual way; then b.u.t.ter some nice clean scallop-sh.e.l.ls, pattypans, or tea cups or saucers; put in your potatoes; make them smooth at the top; cross a knife over them; strew a few fine bread-crumbs on them; sprinkle them with a paste-brush with a few drops of melted b.u.t.ter, and set them in a Dutch oven. When nicely browned on the top, take them carefully out of the sh.e.l.ls, and brown on the other side. Cold potatoes may be warmed up this way.

1117. Potato Scones.

Mash boiled potatoes till they are quite smooth, adding a little salt; then knead out the flour, or barley-meal, to the thickness required; toast on the girdle, p.r.i.c.king them with a fork to prevent them blistering. When eaten with fresh or salt b.u.t.ter they are equal to crumpets--even superior, and very nutritious.

1118. Potato Pie.

Peel and slice your potatoes very thinly into a pie-dish; between each layer of potatoes put a little chopped onion, and sprinkle a little pepper and salt; put in a little water, and cut about two ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter into bits, and lay them on the top; cover it close with paste. The yolks of four eggs may be added; and when baked, a tablespoonful of good mushroom ketchup poured in through a funnel.

Another method is to put between the layers small bits of mutton, beef, or pork. In Cornwall, turnips are added. This const.i.tutes (on the Cornish method) a cheap and satisfactory dish for families.

1119. Cold Potatoes.

There are few articles in families more subject to waste, whether in paring, boiling, or being actually wasted, than potatoes; and there are few cooks who do not boil twice as many potatoes every day as are wanted, and fewer still who do not throw the residue away as being totally unfit in any shape for the next day's meal; yet if they would take the trouble to beat up the despised cold potatoes with an equal quant.i.ty of flour, they would find them produce a much lighter dumpling or pudding than they can make with flour alone: and by the aid of a few spoonfuls of good gravy, they will provide a cheap and agreeable appendage to the dinner table.

[EVERY RECEIPT IS THE BASIS OF MANY OTHERS.]

1120. Mashed Potatoes and Spinach or Cabbage.