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Collection of Old British Potato Recipes

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A HANDBOOK OF COOKERY FOR A SMALL HOUSE BY JESSIE CONRAD [1923]

Information about potatoes and a few recipes

Potatoes are to my mind one of the most ill-used vegetables we have. They require simple care to make them a useful and welcome addition to at least two meals in the day. Too often I have found the greatest carelessness in the cooking of a simple potato.

Often at an English inn potatoes are impossible, even more so than other vegetables, and yet we English people have the best potatoes in the world! It is indeed a fact that in the case of the poor potato, God sends the food, and the devil the cooks!

One common error is to peel the potatoes hours before they are to be cooked and to leave them in water; another to peel them (because the weather is cold) in quite hot water, or, worse still, then shut them down in a saucepan on the side of the stove ever so long before they are required. In this way the potato is spoilt before it has even boiled. It is quite possible to use up even cold potatoes in an appetising manner. None need ever be wasted if the following hints are taken and the sound advice of many years’ experience is followed. For new potatoes pick out those as much of a size as possible, carefully scrape them, remove any eyes, rinse in clear cold water and put into enough boiling water to cover well; add a sprig of mint (in one piece) and a piece of salt put in a saucepan preferably not iron and boil gently till tender which can easily be found by trying them with a fork.

When cooked, strain, remove the mint, put into the saucepan a knob of butter while the potatoes are there and serve as quickly as possible with a little finely chopped parsley on them. The object of the butter is not only to improve the taste and appearance but it also helps to prevent the sort of preserved taste one so often gets in hotel cooking. As the potatoes get older it is better to put them to boil into cold water, and directly they are too old to scrape freely, no mint is necessary or advisable. Some potatoes are best strained before they are quite cooked and then shut down in the saucepan to finish in their steam. If the potatoes are not to be used at once (say when a meal is delayed longer than expected for some reason), it is a good idea either to rice them in a ricer or to mash them. In that way they will not have an unpleasant taste and can be kept hot for some time and still be quite palatable.

Often one has some cold potatoes left say from lunch, cut them into slices, put about ½ an oz. of butter into a frying pan and when melted and hot lay each slice of potato flat in the hot butter, fry quickly over a brisk fire till they attain a golden-brown colour. Care must be taken that they do not burn.

Cold potatoes can also be used for hot cakes as follows: Take the remains of any boiled potatoes, break them into a bowl, take a breakfast cup and a half of flour (for this quantity of flour about the value of eight potatoes would be necessary) rub them smoothly into the flour, add two ounces of butter, salt, a little baking-powder (unless self-raising flour is used) mix as for pastry with a little milk (sour will do) and if possible an egg beaten into it, form into small cakes and bake on larded paper in a quick oven, serve hot with sugar and butter to be spread on them.

For fried potatoes care should be taken to follow these directions carefully: Peel your potatoes and cut them into slices about one-half an inch thick, then into strips, each slice let us say into four, let them lay in a bowl of cold water till wanted for frying. Take a large deep frying pan in which you have melted one-fourth pound of best tub lard, place over a quick fire taking care not to let it burn, and when it is ready (which is easily found out by dropping one piece of potato into the fat—it should sizzle at once), take the potatoes out of the water by hand and drop straight into the boiling lard. Turn carefully from time to time with a knife blade. Remove them with a slice into a vegetable dish in which there is a strainer (stone for preference), and place in the oven with an open door till required; but serve as soon as possible. Never put the cover on the dish or allow the oven door to be shut as the potatoes would not then keep quite crisp. Never add salt till ready in the dish, when a little should be sprinkled over the potatoes.

For straw potatoes proceed in the same way; only these will require less time for cooking and will need to be cut very much thinner and smaller.

For soufflé potatoes cut them into thin slices and dry them on a clean cloth. Lay them in a little milk for a moment and then put them into the boiling fat straight out of the milk. If these directions are carefully followed there should be a crisp brown bubble on each side of the slice of the potato. These also must not be covered or have the oven door closed on them.

There is also another simple way of treating an old potato. Often toward the end of the year when one’s potatoes run large and we are anxious to give a dish a dainty appearance we find that the large potato served whole looks clumsy. If the potatoes are carefully peeled and any unsightly blemishes are removed such as the eye or as so often happens there are bluey patches due to a bruise perhaps on the potatoes otherwise perfectly sound, the following hint may be found both useful and economical.

Take a stout teaspoon and scoop spoonfuls from the outside of a big potato. (The broken remains can be used in soup say either beef or mutton stock. Recipe for this with soups.) When you have sufficient potatoes ready you can either fry in dripping (in which case do not attempt to make them crisp) or boil them very gently, or bake them under a joint, etc. They will be best baked or fried. They can then be served laid round a dish of fish (fried or boiled) or round a dish of roast meat previously carved and laid down the centre of a dish or with kidneys and bacon or with liver and bacon.

Bubble and Squeak

Chop lightly with a knife in a dish any cold greens and potatoes you may have left. Melt in an enamelled frying pan one ounce more or less of fresh butter. Turn the vegetables into it. While cooking use a large dinner fork to press the vegetables into a smooth paste, turning it over and over with the fork all the time to prevent it sticking to the pan. Vegetables so treated should work into a perfectly smooth, stiff paste and leave the pan as clean as when they went into it. Add a little pepper and salt.

Be careful to remove all stumps of cabbage before using.

New Potatoes

Carefully select potatoes about the same size, have them scraped and put into boiling water with a little piece of mint and some salt. Boil for fifteen to twenty minutes or until quite tender, turn into a vegetable dish and put a piece of butter the size of a walnut melted over the potatoes, and dust a little finely chopped parsley over them.

Potatoes Sautés

Take some potatoes which have been boiled and cut them into thin slices. Melt in a frying pan about an ounce of fresh butter and when this boils lay the potatoes in it, not on top of each other but perfectly flat, while the pan stands on the stove. Allow the potatoes to brown first one side and then the other. Dish with a slice into a vegetable dish and dust over with a little finely chopped parsley.

Mashed Potatoes

Boil the potatoes carefully, strain, and shake vigorously with the lid on. Break them up then and beat with a carving fork, with two ounces of fresh butter; then add fresh milk and continue beating till they attain the consistency of very thick cream. They will then be ready to serve with cutlets or as a bed for sausages.

Stuffed Potatoes

Peel your potatoes and cut the ends so that they are flat. Scrape the centre out of each potato leaving a wall of about a quarter of an inch thick all round.

Mince finely any cold beef, mutton, or veal you may have by you with one large ring of Spanish onion chopped very small, pepper and salt, and a little mushroom if possible. Moisten slightly with a little meat juice.

Fill in each potato with this mixture. Melt in a baking tin sufficient beef dripping, a quarter of a pound to every six or eight potatoes would be right, and when boiling, but not beyond boiling point, stand the potatoes in it. The baking tin should be small enough to allow the dripping to come well up the sides of the potatoes.

Cook in a fairly quick oven from thirty to forty minutes. When cooked brush very lightly over the top with the beaten white of an egg. Dish very carefully so as not to take up the fat.

French Fried Potatoes

Cut your peeled potatoes into long strips about half an inch in thickness and leave them in the cold water. Melt about half a pound of tub lard (not bladder lard as this has always flour mixed with it which causes the things to burn in the frying pan). When the lard is hot, drop a small crumb into it and if the fat sizzles round it is ready for the potatoes.

Put the pan over a brisk fire and drop the potatoes as you take them out of the water straight into the pan. If the pan is not large enough to take them all flat, cook in two lots.

Savoury Potatoes

Have the potatoes boiled and not broken. Cut into dice some fat bacon. Put a piece of butter into a small enamelled frying pan and when melted put the bacon fat into it and let it brown slightly. Pour over the potatoes in the dish and serve at once. This is a good way to serve potatoes with cold meat.

Potato Croquettes

Have ready about two or three breakfast-cups of nicely mashed potato. Form into either small round cakes or sausage-shaped ones. Roll in a plate of well-beaten egg and some fine crumbs made from rolled rusk crumbs; fry a light brown in some good dripping or lard, and serve piled up in a dish, garnished with a little fresh parsley.

Baked Potatoes

Cut your peeled potatoes in four pieces lengthwise. Melt in a baking tin half a pound of beef or veal dripping (mutton dripping will not do) on the top of the stove, and when boiling put the potatoes into it. Turn them once and only then sprinkle with a little salt. Place in a brisk oven and bake for twenty minutes or half an hour. Dish with a slice.

Victorian Potato Recipes from Fast Day Cookery or Meals Without Meat by Grace Johnston [1893]

Potato Baskets.

Get some nice long kidney potatoes, peel them very thin, cut them in half, then cut off a small piece at each end, so that the potato will stand like a cup, scoop out the inside neatly, leaving a thin wall of potato. Make it nice and smooth outside and in. Fry these in a bath of boiling fat a nice golden brown. Now take them out and stand them up like cups, fill each one with a farce of fish, or lentils, or mushrooms as desired, and sprinkle over the top some chopped parsley. This is a novel and pretty dish.

2. Potato Balls.

Boil some potatoes, pass them through a sieve. Mix with them some butter, pepper and salt, form into good sized balls with the hand, put them on a buttered tin, brush over them a well beaten egg, and put them in the oven till they are a nice brown colour.

3. Mashed Potatoes.

Mash some potatoes with butter, pepper and salt. Now well grease a plain pudding mould, fill your potatoes into it to get moulded, warm one minute, and turn out on to a dish, brush it over with well beaten egg, and then well sprinkle with fine bread crumbs, put on little dabs of butter all over it, and bake in the oven a bright golden colour. Garnish with parsley.

4. Potato Snow.

Boil some potatoes, mash them with butter, pepper and salt, pass them through a wire sieve in the dish in which they are to be served. They must not be disturbed afterwards, as the light look would be gone, and so the dish get spoiled.

Potato Rings.

Well wash and thinly peel some nice large potatoes, cut them in slices, then take a nice cutter and stamp them out quite round, and then a smaller cutter to stamp out the centre so as to form a ring. Fry these rings a golden brown in a bath of fat, drain them in a sieve. Serve neatly dished and garnished with parsley. The centres need not be wasted, but fried for another dish.

6. Potato Pie.

Parboil some potatoes, slice them, put them in a pie dish thus—a layer of potatoes, then sliced onions and tomatoes, a few cloves, pepper and salt, and a spoonful of water, and so on till the dish is full. Cover with a light crust, and bake a golden brown, ornament with a frill round the dish, and serve.

7. Potato Salad.

Mash up any cold potatoes you may have, mix them with any cold fish. Add a tablespoon of best olive oil, some caper vinegar, and a few chopped capers, one teaspoon of chopped onions, one bead of garlic chopped very small, the grated rind of a small lemon, the juice of half a lemon strained, salt and Nepaul pepper to taste; mix thoroughly. Serve it in a glass dish neatly piled up, smooth with a fork. Sprinkle over the whole some chopped hard-boiled egg, and arrange pretty West Indian pickles over it for decoration.

8. Plain Potato Salad.

Cut up any cold potatoes in slices, mix with them a teaspoon of chopped onion, a teaspoon of chopped parsley, and pour over it equal quantities of best olive oil and vinegar that has been well mixed with a little pepper and salt.

Victorian Potato Recipes from New Vegetarian Dishes by Mrs Bowdich [1892] WITH PREFACE BY ERNEST BELL, M.A. TREASURER OF THE LONDON VEGETARIAN SOCIETY

Potato Soup.

(Very suitable for children.)

  • 1½ pounds potatoes.
  • 2 onions.
  • 1 tablespoon sago.
  • 2 pints water.
  • ½ pint milk.
  • 1½ ounces butter.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • ½ teaspoon pepper.

Peel and slice the potatoes and onions, and fry them for ten minutes in the butter, but without browning them. Place them in a saucepan with the water, salt and pepper (the latter should be omitted if for young children), and boil for an hour; add sago and milk, boil for about ten minutes, stirring all the time, then rub through a wire sieve with a wooden spoon, and serve.

Potato Stew.

  • 6 or 8 small potatoes.
  • 1 gill water.
  • ½ pint milk.
  • 1 small shalot.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • ½ ounce flour.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ½ dozen peppercorns.
  • 1 strip of lemon peel.

Dissolve half an ounce of butter in a stewpan, place in the potatoes peeled, the shalot finely sliced, milk, water and seasonings (the peppercorns and lemon peel tied in muslin), and stew until tender. When done, lift the potatoes carefully out and place in a hot vegetable dish, remove the seasoning, thicken the liquor with the half ounce each of flour and butter, stirring until it boils; then pour over the potatoes, and serve.

Baked Potato Stew.

  • Potatoes according to size.
  • 1½ pint good stock or sauce.

Peel sufficient potatoes to cover the bottom of a large and deep pie-dish (a cook’s comfort is the best shape for this purpose), pour over them the sauce or stock, which must be highly seasoned and flavoured with herbs and spices. Bake in a moderate oven for one or one and a half hours, according to the size of the potatoes.

Note.—Light dumplings and boiled cabbage should accompany this dish.

Green Pea and Potato Stew.

  • 1 pint shelled green peas.
  • 6 new potatoes.
  • 2 onions.
  • A sprig of mint.
  • 1½ pints water.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ½ ounce butter rolled in flour.

Slice the potatoes and onions, and place them in a stewpan with the peas, mint and water. Simmer gently for one hour, remove the mint, add salt and butter, and stir for a few minutes over the fire.

Tennis Stew.

  • ½ pound mashed potato.
  • ½ pound cold greens of any kind.
  • 6 medium-sized carrots.
  • ½ pint rich brown sauce.
  • 1 egg.
  • A few bread crumbs.
  • Pepper and salt.

Mix well together the potatoes, greens (which must be finely chopped), egg, and seasoning to taste, adding as many bread crumbs as are needful to render the mixture firm enough to roll into balls. Fry the balls in a little butter, or they may be rolled in egg and bread crumbs and dropped into boiling oil. (The latter way is specially recommended when only half the above quantity of vegetables is being used, and consequently only half an egg is needed; the other half should then be reserved for this purpose.) Arrange a circle of balls on a hot dish, have ready the carrots boiled, slice them rather thickly and shape them into the form of tennis bats; place them in the centre, and pour the sauce over them. If curried sauce be used, rice may either be served separately, or a border of it placed round the balls.

Potato Fritters.

  • 4 ounces mashed potato.
  • 1 ounce bread crumbs.
  • A little pepper and salt.
  • 1 egg.
  • 1 teaspoon minced parsley.

Mix all well together, roll into little balls or sausages, and fry either in butter or boiling oil.

Savoury Fritters.

A Breakfast Dish.

  • 3 ounces mashed potato.
  • 2 ounces bread crumbs.
  • 1 ounce vermicelli or semolina.
  • 1 onion.
  • ½ teaspoon mixed herbs.
  • ½ teaspoon grated lemon rind.
  • 1 teaspoon cream or little milk.
  • 1 egg.
  • 2 teaspoons minced parsley.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ½ teaspoon pepper.
  • ½ ounce butter.
  • 1 ounce butter for frying.

Peel the onion and boil it half an hour in salted water. Chop it very fine and mix with the other ingredients. Beat the egg, white and yolk separately, add to the mixture, stir well altogether, form into little balls, sausages, or flat cakes, and fry until nicely browned. They may be rolled in egg and bread crumbs and fried in oil if preferred.

Baked Potatoes with Sage and Onion.

  • 2 large potatoes.
  • 6 onions.
  • 2 teaspoons sage.
  • 1 ounce bread crumbs.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Peel the potatoes and cut them lengthways into slices about half an inch thick, place six of these slices in a baking tin or dish which has been well greased with one and a half ounces of the butter. In the meantime peel and boil the onions for a quarter of an hour in a little salted water, and the sage (tied in a piece of muslin) with them for the last five minutes. Chop the onions and sage and mix with the bread crumbs, salt, pepper and half an ounce of butter, and spread the mixture thickly over the slices of potato, and bake for one and a half or two hours.

Apple sauce should be served with this dish and a rich gravy.

Casserole of Potatoes.

  • 1 pound mashed potatoes.
  • 2 tablespoons soaked lentils.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • ½ ounce flour.
  • ½ pint water.
  • 1 shalot, or small onion.
  • 1 egg.
  • 1 hard-boiled ditto.
  • 1 strip of lemon peel.
  • 1 small lump of sugar.
  • 2 teaspoons tomato sauce.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • Pepper to taste.

Boil the lentils, water, lemon-peel and half the butter gently for one hour. Remove the lemon-peel and add the sugar, salt and shalot chopped, and boil for fifteen minutes. Make a paste of the flour and the other half ounce of butter, place this in the stew and stir briskly while it boils for five minutes. Then add the tomato sauce and the hard-boiled egg cut into the shape of dice. Have ready the mashed potato prepared as follows:—place it on a small dish and shape into a ring or wall about two and a half inches high and half an inch thick, ornament the outside with a fork, brush over with egg, and brown in the oven. Pour the stew into the hollow centre, and serve quickly.

Potato and Celery Balls.

  • 1 pound mashed potatoes.
  • 1 middling-sized head of celery.
  • 1 ounce butter or frying oil.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • A little pepper.

Wash the celery well, cut into pieces and stew in just sufficient water to cover for half an hour, strain 54(the liquor may be used for flavouring soups or sauces), chop very fine, mix well with the potatoes, adding pepper and salt, roll into balls or cakes, and fry in butter or plunge into boiling oil until nicely brown. They should be rolled in egg and bread crumbs before frying in oil.

Potatoes and Eggs with Celery Sauce.

  • 3 eggs.
  • 2 potatoes.
  • 12 peppercorns.
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • 1 ounce flour.
  • 1 pinch of mace.
  • 1 small head of celery.
  • 1 small onion.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • 1 pint water.
  • 1 gill of milk.

Peel the potatoes, and let them simmer gently in a pint of water with the celery and onions sliced, the peppercorns, mace and salt, until the potatoes are quite tender, but not broken. Boil the eggs until hard. Slice the potatoes, taking care to obtain three nice even slices from each potato, lay these on a hot dish, shell the eggs, cut them in half, remove the ends so that they will stand, and place half an egg on each slice of potato; strain the sauce, add milk, thicken with butter and flour, and pour over the eggs. A little vinegar or ketchup may be poured over the slices of potato before placing the eggs, if liked, or chopped parsley may be added to the sauce.

Fried Potato with Eggs.

A nice Breakfast Dish.

  • 9 thick slices of cold potato.
  • 3 hard-boiled eggs.
  • 1 ounce butter for frying.
  • 1 gill of good sauce.
  • A little parsley.

Fry the slices of potato until a nice brown, lay them on a hot dish, remove the ends of the hard-boiled eggs, and cut each egg into three slices, placing one on each piece of potato; sprinkle over them the chopped parsley and the sauce, which should be rather thick. Serve quickly.

Note.—Scald the parsley (before chopping) by throwing it into boiling salted water for a few minutes.

Potato Olives.

  • Potatoes.
  • Forcemeat [see recipe below].
  • Frying oil.

Take some large, evenly-shaped potatoes, peel and wipe dry, slice them lengthways in pieces about one-eighth of an inch thick and lay in a clean cloth to thoroughly dry. Place them in a frying basket, and fry in boiling oil until they begin to change colour, then place them on a piece of paper and put on one side to cool; place a thick layer of forcemeat between two slices of potato in the form of a sandwich, tie with white thread, and re-fry until the potato becomes a golden brown. Remove the thread, and serve with either of the two sauces below.

Forcemeat. [for recipe above]

  • 6 teaspoons chopped parsley.
  • 3 teaspoons mixed sweet herbs.
  • 3 teaspoons grated lemon rind.
  • 2 teaspoons pepper.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • ½ teaspoon powdered mace.
  • 4 ounces bread crumbs.
  • 2 eggs.
  • 2 ounces butter.

Mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly, then add the butter (which has been previously warmed) and the beaten eggs, and stir all well together.

Sauce Royale. [to accompany potato olives recipe above]

  • 1 turnip.
  • 1 carrot.
  • 1 onion.
  • 1 tomato.
  • ½ ounce flour.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • 1 pint water.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.

Prepare the vegetables, slice them, and fry in an ounce of butter for five minutes; add water and salt, and simmer gently for one and a half hours. Strain and thicken with one ounce of butter and the flour.

Sauce Superbe. [to accompany potato olive recipe above]

  • 1 large turnip.
  • 1 large carrot.
  • 1 large onion.
  • 1 large tomato.
  • 1 small stick of celery.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • 2 tablespoons pearl barley.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • 1½ pints water.
  • { 12 peppercorns.
  •  2 cloves.
  •  A very little each of mace and cinnamon, tied in muslin.

Slice the vegetables, except the tomato, and fry in the butter until a nice brown; place in a stewpan together with the water, barley, salt and flavourings, and boil three-quarters of an hour. Add tomato sliced, simmer half an hour, stirring frequently, and strain. If required for masking, thicken with one ounce each of brown flour and butter.

Note.—The vegetables and barley may be served as a stew, or used in various ways.

Potato Pyramids.

  • 2 parsnips.
  • Mashed potato.
  • 1 gill of sauce superbe [1 gill = 125 millilitres or half [1/2] a cup]
  • 1 ounce butter.
  • Pepper and salt to taste.

Boil the parsnips whole until tender, but do not allow them to break, place on one side to cool, then cut three thick slices from the big end of each parsnip, and if not a good shape remove the edges with a round pastry cutter. Fry in the butter until brown both sides, sprinkling over them a little salt and pepper; place in a very hot dish, and pile a little mountain of hot mashed potato on each round. The potato must be rather stiff so as to keep its shape, and should stand about three inches high, tapering towards the tops; pour over each a little of the sauce, and serve quickly.

Carrot, turnip, toast or fried bread may be used for the bases in place of parsnips.

Stuffed Potatoes.

  • 8 good-sized potatoes.
  • 20 button mushrooms.
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • 1 teaspoon sweet herbs.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • 1 tablespoon minced parsley.
  • 1 tablespoon milk or cream.
  • 2 tablespoons bread crumbs.
  • ½ teaspoon pepper.
  • 1 egg.

Wash the potatoes well and boil them gently in their skins for fifteen minutes, lift them carefully out and place on one side to cool. Mix together all the ingredients for the stuffing, cut the potatoes carefully in half, scoop out the centres with a sharp pointed knife and fill the hollow places with the mixture. Remove the skins, and brush over the divided parts of the potatoes with egg, join again and bind with thread if necessary, place in a baking tin with the butter, which has been previously melted, and bake in a hot oven twenty or thirty minutes. Serve with the white sauce or rich white sauce – recipes below.

White Sauce. [for recipe above]

  • 1 ounce butter.
  • ½ ounce flour.
  • ¼ pint each milk and water.
  • A pinch of salt.

Mix the flour and butter well together on a plate with a knife, place this paste in a small enamelled saucepan, add salt and milk, and stir over the fire until it is perfectly smooth and has boiled for one minute. It is then ready for use.

Rich White Sauce. [for recipe above]

  • 1½ ounces butter.
  • ½ ounce flour.
  • Yolk of one egg.
  • ¼ pint each milk and water.
  • A pinch of salt.

Prepare sauce the same as the white sauce recipe above, and stand the saucepan on one side for ten minutes, then drop into it the yolk of an egg, and stir over a gentle heat for a few minutes, but on no account allow it to boil again, or the sauce will curdle.

Potato Salad.

  • 4 good-sized cold potatoes.
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped watercress.
  • ½ pint salad sauce [see below recipe]

The potatoes may either be boiled in their skins or peeled; in the first way they will be the better flavoured and more nourishing, in the latter a better colour. They must be taken up carefully directly they are tender, and not allowed to break up at all. Cut into slices about half an inch thick, stamp out into fancy shapes and arrange prettily in a small bowl or dish; sprinkle them with the watercress, which should have been thoroughly washed in salted and rinsed in fresh water; then pour over the sauce.

This salad, which is generally much appreciated, will be found a very useful way of using up cold potatoes.

Salad Sauce. [for recipe above]

  • 1 pint tomato juice.
  • 1 carrot.
  • 1 turnip.
  • 1 onion.
  • A very small piece each of mace and cinnamon.
  • 2 tablespoons cooked haricot beans.
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper.
  • 1 ounce butter.

Slice the vegetables and fry in the butter for ten minutes; then place in a stewpan with the tomato juice (tinned will answer the purpose), mace, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Boil for half an hour, then place in the beans and simmer for twenty minutes; rub through a sieve, and when cold stir in the vinegar. It is then ready for use.

Potato Pie.

  • 4 or 6 potatoes, according to size.
  • Cooked haricot beans.
  • 1 onion.
  • About one tablespoon of chopped mint or parsley.
  • Puff or short paste.

Parboil the potatoes, slice and lay them in a pie-dish with the onion sliced, as many beans as are liked, and a few tablespoons of the liquor. Sprinkle over the parsley or mint, cover with paste, and bake.

Potato Pudding.

  • 4 or 6 potatoes, according to size.
  • 1 onion or shalot.
  • 1 gill of milk.
  • 2 hard boiled eggs.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • 1 teaspoon mixed sweet herbs.
  • Paste for crust [see recipe below]

Boil the potatoes, onion and egg separately for fifteen minutes, then slice and mix well together, sprinkling in the salt and herbs. Line a middling sized pudding basin with paste, fill with the mixture, pour in the milk, cover with paste, wetting round the edges so that they join well, tie a cloth over, plunge it into a large saucepan half full of boiling water, and boil rather fast for three and a half hours.

Note.—A vegetable sauce should be served with the pudding.

Plain Paste for Puddings. [for recipe above]

  • ¾ pound flour.
  • 6 ounces butter.
  • Rather less than ½ pint water.
  • A pinch of salt.
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Pass the flour through a sieve on to a board, mix with it the salt and baking powder, and thoroughly rub in the butter. Make a hole in the centre of the paste, pour in the water, stirring it into the paste at the same time with the other hand. When sufficiently moist to adhere in the shape of a ball, roll out to the required thickness. If cooked in a basin the pudding will require to boil for at least three hours; if in a cloth, less time will be found sufficient.

Mashed Potatoes.

  • ½ dozen large potatoes.
  • 1 ounce fresh butter.
  • 3 tablespoons milk.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Wash and scrub the potatoes until perfectly free from dirt and mould, bake them, and when done prick with a fork to allow the steam to escape, then wipe with a cloth to remove any charred skin, etc. Have ready a good-sized saucepan (enamelled for preference) in which the milk and butter have been heated, halve the potatoes and squeeze them into it, add salt and pepper (the latter should be omitted when being prepared for children), then with a cook’s fork beat backwards and forwards, then round and round, until the whole mass is perfectly smooth and quite free from lumps. Turn into a very hot vegetable dish, arrange in a pile and mark prettily with a fork or knife, then place in the oven for two or three minutes to re-heat.

Note.—Potatoes prepared in this way constitute an ideal diet. All the valuable salts are retained instead of being thrown away in the water, as when peeled before cooking, whilst the butter and milk supply the fatty elements in which the potato is lacking. The colour also is good, which is not the case when they are boiled in their skins, and the taste is delicious.

New Potatoes Fried.

  • 20 very small new potatoes.
  • 1 egg.
  • 2 ounces bread crumbs.
  • ¼ teaspoon salt.
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper.
  • A pinch each of powdered mace and sweet herbs.

Boil the potatoes twenty minutes, then drain and remove the skins. Mix well together the salt, pepper, mace, sweet herbs, and bread crumbs. Roll the potatoes first in the egg, then in the savoury bread crumbs, and fry in boiling oil until a golden brown.

Serve with sauce piquante [see recipe below]

Sauce Piquante. [for recipe above]

  • 1 ounce butter.
  • 1 ounce flour.
  • 1 gill water. [125 millilitres or half a cup]
  • Pepper and salt to taste.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and when dissolved shake in the flour, stirring all the time until the paste is quite smooth; add a little salt and pepper, and then pour in gradually the water and vinegar; stir well until the sauce has boiled for a few minutes. It will then be quite ready.

Sage and Onion Patties.

  • Sage and onion stuffing.
  • Mashed potato.
  • Butter.

Well butter some small patty pans, nearly fill them with the stuffing, then pile up with very rich mashed potato. Bake until nicely brown, turn out and serve quickly.

These are very suitable for a supper dish. The addition of apple sauce and gravy will be found an improvement.

Information about Potatoes from Cassell’s Vegetarian Cookery, A Manual of Cheap and Wholesome Diet [1891]

Potatoes were first introduced into this country about 400 years ago, tobacco being introduced about the same period, and we cannot disguise the fact that there are many who regard the latter as the greater blessing of the two. If Sir Henry Thompson is right in stating that tobacco is the great ally of temperance, there may be some ground for this opinion.

Potatoes form an important article of food for the body, while, whatever effect tobacco may have upon the thinking powers of mankind, it is almost the only product of the vegetable kingdom that is absolutely uneatable even when placed within the reach of those in the last stage of starvation.

In some parts, especially in Ireland, potatoes form almost the only food of the population, just as rice does in hotter climates, and when the crop fails famine ensues. When potatoes form the only kind of food, a very large quantity has to be eaten by a hard-working man in order for him to receive sufficient nourishment to keep his body healthy, the amount required being not less than ten pounds per day. If, on the other hand, a certain amount of fat or oil of some kind be mixed with them, a far less quantity will suffice. Hence we find in Ireland that, wherever it is possible, either some kind of oily fish, such as herring, is taken with them, or, which is much more to the point with vegetarians, a certain quantity of fat is obtained in the shape of milk.

It must also be remembered that four pounds of raw potatoes contain only one pound of solid food, the remaining three pounds being water. It is important, for those who first commence a vegetarian diet, to remember that vegetables like peas, haricot beans, and lentils are far superior to potatoes so far as nourishment is concerned, for many are apt to jump to the conclusion that potatoes are the very best substitute for bread and milk. So, too, is oatmeal. A Scotchman requires a far less quantity of oatmeal to sustain life than an Irishman does potatoes; hence it is a very important point to remember that, if we depend upon potatoes to any great extent for our daily food, we should cook them in such a manner as to entail as little waste as possible. We will now try and explain, as briefly as possible, the best method of serving.

Potato Recipes from from Cassell’s Vegetarian Cookery, A Manual of Cheap and Wholesome Diet [1891]

Potatoes, Plain Boiled.

The best method of having potatoes, if we wish to study economy, is to boil them in their jackets, as it is generally admitted that the most nourishing part is that which lies nearest to the skin. There are many houses in the country where an inexperienced cook will peel, say four pounds of potatoes, and throw the peel into the pig-tub, where the pig gets a better meal than the family.

When potatoes are boiled in their skins, they should be thoroughly washed and scrubbed with a hard brush. Old potatoes should be put into cold water, and when the water boils the time should a good deal depend upon the size of the potatoes. When the potatoes are large, the chief principle to be borne in mind is, do not let them boil too quickly or cook too quickly. We must avoid having the outside pulpy while the inside is hard. The water, which should be slightly salted, should more than cover them, and, if the potatoes are very large, directly the water comes to the boil it is a good plan to throw in a little cold water to take it off the boil. It is quite impossible to lay down any exact law in regard to boiling potatoes. We cannot do more than give general principles which can only be carried out by cooks who possess a little common sense.

Small new potatoes are an extreme in one direction. They should be thrown into boiling water, and are generally cooked in about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. Large old potatoes should be put into cold water and, as we have stated, the water should not be allowed to boil too soon, and it will take very often an hour to boil them properly. Between these two extremes there is a gradually ascending scale which must be left to the judgment of the cook. It is as impossible to lay down any hard-and-fast line with regard to time in boiling potatoes as it would be to say at what exact point in the thermometer between freezing and 80∞ in the shade a man should put on his top coat.

If we may be allowed the expression, “old new” potatoes should be thrown into neither boiling water nor cold water, but lukewarm water. Again, in boiling potatoes, especially in the case of old ones, some little allowance must be made for the time of year. In winter, they require longer time, and we may here mention the fact that it is very important that potatoes, after they are dug, should not be left out of doors and exposed to a hard frost, as in this case a chemical change takes place in which the starch is converted into sugar.

When potatoes are boiled in their jackets sufficiently, which fact is generally tested by sticking a steel fork into them, they should be strained off, and allowed to get dry for a few minutes in the saucepan, which should be removed from the fire, as at times the potatoes are apt to stick and burn.

When large potatoes are peeled before they are boiled, we should endeavour to send them to table floury, and this is often said to be the test of a really good cook. After the water has been strained off from the potatoes, a dry cloth should be placed under the lid of the saucepan, and the lid should only be placed half on, i.e., it should not be fitted down tight. It is also as well to give the saucepan now and then a shake, but do not overdo the shaking and break them. About five or ten minutes is generally sufficient.

Potatoes, Steamed.

Potatoes can be steamed in their jackets, and it is a more economical method than peeling. It should be remembered, however, that steam is hotter than boiling water. If plain water is underneath and boils furiously, and the steam is well shut in, they will cook very quickly; but if, as is generally the case, something else is in the saucepan under the steamer, boiling gently, this does not apply. We refer to the ordinary steamer met with in private houses, and not to the ones used in the large hotels and restaurants.

Potatoes, Baked.

When potatoes are baked in the oven in their jackets the larger they are the better. The oven must not be too fierce, and ample time should be allowed. Baked potatoes require quite two hours. This only refers to those baked in their jackets. When potatoes are cut up and baked in a tin they require some kind of fat, which, of course, in vegetarian cookery must be either oil or butter.

Potatoes, Mashed.

What may be termed high-class mashed potatoes are made by mashing up ordinary boiled potatoes with a little milk previously boiled, a little butter, and passing the whole through a wire sieve, when a little cream, butter and salt is added.

In private houses mashed potatoes are generally made from the remains of cold boiled potatoes, or when the cook, in boiling the potatoes, has made a failure. Still, of course, potatoes are boiled often expressly for the purpose of being mashed. This is often the case where old potatoes have to be cut into all sorts of shapes and sizes in order to get rid of the black spots. As soon as the potatoes are boiled they are generally moistened in the saucepan with a little drop of milk. It is undoubtedly an improvement, and also entails very little extra trouble, to boil the milk first. There is a difference in flavour, which is very marked, between milk that has been boiled and raw milk. Suppose you have coffee for breakfast, add boiling milk to one cup and raw milk to another, and then see how great a difference there will be in the flavour of the two. A little butter should be added to mashed potatoes, but it is not really essential. Mashed potatoes can be served in the shape of a mould, that is, they can be shaped in a mould and then browned in the oven. If you serve mashed potatoes in an ordinary dish, and pile them up in the shape of a dome, the dish will look much prettier if you score it round with a fork and then place the dish in a fairly fierce even; the edges will brown, but be careful that they don’t get burnt black.

Potatoes, Fried.

The best lesson, if you wish to fry potatoes nicely, is to look in at the window of a fried fish shop, where every condition is fulfilled that is likely to lead to perfection. The bath of oil is deep and smoking hot, and in sufficient quantity not to lose greatly in temperature on the introduction of the frying-basket containing the potatoes. The potatoes must be cut up into small pieces, not much bigger in thickness than the little finger; these are plunged into the smoking hot oil, and as soon as they are slightly browned on the outside they are done. They acquire a darker colour after they are removed from the oil, and the inside will go on cooking for several minutes. It would be quite impossible to eat fried potatoes directly they are taken out of the fat, as they would burn the mouth terribly. It is best to throw the fried potatoes into a cloth for a few seconds.

Potato Chips.

Potato chips are ordinary fried potatoes cut up when raw into little pieces about the size and thickness of a lucifer match. They, of course, will cook very quickly. They should be removed from the oil directly they begin to turn colour.

Potato Ribbon.

Potato ribbon is simply ordinary fried potatoes, in which the raw potato is cut in the shape of a ribbon. You take a potato and peel it in the ordinary way. You then take this and, with not too sharp a knife, peel it like apple, making the strip as long as you can, like children sometimes do when they throw the apple peel over their shoulders to see what letter it will make. You can go on peeling the potato round and round till there is none left. These ribbons are thrown into boiling oil, and must be removed as soon as they begin to turn colour. When piled up in a dish they look very pretty, and with a little pepper and salt, and a squeeze of lemon-juice, make an excellent meal when eaten with bread.

Potato Sauté.

This dish is more frequently met with abroad than in England, except in foreign restaurants. It is made by taking the remains of ordinary plain-boiled potatoes that are not floury. These are cut up into small pieces about the size of the thumb, no particular shape being necessary. They are thrown into a frying-pan with a little butter, and fried gently till the edges begin to brown; they are served with chopped parsley and pepper and salt. The butter should be poured over the potatoes, and supplies the fatty element which potato lacks.

Potatoes à la Maître d’Hôtel.

These are very similar to potato sauté, the difference being that they are not browned at the edges. Small kidney potatoes are best for the purpose. These must be boiled till tender, and the potatoes then cut into slices. These must be warmed up with a spoonful or two of white sauce (see WHITE SAUCE), to which is added some chopped parsley and a little lemon-juice. A more common way is to boil the potatoes, slice them up while hot, and then toss them about in a vegetable-dish lightly with a lump of what is called Maître d’Hôtel butter. This is simply a lump of plain cold butter, mixed with chopped parsley, till it looks like a lump of cold parsley and butter. When tossed about squeeze a little lemon-juice over the whole and serve.

Potatoes, New.

New potatoes should be washed and the skin, if necessary, rubbed off with the fingers; they should be thrown into boiling water, slightly salted, and as a rule require from fifteen to five-and-twenty minutes to boil before they are done. During the last few minutes throw in one or two sprigs of fresh mint, drain them off and let there dry, and then place them in a vegetable-dish with the mint and a little piece of butter, in which the potatoes should be boiled to give them a shiny appearance outside.

New potatoes can also be served with a little white sauce to which has been added a little chopped parsley.

Potato Balls.

Mash some boiled potatoes with a little butter, pepper, salt, chopped parsley, chopped onion, or still better, shallot, and add a few savoury herbs. Mix up one or two or more well-beaten eggs, according to the quantity of potato, roll the mixture into balls, flour them, and fry them a nice brown colour, and serve.

Potato Croquettes or Cutlets.

These are very similar to potato balls, only they should be smaller and more delicately flavoured. The potatoes are boiled and mashed, and, if the croquettes are wished to be very good, one or two hard-boiled yolks of eggs should be mixed with them. The mixture is slightly flavoured with shallot, savoury herbs or thyme, chopped parsley, and a little nutmeg. One or two fresh well-beaten-up eggs are now added, the mixture then rolled into small balls no bigger than a walnut. These are then dipped in well-beaten-up egg, and then bread-crumbed. The balls are fried a nice golden-brown colour and served.

Potato cutlets are exactly the same, only instead of shaping the mixture into a little ball, the ball is flattened into the shape of a small oval cutlet. These are then egged, bread-crumbed, and fried, but before being sent to table a small piece of green parsley stalk is stuck in one end to represent the bone of the cutlet. These little cutlets, placed on an ornamental sheet of white paper, at the bottom of the silver dish, look very pretty. A small heap of fried parsley should be placed in the centre of the dish.

Potato Pie.

Peel and slice up some potatoes as thin as possible. At the same time slice up some onions. If Spanish onions are used allow equal quantities of potatoes and onions, but if ordinary onions are used allow only half this quantity. Place a layer of sliced onion and sliced potato alternately. Add some pepper, salt, and sufficient butter to moisten the potato and butter before any water is added. Pour in some water and add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, cover the pie with paste, and bake in the ordinary way.

Potato Pie (another way).

Butter a shallow pie-dish rather thickly. Line the edges with a good crust, and then fill the pie with mashed potatoes seasoned with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg. Lay over them some small lumps of butter, hard-boiled eggs, blanched almonds, sliced dates, sliced lemon and candied peel. Cover the dish with pastry and bake the pie in a well-heated oven for half an hour or more, according to the size of the pie.

Cheese-cakes from Potatoes.

Exceedingly nice cheese-cakes can be made from remains of cold potatoes, and can be made very cheap by increasing the quantity of potatoes used. Take a quarter of a pound of butter, four eggs, two fresh lemons, and half a pound of lump sugar. First of all rub off all the outsides of two lemons on to the sugar; oil the butter in a tin in the oven and melt the sugar in it; squeeze the juice of the two lemons, and take care that the sugar is thoroughly dissolved before you begin to mix all the ingredients together. Now beat up the eggs very thoroughly and mix the whole in a basin. This now forms a very rich mixture indeed, a good-sized teaspoonful of which would be sufficient for the interior of an ordinary-sized cheese-cake, but a far better plan is to make a large cheese-cake, or rather cheese-cake pudding, in a pie-dish by adding cold boiled potatoes. The plainness or richness of the pudding depends entirely upon the amount of potatoes added. The pie-dish can be lined with a little puff paste round the edge, if preferred, or the pudding can be sent to table plain. It should be baked in the oven till the top is nicely browned. It can be served either hot or cold, but, in our opinion, is nicer cold. If the lemons are very fresh and green—if the pudding is sent to table hot—you will often detect the smell of turpentine. If a large quantity of potatoes is added more sugar will be required.

Potato Salad.

Potato salad is generally made from the remains of cold boiled potatoes. Of course, potatoes can be boiled on purpose, in which case they should be allowed to get cold in the water in which they were boiled. New potatoes are far better for the purpose than old. Cut the potatoes into slices, and place them in a salad-bowl with a little finely chopped blanched parsley. You can also add some finely chopped onion or shallot. If you do not add these you can rub the bowl with a bead of garlic. Sprinkle some more chopped parsley over the top of the salad and ornament the edge of the bowl with some thin slices of pickled gherkins. A few stoned olives can also be added. Dress the salad with oil and vinegar in the ordinary way.

Potato, Border of.

A very pretty dish can be made by making a border of mashed potatoes, hollow in the centre, in which can be placed various kinds of other vegetables, such as haricot beans, stewed peas, &c. The mashed potato should be mixed with one or two well-beaten-up eggs, and the outside of the border can be moulded by hand, to make it look smooth and neat; a piece of flexible tin, flat, will be found very useful, or even a piece of cardboard. If you wish to make the border ornamental, you can proceed exactly as directed under the heading Rice Borders, and if it is wished to make the dish particularly handsome, it can be painted outside, before being placed in the oven, with a yolk of egg beaten up with a tiny drop of hot water. When this is done, the potato border has an appearance similar in colour to the rich pastry generally seen outside a pie, or vol au vent. The inside of the potato border after it has been scooped out can be filled with plain boiled macaroni mixed with Parmesan cheese, and ornamented with a little chopped parsley on the top and a few small baked red ripe tomatoes. Again, it can be filled with white haricot beans piled up in the shape of a dome, with some chopped parsley sprinkled over the top. There are, perhaps, few dishes in vegetarian cookery that can be made to look more elegant.

Potato Biscuits (M. Ude’s Recipe).

Take fifteen fresh eggs, break the yolks into one pan and the whites into another. Beat the yolks with a pound of sugar pounded very fine, scrape the peel of a lemon with a lump of sugar, dry that and pound it fine also; then throw into it the yolks, and work the eggs and sugar till they are of a whitish colour. Next whip the whites well and mix them with the yolks. Now sift half a pound of flour of potatoes through a silk sieve over the eggs and sugar. Have some paper cases ready, which lay on a plafond with some paper underneath. Fill the cases, but not too full; glaze the contents with some rather coarse sugar, and bake the whole in an oven moderately heated.

Potato Bread.

In making bread, a portion of mashed potato is sometimes added to the flour, and this addition improves the bread very much for some tastes; it also keeps it from getting dry quite so soon. At the same time it is not so nutritious as ordinary home-made bread. Boil the required quantity of potatoes in their skins, drain and dry them, then peel and weigh them. Pound them with the rolling-pin until they are quite free from lumps, and mix with them the flour in the proportion of seven pounds of flour to two and a half pounds of potatoes. Add the yeast and knead in the ordinary way, but make up the bread with milk instead of water. When the dough is well risen, bake the bread in a gentle oven. Bake it a little longer than for ordinary bread, and, when it seems done enough, let it stand a little while, with the oven-door open, before taking it out. Unless these precautions are taken, the crust will be hard and brittle, while the inside is still moist and doughy. This recipe is from “Cassell’s Dictionary of Cookery.”

Potato Cake.

Take a dozen good-sized potatoes and hake them in the oven till done, then peel and put them into a saucepan with a little salt and grated lemon-peel; set them upon the stove and put in a piece of fresh butter and stir the whole; add a little cream and sugar, still continuing to stir them; then let them cool a little and add some orange-flower water, eight yolks of eggs and four only of whites, whisked into froth; heat up the whole together and mix it with the potato purée. Butter a mould and sprinkle it with bread-crumbs; pour in the paste, place the pan upon hot cinders, with fire upon the lid, and let it remain for three-quarters of an hour, or it may be baked in an oven.

Potato Cheese.

Potato cheeses are very highly esteemed in Germany; they can be made of various qualities, but care must be taken that they are not too rich and have not too much heat, or they will burst. Boil the potatoes till they are soft, but the skin must not be broken. The potatoes must be large and of the best quality. When boiled, carefully peel them and beat them to a smooth paste in a mortar with a wooden pestle. To make the commonest cheese, put five pounds of potato paste into a cheese-tub with one pound of milk and rennet; add a sufficient quantity of salt, together with caraways and cumin seed sufficient to impart a good flavour. Knead all these ingredients well together, cover up and allow them to stand three or four days in winter, two to three in summer. At the end of that time knead them again, put the paste into wicker moulds, and leave the cheeses to drain until they are quite dry. When dry and firm, lay them on a board and leave them to acquire hardness gradually in a place of very moderate warmth; should the heat be too great, as we have said, they will burst. When, in spite of all precautions, such accidents occur, the crevices of the burst cheeses are, in Germany, filled with curds and cream mixed, some being also put over the whole surface of the cheese, which is then dried again. As soon as the cheeses are thoroughly dry and hard, place them in barrels with green chickweed between each cheese; let them stand for about three weeks, when they will be fit for use.

Potatoes à la Barigoule.

Peel some potatoes and boil them in a little water with some oil, pepper, salt, onions, and savoury herbs. Boil them slowly, so that they can absorb the liquor; when they are done, brown them in a stew-pan in a little oil, and serve them to be eaten with oil and vinegar, pepper and salt.

Potatoes, Broiled.

Potatoes are served this way sometimes in Italy. They are first boiled in their skins, but not too long. They are then taken out and peeled, cut into thin slices, placed on a gridiron, and grilled till they are crisp. A little oil is poured over them when they are served.

Potatoes à la Lyonnaise.

First boil and then peel and slice some potatoes. Make some rather thin purée of onion. (See SAUCE SOUBISE.- Soubise Sauce.—Sauce Soubise is simply white onion sauce, rubbed through a wire sieve, and a little cream added. It is more delicate than ordinary onion sauce, and is often served in France with roast pheasant. It owes its name to a famous French general.) Pour this over the potatoes and serve.

Another way is to first brown the slices of potatoes and then serve them with the onion sauce, with the addition of a little vinegar or lemon-juice.

Potatoes à la Provençale.

Put a small piece of butter into a stew-pan, or three tablespoonfuls of oil, three beads of garlic, the peel of a quarter of a lemon, and some parsley, all chopped up very fine; add a little grated nutmeg, pepper and salt. Peel some small potatoes and let them stew till they are tender in this mixture. Large potatoes can be used for the purpose, only they must be cut tip into pieces. Add the juice of a lemon before serving.

MODERN COOKERY FOR PRIVATE FAMILIES (New Edition) by ELIZA ACTON [1882]

INFO ON POTATOES.

(Remarks on their properties and importance.)

There is no vegetable commonly cultivated in this country, we venture to assert, which is comparable in value to the potato when it is of a good sort, has been grown in a suitable soil, and is properly cooked and served. It must be very nutritious, or it would not sustain the strength of thousands of people whose almost sole food it constitutes, and who, when they can procure a sufficient supply of it to satisfy fully the demands of hunger, are capable of accomplishing the heaviest daily labour. It may not be wise to depend for subsistence on a root of which the crop unhappily is so frequently in these days destroyed or greatly injured by disease, and for which it is so difficult to find a substitute that is equally cheap, wholesome and satisfying; but we can easily comprehend the predilection of an entire people for a tuber which combines, like the potato, the solidity 310almost of bread, with the healthful properties[103] of various other fresh vegetables, without their acidity; and which can also be cooked and served in so many different forms. The wretched manner in which it is dressed in many English houses renders it comparatively valueless, and accounts in a measure for the prodigality with which it is thrown away when cold, even in seasons when its price is highest.[104]

103.The late Dr. Pereira has stated in his excellent work on diet, that Dr. Baly, who has published some interesting observations on the anti-scorbutic quality of the potato, says, “As ordinarily cooked, it is an admirable preservative against the scurvy,” for which it appears to be also a cure, see the same work.

104.  We cannot refrain from a few words of remark here on the daily waste of wholesome food in this country which constitutes one of the most serious domestic abuses that exist amongst us; and one which it is most painful to witness while we see at the same time the half-starvation of large masses of our people. It is an evil which the steady and resolute opposition of the educated classes would soon greatly check; and which ought not vainly to appeal to their good sense and good feeling, augmenting, as it must, the privations of the scantily-fed poor; for the “waste” of one part of the community cannot fail to increase the “want” of the remainder.

TO BOIL POTATOES. (As in Ireland.)

Potatoes, to boil well together, should be all of the same sort, and as nearly equal in size as may be. Wash off the mould, and scrub them very clean with a hard brush, but neither scoop nor apply a knife to them in any way, even to clear the eyes.[105] Rinse them well, and arrange them compactly in a saucepan, so that they may not lie loose in the water, and that a small quantity may suffice to cover them. Pour this in cold, and when it boils, throw in about a large teaspoonful of salt to the quart, and simmer the potatoes until they are nearly done, but for the last two or three minutes let them boil rapidly. When they are tender quite through, which may be known by probing them with a fork, pour all the water from them immediately, lift the lid of the saucepan to allow the steam to escape, and place them on a trivet, high over the fire, or by the side of it, until the moisture has entirely evaporated; then peel, and send them to table as quickly as possible, either in a hot napkin, or in a dish, of which the cover is so placed that the steam can pass off. There should be no delay in serving them after they are once taken from the fire. Irish families always prefer them served in their skins. Some kinds will be sufficiently boiled in twenty minutes, others in not less than three quarters of an hour.

105.  “Because,” in the words of our clever Irish correspondent, “the water through these parts is then admitted into the very heart of the vegetable; and the latent heat, after cooking, is not sufficient to throw it off; this renders the potatoes very unwholesome.”

20 minutes to 1 hour, or more.

Obs. 1.—The water in which they are boiled should barely cover the potatoes. After it is poured off, they should be steamed for twenty minutes or half an hour, if large.

Obs. 2.—Habitual potato-eaters know well that this vegetable is never so good as when served in the skin the instant it is taken from the fire, dished in a hot napkin, or sent to table without a cover over it. It should also be clean and dry that it may at pleasure be taken in the fingers and broken like bread, or held in the dinner napkin while the inside is scooped out with the fork, thus forming it into a sort of cup. The large Yorkshire Regents dressed and eaten in this way afford in themselves an almost sufficient meal. We have found from long daily experience, that those which averaged three, or at the utmost four to the pound, were the best in quality, and remained so to quite the end of their season: they required as the spring advanced, an hour’s boiling or more.

TO BOIL POTATOES. (The Lancashire way.)

Pare the potatoes, cover them with cold water, and boil them slowly until they are quite tender, but watch them carefully, that they may not be overdone; drain off the water entirely, strew some salt over them, leave the saucepan uncovered by the side of the fire, and shake it forcibly every minute or two, until the whole of the potatoes appear dry and floury. Lancashire cooks dress the vegetable in this way to perfection, but it is far from an economical mode, as a large portion of the potato adheres to the saucepan; it has, however, many admirers.

TO BOIL NEW POTATOES.

These are never good unless freshly dug. Take them of equal size, and rub off the skins with a brush or a very coarse cloth, wash them clean, and put them without salt into boiling, or at least, quite hot water; boil them softly, and when they are tender enough to serve, pour off the water entirely, strew some fine salt over them, give them a shake, and let them stand by the fire in the saucepan for a minute; then dish and serve them immediately. Some cooks throw in a small slice of fresh butter, with the salt, and toss them gently in it after it is dissolved. This is a good mode, but the more usual one is to send melted butter to table with them, or to pour white sauce over them when they are very young, and served early in the season.

Very small, 10 to 15 minutes: moderate sized, 15 to 20 minutes.

Obs.—We always, for our own eating, have new potatoes steamed for ten minutes or longer after the water is poured from them, and think they are much improved by the process. They should be thoroughly boiled before this is done.

NEW POTATOES IN BUTTER.

Rub off the skins, wash the potatoes well and wipe them dry; put them with three ounces of good butter, for a small dish, and with four ounces or more for a large one, into a well-tinned stewpan or Keep them well shaken or tossed, that they may be equally done, and throw in some salt when they begin to stew. This is a good mode of dressing them when they are very young and watery.

TO BOIL POTATOES. (Captain Kater’s Receipt.)

Wash, wipe, and pare the potatoes, cover them with cold water, and boil them gently until they are done, pour off the water, and sprinkle a little fine salt over them; then take each potato separately with a spoon, and lay it into a clean warm cloth, twist this so as to press all the moisture from the vegetable, and render it quite round; turn it carefully into a dish placed before the fire, throw a cloth over, and when all are done, send them to table quickly. Potatoes dressed in this way are mashed without the slightest trouble; it is also by far the best method of preparing them for puddings or for cakes.

TO ROAST OR BAKE POTATOES.

Scrub and wash exceedingly clean some potatoes nearly assorted in size; wipe them very dry, and roast them in a Dutch oven before the fire, placing them at a distance from it, and keeping them often turned; or arrange them in a coarse dish, and bake them in a moderate oven. Dish them neatly in a napkin, and send them very hot to table; serve cold butter with them. 1-3/4 to upwards of 2 hours.

SCOOPED POTATOES.

(ENTREMETS – Or second course dish.)

Wash and wipe some large potatoes of a firm kind, and with a small scoop adapted to the purpose,[107] form as many diminutive ones as will fill a dish; cover them with cold water, and when they have boiled very gently for five minutes pour it off, and put more cold water to them; after they have simmered a second time for five minutes, drain the water quite away, place the cover of the saucepan so as to leave an inch or more of open space for the moisture to evaporate, and let them steam by the side of the fire from four to five minutes longer. Dish them carefully, pour white sauce over them, and serve them in the second course. Old potatoes thus prepared, have often been made to pass for new ones, at the best tables, at the season in which the fresh vegetable was dearest.[108]The time required to boil them will of course vary with their quality; we give the method which we have found very successful.

107.  This may be procured of any ironmonger.

108.  Vegetables and fruit are now so generally forced and brought so early into our markets, that there is little need of these expedients at present.

CRISPED POTATOES, OR POTATO-RIBBONS.

(ENTREMETS.)

(Or to serve with Cheese.)

Wash well, and wipe, some potatoes of good flavour; cut them up into slices of from half to a whole inch thick, free them from the skins, and then pare them round and round in very thin, and very long ribbons. Lay them into a pan of cold water, and half an hour before they are wanted for table lift them on to a sieve that they may be well drained. Fry them in good butter, which should be very hot when they are thrown in, until they are quite crisp, and lightly browned; drain and dry them on a soft cloth, pile them in a hot dish, strew over them a mixed seasoning of salt and cayenne in fine powder, and serve them without delay. For the second course, dress them in the same manner, but omit the cayenne. Five or six minutes will fry them.

FRIED POTATOES. (A Plainer Receipt.)

(ENTREMETS.)

After having washed them, wipe and pare some raw potatoes, cut them in slices of equal thickness, or into thin shavings, and throw them into plenty of boiling butter, or very pure clarified dripping. Fry them of a fine light brown, and very crisp; lift them out with a skimmer, drain them on a soft warm cloth, dish them very hot, and sprinkle fine salt over them. This is an admirable way of dressing potatoes, very common on the Continent, but less so in England than it deserves to be. Pared in ribbons or shavings of equal width, as in the receipt above, and served dry and well fried, lightly piled in a dish, they make a handsome appearance, and are excellent eating. If sliced they should be something less than a quarter of an inch thick.

MASHED POTATOES.

Boil them perfectly tender quite through, pour off the water, and steam them very dry, peel them quickly, take out every speck, and while they are still hot, press the potatoes through an earthen cullender, or bruise them to a smooth mash with a strong wooden fork or spoon, but never pound them in a mortar, as that will reduce them to a close heavy paste. Let them be entirely free from lumps, for nothing can be more indicative of carelessness or want of skill on the part of the cook, than mashed potatoes sent to table full of these. Melt in a clean saucepan a slice of good butter with a few spoonsful of milk, or, better still, of cream; put in the potatoes after having sprinkled some fine salt upon them, and stir the whole over a gentle fire with a wooden spoon, until the ingredients are well-mixed, and the whole is very hot. It may then be served directly; or heaped high in a dish, left rough on the surface, and browned before the fire; or it may be pressed into a well buttered mould of handsome form, which has been strewed with the finest bread-crumbs, and shaken free from the loose ones, then turned out, and browned in a Dutch or common oven. More or less liquid will be required to moisten sufficiently potatoes of various kinds.

Potatoes mashed, 2 lbs.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; butter, 1 to 2 oz.; milk or cream, 1/4 pint.

Obs.—Mashed potatoes are often moulded with a cup, and then equally browned: any other shape will answer the purpose as well, and many are of better appearance.

ENGLISH POTATO BALLS, OR CROQUETTES.

Boil some floury potatoes very dry, mash them as smoothly as possible, season them well with salt and white pepper, warm them with about an ounce of butter to the pound, or rather more if it will not render them too moist, and a few spoonsful of good cream. Boil them very dry; let them cool a little, roll them into balls, sprinkle over them vermicelli crushed slightly with the hand, and fry them a fine light brown. They may be dished round a shape of plain mashed potatoes, or piled on a napkin by themselves. They may likewise be rolled in egg and fine bread-crumbs instead of in the vermicelli, or in ground rice, which answers very well for them.

POTATO BOULETTES.

(ENTREMETS.)

(Good.)

Boil some good potatoes as dry as possible, or let them be prepared by Captain Kater’s receipt; mash a pound of them very smoothly, and mix with them while they are still warm, two ounces of fresh butter, a teaspoonful of salt, a little nutmeg, the beaten and strained yolks of four eggs, and last of all the whites thoroughly whisked. Mould the mixture with a teaspoon and drop it into a small pan of boiling butter, or of very pure lard, and fry the boulettes for five minutes over a moderate fire: they should be of a 315fine pale brown, and very light. Drain them well and dish them on a hot napkin.

Potatoes, 1 lb.; butter, 2 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; eggs, 4: 5 minutes.

Obs.—These boulettes are exceeding light and delicate, and make an excellent dish for the second course; but we think that a few spoonsful of sweet fresh cream boiled with them until the mixture becomes dry, would both enrich them and improve their flavour. They should be dropped into the pan with the teaspoon, as they ought to be small, and they will swell in the cooking.

POTATO RISSOLES.

(French.)

Mash and season the potatoes with salt, and white pepper or cayenne, and mix with them plenty of minced parsley, and a small quantity of green onions, or eschalots; add sufficient yolks of eggs to bind the mixture together, roll it into small balls, and fry them in plenty of lard or butter over a moderate fire, or they will be too much browned before they are done through. Ham, or any other kind of meat finely minced, may be substituted for the herbs, or added to them.

POTATOES À LA CRÈME.

Prepare the potatoes as above, and toss them gently in a quarter of a pint or more of thick white sauce or of common bechamel, with or without the addition of the minced parsley.

KOHL CANNON, OR KALE CANNON. (An Irish Receipt.)

Mix in about equal proportions (these can be varied to suit the convenience of the moment) some smoothly mashed potatoes, and some young sprouts or greens of any kind, first boiled quite tender, pressed very dry, and chopped a little if needful. Mash up the whole well together, add a seasoning of pepper and salt, a small bit of butter, and a spoonful or two of cream or milk; put a raw onion into the middle of the mass, and stir it over a clear fire until it is very hot, and sufficiently dry to be moulded and turned out for table, or dished in the usual manner. Take out the onion before the kohl cannon is served. In Ireland mashed parsneps and potatoes are mingled in the same way, and called parsnep cannon. A good summer variety of the preparation is made there also with Windsor beans boiled tender, skinned, and bruised to a paste, then thoroughly blended with the potatoes. Turnips, too, are sometimes substituted for the parsneps; but these or any other watery vegetable should be well dried over a gentle fire as directed for mashed turnips in this chapter, before they are added to the potatoes.

EXCELLENT POTATO FLOUR, OR ARROW-ROOT.

(Fecule de Pommes de terre.)

Grate into a large vessel full of cold water, six pounds of sound mealy potatoes, and stir them well together. In six hours pour off the water, and add fresh, stirring the mixture well; repeat this process every three or four hours during the day, change the water at night, and the next morning pour it off; put two or three quarts more to the potatoes, and turn them directly into a hair-sieve, set over a pan to receive the flour, which may then be washed through the sieve, by pouring water to it. Let it settle in the pan, drain off the water, spread the potato-sediment on dishes, dry it in a slow oven, sift it, and put it into bottles or jars, and cork or cover them closely. The flour thus made will be beautifully white, and perfectly flavourless. It will remain good for years.

Obs.—This admirable farina, or starch of potatoes, is now much more widely known and vended in England than it was some years since. It can at present be procured at most foreign warehouses and general grocers’; but we would recommend its being home-made by the directions given above, which we have had closely followed for many years with the best possible success.

Victorian Recipes from HIGH-CLASS COOKERY MADE EASY. [Economical Cookery] By Mrs. Hart. [1880]

TO BOIL POTATOES.

Great care should be taken in boiling potatoes. This is a vegetable that is often neglected. When the potatoes boil, see that they do not boil too fast. A handful of salt should be put into the water. Try with a fork to see if ready. They must not boil too soft. Drain and shake over the fire, and place a napkin over them and steam. Boil a small bit of mint with them, when new.

POTATO CHIPS.

To make potato chips, get some nice round potatoes, and slice them into thin slices in a basin, with salt and water, for one hour; then dry on a clean towel, and fry in hot lard a light-brown colour.

Victorian Potato Recipes from Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management [1861]

PRESERVING POTATOES.

In general, potatoes are stored or preserved in pits, cellars, pies, or camps; but, whatever mode is adopted, it is essential that the tubers be perfectly dry; otherwise, they will surely rot; and a few rotten potatoes will contaminate a whole mass. The pie, as it is called, consists of a trench, lined and covered with straw; the potatoes in it being piled in the shape of a house roof, to the height of about three feet. The camps are shallow pits, filled and ridged up in a similar manner, covered up with the excavated mould of the pit. In Russia and Canada, the potato is preserved in boxes, in houses or cellars, heated, when necessary, to a temperature one or two degrees above the freezing-point, by stoves. To keep potatoes for a considerable time, the best way is to place them in thin layers on a platform suspended in an ice-cellar: there, the temperature being always below that of active vegetation, they will not sprout; while, not being above one or two degrees below the freezing-point, the tubers will not be frostbitten. Another mode is to scoop out the eyes with a very small scoop, and keep the roots buried in earth; a third mode is to destroy the vital principle, by kiln-drying, steaming, or scalding; a fourth is to bury them so deep in dry soil, that no change of temperature will reach them; and thus, being without air, they will remain upwards of a year without vegetating.

VARIETIES OF THE POTATO.

These are very numerous. “They differ,” says an authority, “in their leaves and bulk of haulm; in the colour of the skin of the tubers; in the colour of the interior, compared with that of the skin; in the time of ripening; in being farinaceous, glutinous, or watery; in tasting agreeably or disagreeably; in cooking readily or tediously; in the length of the subterraneous stolones to which the tubers are attached; in blossoming or not blossoming; and finally, in the soil which they prefer.” The earliest varieties grown in fields are,—the Early Kidney, the Nonsuch, the Early Shaw, and the Early Champion. This last is the most generally cultivated round London: it is both mealy and hardy. The sweet potato is but rarely eaten in Britain; but in America it is often served at table, and is there very highly esteemed.

QUALITIES OF POTATOES.

In making a choice from the many varieties of potatoes which are everywhere found, the best way is to get a sample and taste them, and then fix upon the kind which best pleases your palate. The Shaw is one of the most esteemed of the early potatoes for field culture; and the Kidney and Bread-fruit are also good sorts. The Lancashire Pink is also a good potato, and is much cultivated in the neighbourhood of Liverpool. As late or long-keeping potatoes, the Tartan or Red-apple stands very high in favour.

THE POTATO AS AN ARTICLE OF HUMAN FOOD.

This valuable esculent, next to wheat, is of the greatest importance in the eye of the political economist. From no other crop that can be cultivated does the public derive so much benefit; and it has been demonstrated that an acre of potatoes will feed double the number of people that can be fed from an acre of wheat.

BAKED POTATOES.

1136. INGREDIENTS.—Potatoes.

Mode.—Choose large potatoes, as much of a size as possible; wash them in lukewarm water, and scrub them well, for the browned skin of a baked potato is by many persons considered the better part of it. Put them into a moderate oven, and bake them for about 2 hours, turning them three or four times whilst they are cooking. Serve them in a napkin immediately they are done, as, if kept a long time in the oven, they have a shrivelled appearance. Potatoes may also be roasted before the fire, in an American oven; but when thus cooked, they must be done very slowly. Do not forget to send to table with them a piece of cold butter.

Time.—Large potatoes, in a hot oven 1-1/2 hour to 2 hours; in a cool oven, 2 to 2-1/2 hours.

Average cost, 4s. per bushel.

Sufficient.—Allow 2 to each person.

Seasonable all the year, but not good just before and whilst new potatoes are in season.

TO BOIL POTATOES.

1137. INGREDIENTS.—10 or 12 potatoes; to each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.

Mode.—Choose potatoes of an equal size, pare them, take out all the eyes and specks, and as they are peeled, throw them into cold water. Put them into a saucepan, with sufficient cold water to cover them, with salt in the above proportion, and let them boil gently until tender. Ascertain when they are done by thrusting a fork in them, and take them up the moment they feel soft through; for if they are left in the water afterwards, they become waxy or watery. Drain away the water, put the saucepan by the side of the fire, with the lid partially uncovered, to allow the steam to escape, and let the potatoes get thoroughly dry, and do not allow them to get burnt. Their superfluous moisture will evaporate, and the potatoes, if a good sort, should be perfectly mealy and dry. Potatoes vary so much in quality and size, that it is difficult to give the exact time for boiling; they should be attentively watched, and probed with a fork, to ascertain when they are cooked. Send them to table quickly, and very hot, and with an opening in the cover of the dish, that a portion of the steam may evaporate, and not fall back on the potatoes.

Time.—Moderate-sized old potatoes, 15 to 20 minutes after the water boils; large ones, 1/2 hour to 35 minutes.

Average cost, 4s. per bushel.

Sufficient for 6 persons.

Seasonable all the year, but not good just before and whilst new potatoes are in season.

Note.—To keep potatoes hot, after draining the water from them, put a folded cloth or flannel (kept for the purpose) on the top of them, keeping the saucepan-lid partially uncovered. This will absorb the moisture, and keep them hot some time without spoiling.

TO BOIL POTATOES IN THEIR JACKETS.

1138. INGREDIENTS.—10 or 12 potatoes; to each 1/2 gallon of water, allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.

Mode.—To obtain this wholesome and delicious vegetable cooked in perfection, it should be boiled and sent to table with the skin on. In Ireland, where, perhaps, the cooking of potatoes is better understood than in any country, they are always served so. Wash the potatoes well, and if necessary, use a clean scrubbing-brush to remove the dirt from them; and if possible, choose the potatoes so that they may all be as nearly the same size as possible. When thoroughly cleansed, fill the saucepan half full with them, and just cover the potatoes with cold water, salted in the above proportion: they are more quickly boiled with a small quantity of water, and, besides, are more savoury than when drowned in it. Bring them to boil, then draw the pan to the side of the fire, and let them simmer gently until tender. Ascertain when they are done by probing them with a fork; then pour off the water, uncover the saucepan, and let the potatoes dry by the side of the fire, taking care not to let them burn. Peel them quickly, put them in a very hot vegetable-dish, either with or without a napkin, and serve very quickly. After potatoes are cooked, they should never be entirely covered up, as the steam, instead of escaping, falls down on them, and makes them watery and insipid. In Ireland they are usually served up with the skins on, and a small plate is placed by the side of each guest.

Time.—Moderate-sized potatoes, with their skins on, 20 to 25 minutes after the water boils; large potatoes, 25 minutes to 3/4 hour, or longer; 5 minutes to dry them.

Average cost, 4s. per bushel. Sufficient for 6 persons.

Seasonable all the year, but not good just before and whilst new potatoes are in season.

TO BOIL NEW POTATOES.

1139. INGREDIENTS.—Potatoes; to each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.

Mode.—Do not have the potatoes dug long before they are dressed, as they are never good when they have been out of the ground some time. Well wash them, rub off the skins with a coarse cloth, and put them into boiling water salted in the above proportion. 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 uncovered, and when the potatoes are thoroughly dry, put them into 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.

Time.—1/4 to 1/2 hour, according to the size.

Average cost, in full season, 1d. per lb.

Sufficient.—Allow 3 lbs. for 5 or 6 persons.

Seasonable in May and June, but may be had, forced, in March.

TO STEAM POTATOES.

1140. INGREDIENTS.—Potatoes; boiling water.

Mode.—This mode of cooking potatoes is now much in vogue, particularly where they are wanted on a large scale, it being so very convenient. Pare the potatoes, throw them into cold water as they are peeled, then put them into a steamer. Place the steamer over a saucepan of boiling water, and steam the potatoes from 20 to 40 minutes, according to the size and sort. When a fork goes easily through them, they are done; then take them up, dish, and serve very quickly.

Time.—20 to 40 minutes. Average cost, 4s. per bushel.

Sufficient.—Allow 2 large potatoes to each person.

Seasonable all the year, but not so good whilst new potatoes are in season.

USES OF THE POTATO.—Potatoes boiled and beaten along with sour milk form a sort of cheese, which is made in Saxony; and, when kept in close vessels, may be preserved for several years. It is generally supposed that the water in which potatoes are boiled is injurious; and as instances are recorded where cattle having drunk it were seriously affected, it may be well to err on the safe side, and avoid its use for any alimentary purpose. Potatoes which have been exposed to the air and become green, are very unwholesome. Cadet de Vaux asserts that potatoes will clean linen as well as soap; and it is well known that the berries of the S. saponaceum are used in Peru for the same purpose.

HOW TO USE COLD POTATOES.

1141. INGREDIENTS.—The remains of cold potatoes; to every lb. allow 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 2 ditto of minced onions, 1 oz. of butter, milk.

Mode.—Mash the potatoes with a fork until perfectly free from lumps; stir in the other ingredients, and add sufficient milk to moisten them well; press the potatoes into a mould, and bake in a moderate oven until nicely brown, which will be in from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. Turn them out of the mould, and serve.

Time.—20 minutes to 1/2 hour.

Seasonable at any time.

POTATO BREAD.

The manner in which this is made is very simple. The adhesive tendency of the flour of the potato acts against its being baked or kneaded without being mixed with wheaten flour or meal; it may, however, be made into cakes in the following manner:—A small wooden frame, nearly square, is laid on a pan like a frying-pan and is grooved, and so constructed that, by means of a presser or lid introduced into the groove, the cake is at once fashioned, according to the dimensions of the mould. The frame containing the farina may be almost immediately withdrawn after the mould is formed upon the pan; because, from the consistency imparted to the incipient cake by the heat, it will speedily admit of being safely handled: it must not, however, be fried too hastily. It will then eat very palatably, and might from time to time be soaked for puddings, like tapioca, or might be used like the cassada-cake, for, when well buttered and toasted, it will be found an excellent accompaniment to breakfast. In Scotland, cold boiled potatoes are frequently squeezed up and mixed with flour or oatmeal, and an excellent cake, or scon, obtained.

FRIED POTATOES (French Fashion).

1142. INGREDIENTS.—Potatoes, hot butter or clarified dripping, salt.

Mode.—Peel and cut the potatoes into thin slices, as nearly the same size as possible; make some butter or dripping quite hot in a frying-pan; put in the potatoes, and fry them on both sides of a nice brown. When they are crisp and done, take them up, place them on a cloth before the fire to drain the grease from them, and serve very hot, after sprinkling them with salt. These are delicious with rump-steak, and, in France, are frequently served thus as a breakfast dish. The remains of cold potatoes may also be sliced and fried by the above recipe, but the slices must be cut a little thicker.

Time.—Sliced raw potatoes, 5 minutes; cooked potatoes, 5 minutes.

Average cost, 4s. per bushel.

Sufficient,—6 sliced potatoes for 3 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

A GERMAN METHOD OF COOKING POTATOES.

1143. INGREDIENTS.—8 to 10 middling-sized potatoes, 3 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 1/2 pint of broth, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar.

Mode.—Put the butter and flour into a stewpan; stir over the fire until the butter is of a nice brown colour, and add the broth and vinegar; peel and cut the potatoes into long thin slices, lay them in the gravy, and let them simmer gently until tender, which will be in from 10 to 15 minutes, and serve very hot. A laurel-leaf simmered with the potatoes is an improvement.

Time.—10 to 15 minutes.

Seasonable at any time.

POTATOES A LA MAITRE D’HOTEL.

1144. INGREDIENTS.—Potatoes, salt and water; to every 6 potatoes allow 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, 2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste, 4 tablespoonfuls of gravy, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice.

Mode.—Wash the potatoes clean, and boil them in salt and water; when they are done, drain them, let them cool; then peel and cut the potatoes into thick slices: if these are too thin, they would break in the sauce. Put the butter into a stewpan with the pepper, salt, gravy, and parsley; mix these ingredients well together, put in the potatoes, shake them two or three times, that they may be well covered with the sauce, and, when quite hot through, squeeze in the lemon-juice, and serve.

Time.—1/2 to 3/4 hour to boil the potatoes; 10 minutes for them to heat in the sauce.

Average cost, 4s. per bushel.

Sufficient for 3 persons. Seasonable all the year.

MASHED POTATOES.

1145. INGREDIENTS.—Potatoes; to every lb. of mashed potatoes allow 1 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of milk, salt to taste.

Mode.—Boil the potatoes in their skins; when done, drain them, and let them get thoroughly dry by the side of the fire; then peel them, and, as they are peeled, put them into a clean saucepan, and with a large fork beat them to a light paste; add butter, milk, and salt in the above proportion, and stir all the ingredients well over the fire. When thoroughly hot, dish them lightly, and draw the fork backwards over the potatoes to make the surface rough, and serve. When dressed in this manner, they may be browned at the top with a salamander, or before the fire. Some cooks press the potatoes into moulds, then turn them out, and brown them in the oven: this is a pretty mode of serving, but it makes them heavy. In whatever way they are sent to table, care must be taken to have them quite free from lumps.

Time.—From 1/2 to 3/4 hour to boil the potatoes.

Average cost, 4s. per bushel.

Sufficient,—1 lb. of mashed potatoes for 3 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

PUREE DE POMMES DE TERRE, or, Very Thin-mashed Potatoes.

1146. INGREDIENTS.—To every lb. of mashed potatoes allow 1/4 pint of good broth or stock, 2 oz. of butter.

Mode.—Boil the potatoes, well drain them, and pound them smoothly in a mortar, or beat them up with a fork; add the stock or broth, and rub the potatoes through a sieve. Put the puree into a very clean saucepan with the butter; stir it well over the fire until thoroughly hot, and it will then be ready to serve. A puree should be rather thinner than mashed potatoes, and is a delicious accompaniment to delicately broiled mutton cutlets. Cream or milk may be substituted for the broth when the latter is not at hand. A casserole of potatoes, which is often used for ragoûts instead of rice, is made by mashing potatoes rather thickly, placing them on a dish, and making an opening in the centre. After having browned the potatoes in the oven, the dish should be wiped clean, and the ragout or fricassée poured in.

Time.—About 1/2 hour to boil the potatoes; 6 or 7 minutes to warm the purée.

Average cost, 4s. per bushel.

Sufficient.—Allow 1 lb. of cooked potatoes for 3 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

POTATO RISSOLES.

1147. INGREDIENTS.—Mashed potatoes, salt and pepper to taste; when liked, a very little minced parsley, egg, and bread crumbs.

Mode.—Boil and mash the potatoes by recipe No. 1145 [see recipe above for mashed potatoes]; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, and, when liked, a little minced parsley. Roll the potatoes into small balls, cover them with egg and bread crumbs, and fry in hot lard for about 10 minutes; let them drain before the fire, dish them on a napkin, and serve.

Time,—10 minutes to fry the rissoles.

Seasonable at any time.

Note.—The flavour of these rissoles may be very much increased by adding finely-minced tongue or ham, or even chopped onions, when these are liked.

POTATO SALAD.

1154. INGREDIENTS.—10 or 12 cold boiled potatoes, 4 tablespoonfuls of tarragon or plain vinegar, 6 tablespoonfuls of salad-oil, pepper and salt to taste, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley.

Mode.—Cut the potatoes into slices about 1/2 inch in thickness; put these into a salad-bowl with oil and vinegar in the above proportion; season with pepper, salt, and a teaspoonful of minced parsley; stir the salad well, that all the ingredients may be thoroughly incorporated, and it is ready to serve. This should be made two or three hours before it is wanted for table. Anchovies, olives, or pickles may be added to this salad, as also slices of cold beef, fowl, or turkey.

Seasonable at any time.

POTATO SNOW.

1148. INGREDIENTS.—Potatoes, salt, and water.

Mode.—Choose large white potatoes, as free from spots as possible; boil them in their skins in salt and water until perfectly tender; drain and dry them thoroughly by the side of the fire, and peel them. Put a hot dish before the fire, rub the potatoes through a coarse sieve on to this dish; do not touch them afterwards, or the flakes will fall, and serve as hot as possible.

Time.—1/2 to 3/4 hour to boil the potatoes.

Average cost, 4s. per bushel.

Sufficient,—6 potatoes for 3 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

Victorian Potato Recipes from A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes BY CHARLES ELMÉ FRANCATELLI, [1852]

How to Steam Potatoes.

Peel the potatoes thinly, wash them clean, put them in the steamer, over boiling water, which must be kept briskly boiling until the potatoes are thoroughly done, the length of time depending very much on their size. I am aware that it is not in the power of all to possess a potato-steamer, although one may be purchased at Adams & Son’s, in the Haymarket, for a few shillings; and therefore I will give you instructions how to boil potatoes.

How to Boil Potatoes.

Wash the potatoes clean, and put them on to boil in a saucepan, with cold water just enough to cover them; place the saucepan on the hob, close to the fire, and allow them to remain in that position for a quarter of an hour, by which time the water will have gradually reached to the boiling point; the saucepan should now be allowed to boil until the potatoes are done through, and then pour off the water; put the lid on again with a cloth on the top, place the saucepan close to the fire for about five minutes, and when you turn them out on their dish you will find that you have a well-boiled, mealy potato before you.

Baked or Roasted Potatoes.

You do not require that I should tell you that when you have no oven you can easily roast your potatoes by placing them on the hobs, bars, and under the fire-grate; and if you are attentive to their being well roasted, by turning them about now and then, so that they may be done all over alike, you need not be deprived of a baked potato for the want of an oven. When the potatoes are roasted, slightly squeeze each separately in a cloth, to make them mealy, then split them open; season them with a bit of butter, or dripping, a little bit of chopped shalot, pepper, and salt, and this will afford you a nice relish for supper.

How to Fry Potatoes.

Peel, split, and cut the potatoes into slices of equal thickness, say the thickness of two penny pieces; and as they are cut out of hand, let them be dropped into a pan of cold water. When about to fry the potatoes, first drain them on a clean cloth, and dab them all over, in order to absorb all moisture; while this has been going on, you will have made some kind of fat (entirely free from water or gravy, such as lard, for instance) very hot in a frying-pan, and into this drop your prepared potatoes, only a good handful at a time; as, if you attempt to fry too many at once, instead of being crisp, as they should be, the potatoes will fry flabby, and consequently will be unappetising. As soon as the first lot is fried in a satisfactory manner, drain them from the fat with a skimmer, or spoon, and then fry the remainder; and when all are fried, shake a little salt over them.

How to Fry Potatoes an easier Way.

When it happens that you have some cold boiled potatoes, this is the way to fry them:—First cut the potatoes in thick slices, and fry them in a frying-pan with butter or dripping, just enough to season them, and as they fry, lift or scrape them from the bottom of the pan with an iron spoon, to prevent them from sticking to the bottom and burning, which, by imparting a bitter taste, would spoil them; when all are fried of a very light brown colour, season with pepper and salt.

How to Mash Potatoes.

Either steam or boil the potatoes, as indicated in the recipes above, and immediately after they are done, while steaming hot, put the potatoes into a clean saucepan, and break or mash them by stirring them vigorously with a fork; when all are broken smooth and mealy, add a little hot milk, with a bit of butter, pepper, and salt; work the whole well together for a few minutes, and eat the mashed potatoes while hot.

Baked Mashed Potatoes.

Prepare the mashed potatoes as shown in the preceding recipe, put them in a dish, smooth them over with a knife, put some bits of butter on the top, and set them before the fire, turning them occasionally to brown them equally all round.

Mashed Potatoes with Ling.

Ling is a kind of dried salt fish; it is cheaper than the ordinary sort of salted codfish. It should be washed and well soaked in plenty of tepid water for six hours before it is boiled in cold water; when taken out of the pot it should be divided into large flakes, mixed with mashed potatoes, and baked in a dish, as directed in the preceding recipe.

How to Stew Potatoes.

First boil the potatoes, and then put a little butter, a chopped onion, half a pint of milk, or water, pepper and salt to season; boil this for ten minutes, then add the potatoes, previously cooked; boil all together for ten minutes, and dish them up.

Potato Pie.

Slice up four onions and boil them in a saucepan with two ounces of butter, a quart of water, and pepper and salt, for five minutes; then add four pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut in slices; stew the whole until the potatoes are done, and pour them into a pie-dish; cover this with stiff mashed potatoes, and bake the pie of a light brown colour.

Baked Beef and Potatoes.

The cheapest pieces of beef, suitable for baking or roasting, consist of the thick part of the ribs, cut from towards the shoulder, the mouse buttock and gravy pieces, and also what is commonly called the chuck of beef, which consists of the throat boned and tied up with string in the form of a small round. Whichever piece of beef you may happen to buy, it should be well sprinkled over with pepper, salt, and flour, and placed upon a small iron trivet in a baking dish containing peeled potatoes and about half-a-pint of water, and either baked in your own oven or else sent to the baker’s. If you bake your meat in your own oven, remember that it must be turned over on the trivet every twenty minutes, and that you must be careful to baste it all over now and then with the fat which runs from it into the dish, using a spoon for that purpose. It would be very economical if, when you have baked meat for dinner, you were always to make a Yorkshire pudding to be baked under it. There are baking dishes made with a parting down the middle which just suit this purpose. In this case the potatoes are put in one part and the pudding in the other part.

Potato Pudding.

Ingredients, three pounds of potatoes, two quarts of milk, two ounces of butter, two ounces of sugar, a bit of lemon-peel, a good pinch of salt, and three eggs. First, bake the potatoes, if you have means to do so, or let them be either steamed or boiled; when done, scoop out all their floury pulp without waste into a large saucepan, and immediately beat it up vigorously with a large fork or a spoon; then add all the remainder of the above-named ingredients (excepting the eggs), stir the potato batter carefully on the fire till it comes to a boil, then add the beaten eggs; pour the batter into a greased pie-dish, and bake the pudding for an hour in your oven, if you have one; if not, send it to the baker’s.

Potato Soup for Six Persons.

Peel and chop four onions, and put them into a gallon saucepan, with two ounces of dripping fat, or butter, or a bit of fat bacon; add rather better than three quarts of water, and set the whole to boil on the fire for ten minutes; then throw in four pounds of peeled and sliced-up potatoes, pepper and salt, and with a wooden spoon stir the soup on the fire for about twenty-five minutes, by which time the potatoes will be done to a pulp, and the soup ready for dinner or breakfast.

The Lady’s Own Cookery Book, And New Dinner-Table Directory; In which will be found A LARGE COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL RECEIPTS, Including not only THE RESULT OF THE AUTHERESS’S MANY YEARS OBSERVATION, EXPERIENCE, AND RESEARCH, but also the CONTRIBUTIONS OF AN EXTENSIVE CIRCLE OF ACQUAINTANCE: Adapted to the use of PERSONS LIVING IN THE HIGHEST STYLE, as well as those of MODERATE FORTUNE. [1844]

Potatoes, to boil. No. 1. [A celebrated Lancashire recipe]

The following is the celebrated Lancashire receipt for cooking potatoes:—Cleanse them well, put them in cold water, and boil them with their skins on exceedingly slow. When the water bubbles, throw in a little cold water. When they are done, drain the water completely away through a colander; return them into a pot or saucepan without water; cover them up, and set them before the fire for a quarter of an hour longer. Do not pare the potatoes before they are boiled, which is a very unwholesome and wasteful practice.

Potatoes, to boil. No. 2.

Scrape off the rind; put them into an iron pot; simmer them till they begin to crack, and allow a fork to pierce easily; then pour off the water, and put aside the lid of the pot, and sprinkle over some salt. Place your pot at the edge of the fire, and there let it remain an hour or more, and during this time all the moisture of the potatoes will gradually exhale in steam, and you will find them white or flaky as snow. Take them out with a spoon or ladle.

Potatoes, to boil. No. 3.

Boil them as usual; half an hour before sending to table, throw away the water from them, and set the pot again on the fire; sufficient moisture will come from the potatoes to prevent the pot from burning; let them stand on the half stove, and not be peeled until sent to table.

Potatoes, to bake.

Wash nicely, make into balls, and bake in the Dutch oven a light brown. This forms a neat side or corner dish.

Potato balls.

Pound some boiled potatoes in a mortar, with the yolks of two eggs, a little pepper, and salt; make them in balls about the size of an egg; do them over with yolk of egg and crumbs of bread; then fry them of a light brown for table; five balls for a corner dish.

Croquets of Potatoes.

Boil some potatoes in water, strain them, and take sufficient milk to make them into a mash, rather thick; before you mix the potatoes put the peel of half a lemon, finely grated, one lump of sugar, and a pinch of salt; strain the milk after heating it, and add the potatoes; mash them well together; let the mash cool; roll it into balls of the shape and size of an egg; let there be ten or twelve of them; brush them over with the yolk of egg, and roll them in crumbs of bread and a pinch of salt. Do this twice over; then fry them of a fine brown colour, and serve them with fried parsley round.

Potatoes, to fry.

After your potatoes are nicely boiled and skinned, grate them, and to every large table-spoonful of potatoes add one egg well beat, and to each egg a small spoonful of cream, with some salt. Drop as many spoonfuls as are proper in a pan in which is clarified butter.

Potatoes, to mash.

After the potatoes are boiled and peeled, mash them in a mortar, or on a clean board, with a broad knife, and put them into a stewpan. To two pounds of potatoes put in half a pint of milk, a quarter of a pound of butter, and a little salt; set them over the fire, and keep them stirred till the butter is melted; but take care they do not burn to the bottom. Dish them up in what form you please.

Potatoes, French way of cooking.

Boil the potatoes in a weak white gravy till nearly done; stir in some cream and vermicelli, with three or four blades of mace, and let it boil till the potatoes are sufficiently done, without being broken.

Potatoes, à-la-Maitre d’hotel.

Cut boiled potatoes into slices, not too thin; simmer them in a little plain gravy, a bit of butter rubbed in a little flour, chopped parsley, pepper, and salt, and serve hot.

THE COOK AND HOUSEKEEPER’S COMPLETE AND UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY; INCLUDING A SYSTEM OF MODERN COOKERY, IN ALL ITS VARIOUS BRANCHES, ADAPTED TO THE USE OF PRIVATE FAMILIES: ALSO A VARIETY OF ORIGINAL AND VALUABLE INFORMATION. BY Mrs. MARY EATON. (1823)

POTATOE BALLS.

Mix some mashed potatoes with the yolk of an egg, roll the mass into balls, flour them, or put on egg and bread crumbs, and fry them in clean drippings, or brown them in a Dutch oven.—Potatoe balls ragout are made by adding to a pound of potatoes, a quarter of a pound of grated ham, or some chopped parsley, or sweet herbs; adding an onion or shalot, salt and pepper, a little grated nutmeg or other spice, and the yolks of two eggs. They are then to be dressed as potatoe balls.

POTATOE BREAD.

Weigh half a pound of mealy potatoes after they are boiled or steamed, and rub them while warm into a pound and a half of fine flour, dried a little before the fire. When thoroughly mixed, put in a spoonful of good yeast, a little salt, and warm milk and water sufficient to work into dough. Let it stand by the fire to rise for an hour and a half, then make it into a loaf, and bake it in a tolerably brisk oven. If baked in a tin the crust will be more delicate, but the bread dries sooner.—Another. To two pounds of well-boiled mealy potatoes, rubbed between the hands till they are as fine as flour, mix in thoroughly two large double handfuls of wheat flour, three good spoonfuls of yeast, a little salt, and warm milk enough to make it the usual stiffness of dough. Let it stand three or four hours to rise, then mould it, make it up, and bake it like common bread.

POTATOE CHEESECAKES.

Boil six ounces of potatoes, and four ounces of lemon peel; beat the latter in a marble mortar, with four ounces of sugar. Then add the potatoes, beaten, and four ounces of butter melted in a little cream. When well mixed, let it stand to grow cold. Put crust in pattipans, and rather more than half fill them. This quantity will make a dozen cheesecakes, which are to be baked half an hour in a quick oven, with some fine powdered sugar sifted over them.

POTATOE FRITTERS.

Boil two large potatoes, scrape them fine; beat up four yolks and three whites of eggs, and add a large spoonful of cream, another of sweet wine, a squeeze of lemon, and a little nutmeg. Beat this batter at least half an hour, till it be extremely light. Put a good quantity of fine lard into a stewpan, and drop a spoonful of the batter at a time into it, and fry the fritters. Serve for sauce a glass of white wine, the juice of a lemon, one dessert spoonful of peach leaf or almond water, and some white sugar. Warm them together, but do not put the sauce into the dish.—Another way. Slice some potatoes thin, dip them in a fine batter, and fry them. Lemon peel, and a spoonful of orange-flower water, should be added to the batter. Serve up the fritters with white sugar sifted over them.

POTATOE PASTE.

Pound some boiled potatoes very fine, and while warm, add butter sufficient to make the mash hold together. Or mix it with an egg; and before it gets cold, flour the board pretty well to prevent it from sticking, and roll the paste to the thickness wanted. If suffered to get quite cold before it be put on the dish, it will be apt to crack.

POTATOE PASTY.

Boil, peel, and mash some potatoes as fine as possible. Mix in some salt, pepper, and a good piece of butter. Make a paste, roll it out thin like a large puff, and put in the potatoe. Fold over one half, pinching the edges, and bake it in a moderate oven.

POTATOE PIE.

Skin some potatoes, cut them into slices, and season them. Add some mutton, beef, pork, or veal, and put in alternate layers of meat and potatoes.

POTATOE PUDDING.

To make a plain potatoe pudding, take eight ounces of boiled potatoes, two ounces of butter, the yolks and whites of two eggs, a quarter of a pint of cream, a spoonful of white wine, the juice and rind of a lemon, and a little salt. Beat all to a froth, sweeten it to taste, make a crust to it, or not, and bake it. If the pudding is required to be richer, add three ounces more of butter, another egg, with sweetmeats and almonds. If the pudding is to be baked with meat, boil the potatoes and mash them. Rub the mass through a cullender, and make it into a thick batter with milk and two eggs. Lay some seasoned steaks in a dish, then some batter; and over the last layer of meat pour the remainder of the batter, and bake it of a fine brown.—Another. Mash some boiled potatoes with a little milk, season it with pepper and salt, and cut some fat meat into small pieces. Put a layer of meat at the bottom of the dish, and then a layer of potatoe till the dish is full. Smooth the potatoes on the top, shake a little suet over it, and bake it to a fine brown. Mashed potatoes may also be baked as a pudding under meat, or placed under meat while roasting, or they may be mixed with batter instead of flour.

POTATOE ROLLS.

Boil three pounds of potatoes, bruise and work them with two ounces of butter, and as much milk as will make them pass through a cullender. Take nearly three quarters of a pint of yeast, and half a pint of warm water; mix them with the potatoes, pour the whole upon five pounds of flour, and add some salt. Knead it well: if not of a proper consistence, add a little more warm milk and water. Let it stand before the fire an hour to rise; work it well, and make it into rolls. Bake them about half an hour, in an oven not quite so hot as for bread. The rolls will eat well, toasted and buttered.

POTATOE SNOW.

The whitest sort of potatoes must be selected, and free from spots. Set them over the fire in cold water; when they begin to crack, strain off the water, and put them into a clean stewpan by the side of the fire till they are quite dry, and fall to pieces. Rub them through a wire sieve on the dish they are to be sent up in, and do not disturb them afterwards.

POTATOE SOUP.

Cut a pound and a half of gravy beef into thin slices, chop a pound of potatoes, and an onion or two, and put them into a kettle with three quarts of water, half a pint of blue peas, and two ounces of rice. Stew these till the gravy is quite drawn from the meat, strain it off, take out the beef, and pulp the other ingredients through a coarse sieve. Add the pulp to the soup, cut in two or three roots of celery, simmer in a clean saucepan till this is tender, season with pepper and salt, and serve it up with fried bread cut into it.

POTATOE STARCH.

Raw potatoes, in whatever condition, constantly afford starch, differing only in quality. The round grey or red produce the most, affording about two ounces of starch to a pound of pulp. The process is perfectly easy. Peel and wash a pound of full grown potatoes, grate them on a bread grater into a deep dish, containing a quart of clear water. Stir it well up, then pour it through a hair sieve, and leave it ten minutes to settle, till the water is quite clear. Then pour off the water, and put a quart of fresh water to it; stir it up, let it settle, and repeat this till the water is quite clear. A fine white powder will at last be found at the bottom of the vessel. The criterion of this process being completed, is the purity of the water that comes from it after stirring it up. Lay the powder on a sheet of paper in a hair sieve to dry, either in the sun or before the fire, and it is ready for use. Put into a well stopped bottle, it will keep good for many months. If this be well made, a table-spoonful of it mixed with twice the quantity of cold water, and stirred into a soup or sauce, just before it is taken up, will thicken a pint of it to the consistence of cream. This preparation much resembles the Indian Arrow Root, and is a good substitute for it. It gives a fulness on the palate to gravies and sauces at hardly any expense, and is often used to thicken melted butter instead of flour. Being perfectly tasteless, it will not alter the flavour of the most delicate broth or gruel.

POTATOES. (not a recipe but a guide on how to grow potatoes)

The following is allowed to be a superior method of raising potatoes, and of obtaining a larger and finer growth. Dig the earth twelve inches deep, if the soil will admit, and afterwards open a hole about six inches deep, and twelve wide. Fill it with horse dung, or long litter, about three inches thick, and plant a whole potatoe upon it; shake a little more dung over it, and mould up the earth. In this way the whole plot of ground should be planted, placing the potatoes at least sixteen inches apart. When the young shoots make their appearance, they should have fresh mould drawn round them with a hoe; and if the tender shoots are covered, it will prevent the frost from injuring them. They should again be earthed, when the roots make a second appearance, but not covered, as in all probability the season will be less severe. A plentiful supply of mould should be given them, and the person who performs this business should never tread upon the plant, or the hillock that is raised round it, as the lighter the earth is the more room the potatoe will have to expand. In Holland, the potatoes are strangely cultivated, though there are persons who give the preference to Dutch potatoes, supposing them to be of a finer grain than others. They are generally planted in the fields, in rows, nearly as thick as beans or peas, and are suffered to grow up wild and uncultivated, the object being to raise potatoes as small as possible, while the large ones, if such there happen to be, are thrown out and given to the pigs. The mode of cultivation in Ireland, where potatoes are found in the greatest perfection, is far different, and probably the best of all. The round rough red are generally preferred, and are esteemed the most genuine. These are planted in rows, and only just put in beneath the soil. These rows are divided into beds about six feet wide, a path or trench is left between the beds, and as the plants vegetate the earth is dug out of the trench, and thrown lightly over the potatoes. This practice is continued all the summer, the plants are thus nourished by the repeated accession of fresh soil, and the trench as it deepens serves the purpose of keeping the beds dry, and of carrying off the superfluous water. The potatoes are always rich and mealy, containing an unusual quantity of wholesome flour.

POTATOES BOILED.

The vegetable kingdom scarcely affords any food more wholesome, more easily procured, easily prepared, or less expensive than the potatoe; yet although this most useful vegetable is dressed almost every day, in almost every family,—for one plate of potatoes that comes to table as it should, ten are spoiled. There is however a great diversity in the colour, size, shape, and quality of the potatoe, and some are of a very inferior description. The yellow are better than the white, but the rough red are the most mealy and nutritive. Choose those of a moderate size, free from blemishes, and fresh. It is best to buy them in the mould, as they come from the bed, and they should not be wetted till they are cleaned for cooking. Protect them from the air and frost, by laying in heaps in a dry place, covering them with mats, or burying them in dry sand. If the frost affects them, the life of the vegetable is destroyed, and the potatoe speedily rots. When they are to be dressed, wash them, but do not pare or cut them, unless they are very large. Fill a saucepan half full of potatoes of an equal size, and add as much cold water as will cover them about an inch. Most boiled things are spoiled by having too little water, but potatoes are often spoiled by too much: they should merely be covered, and a little allowed for waste in boiling. Set them on a moderate fire till they boil, then take them off, and place them on the side of the fire to simmer slowly, till they are soft enough to admit a fork. The usual test of their skin cracking is not to be depended on, for if they are boiled fast this will happen when the potatoes are not half done, and the inside is quite hard. Pour off the water the minute the potatoes are done, or they will become watery and sad; uncover the saucepan, and set it at such a distance from the fire as will prevent its burning; the superfluous moisture will then evaporate, and the potatoes become perfectly dry and mealy. This method is in every respect equal to steaming, and the potatoes are dressed in half the time.

POTATOES BROILED.

Parboil, then slice and broil them. Or parboil, and set them whole on the gridiron over a very slow fire. When thoroughly done, send them up with their skins on. This method is practised in many Irish families.

POTATOES IN CREAM.

Half boil some potatoes, drain and peel them nicely, and cut into neat pieces. Put them into a stewpan with some cream, fresh butter, and salt, of each a proportion to the quantity of potatoes; or instead of cream, put some good gravy, with pepper and salt. Stew them very gently, and be careful to prevent their breaking.

POTATOES FRIED.

If they are whole potatoes, first boil them nearly enough, and then put them into a stewpan with a bit of butter, or some nice clean beef drippings. To prevent their burning, shake them about till they are brown and crisp, and then drain them from the fat. It would be an elegant improvement, to flour and dip them in the yolk of an egg previous to frying, and then roll them in fine sifted bread crumbs: they would then deserve to be called potatoes full dressed.—If to be fried in slices or shavings, peel some large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them in shavings round and round, as in peeling a lemon. Dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping. Take care that the fat and the fryingpan are both perfectly clean. Put the pan on a quick fire; as soon as the lard boils, and is still, put in the potatoe slices, and keep moving them till they are crisp. Take them up and lay them to drain on a sieve, and then send them to table with a very little salt sprinkled over.—To fry cold potatoes, put a bit of clean dripping into a fryingpan. When melted, slice in the potatoes with a little pepper and salt; set them on the fire, and keep them stirring. When quite hot, they are ready. This is a good way of re-dressing potatoes, and making them palatable.

POTATOES MASHED.

When the potatoes are thoroughly boiled, drain and dry them well, and pick out every speck. Rub them through a cullender into a clean stewpan: to a pound of potatoes allow half an ounce of butter, and a spoonful of milk. Mix it up well, but do not make it too moist. After Lady day, when potatoes are getting old and specked, and also in frosty weather, this is the best way of dressing them. If potatoes are to be mashed with onions, boil the onions, and pass them through a sieve. Mix them with the potatoes, in such a proportion as is most approved.

POTATOES PRESERVED.

To keep potatoes from the frost, lay them up in a dry store room, and cover them with straw, or a linen cloth. If this be not convenient, dig a trench three or four feet deep, and put them in as they are taken up. Cover them with the earth taken out of the trench, raise it up in the middle like the roof of a house, and cover it with straw so as to carry off the rain. Better still if laid above ground, and covered with a sufficient quantity of mould to protect them from the frost, as in this case they are less likely to be injured by the wet. Potatoes may also be preserved by suffering them to remain in the ground, and digging them up in the spring of the year, as they are wanted.

POTATOES ROASTED.

Choose them nearly of a size, wash and dry the potatoes, and put them in a Dutch oven, or cheese toaster. Take care not to place them too near the fire, or they will burn on the outside before they are warmed through. Large potatoes will require two hours to roast them properly, unless they are previously half boiled. When potatoes are to be roasted under meat, they should first be half boiled, drained from the water, and placed in the pan under the meat. Baste them with some of the dripping, and when they are browned on one side, turn and brown them on the other. Send them up round the meat, or in a small dish.

POTATOES SCALLOPED.

Having boiled and mashed the potatoes, butter some clean scallop shells, or pattipans, and put in the potatoes. Smooth them on the top, cross a knife over them, strew on a few fine bread crumbs, sprinkle them a little with melted butter from a paste brush, and then set them in a Dutch oven. When they are browned on the top, take them carefully out of the shells, and brown the other side.

POTATOES STEAMED.

The potatoes must be well washed, but not pared, and put into the steamer when the water boils. Moderate sized potatoes will require three quarters of an hour to do them properly. They should be taken up as soon as they are done enough, or they will become watery: peel them afterwards.

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