The Interesting Potato
Every girl should know how to cook potatoes properly; yet really there
is scarcely any other one vegetable that can be prepared in so many ways
and still is often so poorly cooked as to be practically unfit to eat.
It would seem an easy thing to make a light, appetizing dish of mashed
potatoes--and what is more inviting?--but how often are they served wet
and soggy! To understand the right way to cook and serve potatoes is as
much an art as to make a salad or bake a cake.
BOILED POTATOES
Plain boiled potatoes, with the skin on, are delicious when cooked as
they should be. The requisite number should be selected, perfect in form
and uniform in size, and scrubbed with the vegetable brush, but the
skins not broken. If they are old they will be better for soaking half
an hour in cold water. A half hour before dinner-time, if they are of
medium size, they should be covered with boiling salted water and
placed on the stove, where they will boil gently, not hard, until the
skins begin to crack open. Test with a fork, and as soon as they are
tender, drain off all the water and set on the back of the stove to
steam dry. Serve in a hot, open vegetable dish; and if there is company
or you are very particular, remove the skins (without breaking the
potatoes) just before sending to the table. In case there is to be fish
or a meat dish without gravy, serve the potatoes with the white sauce
our little cook was taught to make in one of her first lessons.
MASHED POTATOES
For mashed potatoes the mother should tell the child to pick out the
imperfect ones, or those too large to bake, to be peeled and cut up.
Have her put them on in boiling salted water half an hour before
dinner-time, cook until perfectly tender, then drain and let steam dry.
After standing a few moments (in a hot place), have her mash them
thoroughly, first with an old-fashioned wooden masher until all the
lumps are removed, and then with a wire one. To each cupful of potato
add a teaspoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of hot milk. They should
be beaten up creamy with the wire beater, then turned out into a hot
covered dish, with a lump of butter in the center and a sprinkling of
pepper over the top, and served at once.
If dinner is delayed, however, and there is danger of their getting
cold, have her put them in a baking-dish or tin, smooth them nicely over
the top and set where they will keep warm. Then when needed, if she will
grate a little cheese over the top and put in the oven for a few minutes
to brown, she will find that they are even nicer than when first made.
The mashed potatoes left from dinner can be worked up with a little
cream and molded into small round cakes, to be fried brown next morning.
CREAMED POTATOES
Often in buying potatoes one finds a quantity of little ones usually
considered "too small to be bothered with." They seem hardly worth
peeling, but if scrubbed clean and boiled as directed the skins can be
removed quickly when they are tender. Then if a white sauce is made,
these little potato balls can be dropped in and served garnished with
finely chopped parsley on top. This is a favorite way of preparing new
potatoes and most appetizing.
LYONNAISE POTATOES
If the mother prefers, she can have the child take these little balls
(peeled after they are cooked), cut them up fine, and fry them as
follows: In a hot pan melt two tablespoonfuls of butter and add a
teaspoonful of finely chopped onion, which should be cooked until a
delicate brown before the seasoned potatoes are added.
CHEESE POTATOES
Parboil sliced potatoes, or slice cold boiled ones, line the bottom of a
baking dish, sprinkle with salt, pepper, a little flour, grated cheese,
and dots of butter. Repeat until the pan is nearly full, cover with
milk, sprinkle the top with the grated cheese, and bake until brown, or
about half an hour. Cheese potatoes are particularly good served with
cold meat.
BAKED POTATOES
Potatoes for baking should be of uniform, medium size and perfect. After
being well scrubbed they should be wiped dry and put in a moderate oven
three-quarters of an hour before meal-time. If the meal is delayed for
any reason they should be pricked with a fork in several places to let
out the steam, and then set where they will keep hot, but not in a
covered dish, or they will get wet and soggy.
STUFFED POTATOES
If it is necessary to keep them any length of time, cut off the end of
each potato, scrape out the inside, season with salt, pepper, a little
butter, a small quantity of cream and to every three potatoes one egg,
the white beaten stiff. After whipping up light put back in the shells,
where they will keep warm. Just before sending to the table, put in the
oven for a few moments, until they puff up and brown at the ends.
FRIED POTATOES
Cold boiled potatoes can be used in so many different ways that where
there is no servant in the house it often is a saving of time and labor
to boil a quantity at one time and then heat up as needed. They are nice
simply sliced thin and fried brown in butter.
HASHED CREAM POTATOES
If this is considered too rich, half the amount of butter will be
sufficient to flavor and keep from scorching, and then when they brown
as they are hashed in the pan pour in a few spoonfuls of cream. Season
well, allow to brown down again, then fold like an omelet and serve on a
hot platter garnished with parsley.
SCALLOPED POTATOES
Scalloped potatoes are very nice for a supper dish, as they can be
prepared early in the day and set away until needed. The little cook,
after washing and peeling her potatoes, next cuts them in thin slices,
enough to fill the dish needed and parboils in salted water for ten
minutes. Then drain. Arrange a layer of these, with a sprinkling of
flour, pepper and salt and a few small pieces of butter, repeating in
layers until the pan is full. Pour over enough milk to cover. When ready
to cook, allow half an hour for the baking, and from time to time add a
little extra hot milk. It is well to set a large pan containing water
under the baking-dish to catch any milk that might boil over and burn on
the bottom of the oven.
CANDIED SWEET POTATOES
Sweet potatoes that have been boiled are particularly nice when cut in
half, buttered, seasoned with very little salt and pepper and then
sprinkled over the top with granulated sugar and browned in the oven.
"Candied sweet potatoes" they are called when served in hotels as
something extra.
[Illustration: CLEANING UP]