roll each around a pod of freshly boiled or canned okra. Place in a
well-buttered pan, add a little hot water, and let cook ten minutes
covered, and five uncovered. Add more butter during the last five
minutes, baste the rolls, and serve with the butter poured over them,
or with tomato sauce.
PIMENTOS WITH TOMATO
Lay the large flat pimentos from a can on a platter, and slide into
each a slice of tomato which has been sprinkled with salt and celery
salt. Fry in a covered pan for five minutes, and serve plain or with
caper sauce.
POTATOES
Between the good cooks who contend that a potato is never properly
"boiled" if it is boiled at all, and those who either cook potatoes
in a steamer, or put them in cold water which is carefully watched to
see that it does not actually boil, cooking thus until the potatoes
are tender, and those who drop them into rapidly boiling salted
water, letting them boil hard until done, there is wide latitude for
individual preference. I would advise those who do not have potatoes
served on the table which are white and floury and thoroughly cooked
through, to see that one of the above-mentioned ways of cooking
potatoes is carried out in their kitchens. Potatoes put in boiling
water, or put in a covered steamer over rapidly boiling water, will
cook in from twenty minutes to half an hour, the time depending, of
course, upon the size and age of the potatoes; they should always be
carefully scrubbed and cooked in their skins, and peeled afterwards.
MASHED POTATOES
Having boiled or steamed the required number of potatoes, peel them as
expeditiously as possible and break them up in a hot saucepan; mash and
then beat them vigorously with a wooden spoon or a fork, add a generous
piece of butter, dredge with salt and a little pepper, and beat them
until they are light; then moisten slightly with a very little hot
milk or cream, beat them for a moment more, and serve very hot.
POTATO SOUFFLÉ
Put into a saucepan 3 or 4 cups of warm mashed potato and 1 tablespoon
butter. Add the yolks of 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons cream (or milk), salt
and pepper, and stir over fire until well mixed. Remove from the fire
and add the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Heap in a buttered baking
dish and let brown on the top in the oven.
MASHED POTATO SOUFFLÉ IN CASES
Select large potatoes, scrub them and let them bake until mealy, which
will be in from half an hour to three quarters, then cut them in half,
lengthwise, and carefully scrape out the potato, laying aside the
skins to use as cases. Mash the potatoes with a wire potato-masher,
add 1 tablespoon of butter for every 5 potatoes used, and season well
with salt and pepper. Beat the whites of eggs very stiff, allowing
2 to every 5 potatoes, and mix them lightly through the potato with
a fork; fill the potato skins with the mixture, heaping them full;
brown them slightly in the oven before serving, and garnish the dish
on which they are served with sprigs of parsley. Five potatoes will
fill 6 or 7 cases.
RICED POTATOES
Break up well-boiled dry potatoes with a fork, dredge with salt and
pepper, and press through a sieve or a so-called "ricer" into a hot
serving dish.
RICED POTATO FRITTERS
Boil 6 large potatoes, press them through a sieve, and add 3 lightly
beaten eggs, 2 teaspoons of flour creamed with 1 tablespoon of butter,
1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 cups of milk. Beat well together, and drop
from a large spoon into deep, hot fat; they will rise to the top a
light brown when done. Chopped chives or chopped parsley may be added
to the mixture if desired.
MASHED POTATOES WITH ONION
To 4 or 5 cups of mashed potato add 1 cup of boiled onion minced to
a pulp, 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of cream, some pepper
and salt; beat lightly together, and before serving brown the top
for a moment in the oven.
BAKED POTATOES
Select potatoes of uniform size, scrub them well, place in a hot oven
until they yield to pressure of the fingers, which will be in most
cases in about three quarters of an hour. They should not stand after
baking, and should be served in an open dish. A baked potato that is
worked with the fingers while being turned in the hand a few times,
becomes light and soft.
ROAST POTATOES
Pare small, round potatoes, and lay them in cold water. Put 2
tablespoons of butter in a shallow baking pan, and let it melt in the
oven; then wipe the potatoes, and lay them in the pan, rolling each
in the hot butter. Let them cook in a moderate oven from one half to
three quarters of an hour, and baste them during the cooking five or
six times with the butter. Sprinkle with salt before serving.
DENVER POTATOES
Peel several smooth oval potatoes and cut in half, lengthwise. Dig
out a small hole in the centre of the smooth side, and level the
rounded parts so they will sit evenly. Put a lump of butter in each,
and place in a pan with a little water, first dredging with salt and
pepper, and bake about twenty-five minutes or until browned.
BROILED POTATOES
Cut cold boiled potatoes lengthwise into quarter-inch slices, dip each
in flour, and lay in a folding broiler. Broil until evenly browned
on both sides, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve on a hot dish
with a bit of butter on each, or as a garnish to other vegetables.
FRIED POTATOES SOUFFLÉ
Peel and trim the required number of potatoes to a uniform size,
cut both ends straight across, and then slice the potatoes into
slices about 1/16 of an inch thick, and drop them into cold water for
about half an hour, and then dry them with a cloth. For the frying
two kettles of fat are necessary, one of which must be perfectly
fresh; drop the potatoes into the used fat or oil and let them fry
until about half done; but do not let them brown at all; drain them
thoroughly and let them get cold. Five or six minutes before they
are to be served drop them into the fresh fat which should be almost
smoking, move them about lightly with a fork, and they will puff out
to a considerable size; let them become a golden brown, put them in
the oven on brown paper for a moment, and serve instantly.
WHOLE POTATOES FRIED
Use very small new potatoes, and, after boiling them, roll in egg and
cracker crumbs, and fry in hot, deep fat. Use alone or as a garnish
to baked tomatoes.
FRENCH-FRIED POTATOES
Peel potatoes which are of medium size and cut into even eighths,
lengthwise, and then let them lie in cold water for fifteen minutes;
then dry them between the folds of a clean cloth, and put in a frying
basket. Immerse slowly in hot fat, and fry until a golden brown;
drain at once, and dredge with salt.
SARATOGA CHIPS
Cut potatoes into thin slices with a potato cutter, lay in cold water
twenty minutes, dry, and fry in deep, hot fat until crisp. Drain from
the fat onto brown paper, dredge with salt, and serve very hot.
POTATOES PARISIAN
These are cooked exactly like French-fried potatoes, except that the
little vegetable cutter, which cuts tiny globes of potato, is used
to form the shapes. Some care must be taken to use strength enough
with the cutter to make it cut perfectly round balls.
POTATO STRAWS
Peel 4 or 5 potatoes and then cut them with a patent vegetable cutter
in strings; lay them in very cold water for twenty minutes, drain,
and put in a frying basket, and slowly immerse in hot fat, and let them
fry until a golden brown. Drain, and dredge with salt before serving.
POTATO CRADLES
Peel, wash, and dry potatoes of uniform size and shape. Cut in two,
lengthwise, and scoop out the inside, and fry the potato cases in
hot fat until brown; then drain and sprinkle with salt. Serve hot
peas heaped up in each cradle and garnish with mint or parsley.
POTATOES LYONNAISE
Take 5 or 6 cold boiled potatoes and cut them in slices. Put 1
tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when it is melted add 2
thinly sliced, medium-sized onions, and fry these, letting them cook
very slowly ten minutes; then season with pepper and salt and add
the sliced potatoes, and let these fry slowly, turning with a knife
until they are a golden brown; season afresh with pepper and salt,
and add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley before serving. These
potatoes will take a great deal of salt and pepper.
GERMAN FRIED POTATOES
Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted add 5
or 6 cold boiled potatoes cut in slices, season highly with salt and
pepper, fry until done, which will be about twelve or fifteen minutes,
turning with a knife; when nearly done stop stirring, and let the
potatoes brown on the bottom of the pan; serve in a hot dish with
the browned slices on the top.
FRIED POTATO SAVOURY
Fry cold sliced or diced potatoes, and when browned add 1/2 teaspoon
of onion juice or extract, then arrange in a buttered baking dish in
layers with grated cheese, pepper, salt, and some butter in each layer,
cover the top with a few brown crumbs and chopped parsley or chives,
and let heat a few minutes in the oven. Chopped chives can be arranged
with the layers of potato if the flavour is liked.
CREAMED POTATOES
Put 2 tablespoons of butter into a saucepan, and when melted add 1
tablespoon of minced parsley and pepper and salt, stir until very hot,
then add a scant cup of milk, containing 1 teaspoon of flour and a
pinch of soda, and when this boils add diced cold boiled potatoes,
and, when thoroughly heated through, serve.
ESCALLOPED POTATOES
Boil 10 or 12 medium-sized potatoes in their skins, and after peeling
slice them in slices 1/4 of an inch thick. While the potatoes are
boiling make a sauce of 2 cups of milk, the juice of 1 onion, salt
and pepper, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 1 tablespoon of thickening
flour. Butter a baking dish, and arrange a layer of potatoes, cover
with sauce, then put another layer of potatoes, and so continue
until the dish is filled. Then cut 2 hard-boiled eggs in neat slices,
arrange them over the top, sprinkle with cracker crumbs and a little
finely chopped parsley, and cook ten or twelve minutes in the oven.
POTATOES DELMONICO
For a large baking dish 4 cups of cold boiled diced potatoes will
be required. Butter a baking dish, and put a layer of potatoes an
inch deep in the bottom, and cover this with well made white sauce,
and sprinkle slightly with salt and pepper; then add another layer of
potato, and white sauce, and seasoning, and so on, until the dish is
heaping full, and then sprinkle the top with grated cheese, and let
brown well in a hot oven.
OAK HILL POTATOES
Butter a baking dish well, and place in it alternate layers of sliced
cold boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, seasoning each layer; then
pour over it a white sauce in which grated cheese is melted. Cover
the top of the dish with cracker crumbs, and brown in the oven.
HEILBRONN POTATOES
Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a deep saucepan, and when melted stir
into it, with a flat-ended wooden spoon, 2 tablespoons of flour and
let brown, then add 2 tablespoons of vinegar and use 2 cups of boiling
water or vegetable stock in making this into a smooth sauce. Add 1/2
an onion, sliced, 2 cloves, 2 allspice, a piece of thin lemon peel,
1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and let cook very slowly, stirring for
ten minutes. Then add more vegetable stock or boiling water to make a
thin sauce and strain it; return to the fire and add 5 or 6 parboiled
thinly sliced potatoes, 2 tablespoons of capers, and let cook slowly
for fifteen minutes, stirring frequently; then pour into the saucepan
1/2 cup of cream (sour preferred), and serve in a deep, hot dish.
SAVOURY POTATO CAKES
Chop 6 cold boiled potatoes, and crush with a potato masher (or
use cold mashed potato); add to them 1 tablespoon of mixed herbs,
1 teaspoon of chopped onions, pepper, salt, 1 tablespoon of melted
butter, and 1 beaten egg; mould into flat cakes, and put in a frying
pan containing 1 tablespoon of melted butter; brown, and turn with
a pancake turner to brown the other side.
POTATO HASH
Put 8 cold boiled potatoes and 2 medium-sized onions in a chopping
bowl and chop them fine. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large
frying pan, place the potatoes and onion in it, and smooth the top
even with a fork. Season well with salt and pepper and put over a
moderately hot fire, shaking the pan vigorously from time to time to
keep the hash from burning. If it is shaken instead of being stirred
it will brown well on the bottom. Turn out onto a hot serving dish,
with the browned part on top, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
POTATO OMELET
Butter a frying pan with 1 teaspoon of butter, and cover the bottom of
the pan with sliced cold boiled potatoes laid flat; let these fry a
few moments, then pour over them 2 well-beaten eggs and 1 tablespoon
of chopped parsley or chives, season well with salt and pepper,
and turn from the pan when browned.
CURRIED POTATOES
Chop 1 good-sized onion very fine, and fry in 2 tablespoons of butter
until transparent and cooked, but not brown; then remove most of the
onion with a strainer, pressing the juice from it into the butter,
and put in 4 or 5 sliced cold boiled potatoes; sprinkle some curry
powder and salt and pepper over them and fry, turning them frequently
until done. The amount of curry can vary from 1 to 2 teaspoons.
POTATO FRICASSEE
Put in a saucepan 1 generous tablespoon of butter and 1 cup of milk;
when hot add some cold potatoes cut in dice, season with pepper, salt,
and a few drops of onion juice. Let them get thoroughly hot, then
add the beaten yolks of 2 eggs, stir constantly until thick. Great
care must be taken not to let it cook too long or the sauce will
curdle. Add a little chopped parsley before serving.
POTATOES RENNEQUIN
Boil 6 potatoes, peel them, and let them dry in a warm place on
the stove.
Put 1 tablespoon of butter into a saucepan, and when partly melted
slice the potatoes into it. Now add 1 tablespoon of water, some salt,
pepper, and 1 tablespoon of minced parsley; let it become thoroughly
heated, then add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and serve very hot.
POTATOES AND CHEESE
Mince or chop fine 5 or 6 peeled raw potatoes, and toss in a saucepan
with 2 tablespoons of butter until cooked. Place a layer of these
in a buttered baking dish, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle
with grated cheese; then add another layer of potatoes, and proceed
thus until the dish is full. Pour melted butter over and let brown
in the oven.
ESCALLOPED POTATO AND ONION
Peel and slice very thinly 5 or 6 medium-sized potatoes and 3 or
4 onions, and arrange them in layers in a buttered baking dish,
dotting them with butter, and sprinkling with pepper and salt. Over
all pour 1/2 cup of milk, or enough to dampen well, and almost cover,
and set the dish in a shallow pan containing a little water, and let
the escallop cook slowly for about an hour, keeping it covered for
the first half-hour, and uncovered afterward to brown. Serve in the
baking dish.
NEW POTATOES IN BUTTER
Scrub small new potatoes with a stiff brush, and boil or steam them
for twenty-five minutes, and serve them with melted butter to which
a teaspoon or more of finely chopped parsley has been added.
CREAMED NEW POTATOES
Scrub small new potatoes with a stiff brush which will remove the
skins, and boil or steam them about twenty-five minutes; then cover
them with a highly seasoned white sauce.
BAKED NEW POTATOES
Scrub the skin from small new potatoes, and cook in salted boiling
water about twenty minutes or until tender. Make a white sauce of 1
tablespoon of flour, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1 cup of milk seasoned
highly with salt and pepper, and, after arranging the boiled potatoes
in a baking dish or casserole, pour the sauce over them, and on the
top of all pour 1 well-beaten egg. Put the dish in the oven and let it
stay just long enough to set the egg. Sprinkle with chopped parsley
before sending to the table. If preferred the egg can be added to
the white sauce instead of being put on top.
MOCK NEW POTATOES
Peel the required number of large old potatoes, and with a Parisian
potato cutter cut them into small balls; drop these in boiling water,
and when done cover with a highly seasoned white sauce, to which is
added a very little chopped parsley.
BOILED SWEET POTATOES
As the skin of sweet potatoes does not come off well after cooking
it is best to peel them before baking or boiling.
Select large sweet potatoes, put them in boiling water, and let them
boil from half to three quarters of an hour. Peel them and arrange
them in a hot dish, with 1/2 cup of melted butter poured over them.
BAKED SWEET POTATOES
Wash and peel the sweet potatoes and put them in the oven. A
medium-sized potato will take about forty minutes to bake.
MASHED SWEET POTATOES
Peel and boil 6 or 7 sweet potatoes, drain off all the water, and
then mash with a wire potato-masher in the saucepan in which they
were cooked; mix with them while hot 2 tablespoons of good butter,
and dredge generously with salt, and serve very hot.
SWEET POTATO SOUFFLÉ
Mix with mashed sweet potatoes when slightly cooled the beaten yolks
of 2 eggs and then the stiff whites of the eggs. Heap in a buttered
baking dish and let brown in the oven.
ESCALLOPED SWEET POTATOES
Slice what will make 4 or 5 cups of cold boiled sweet potatoes,
butter a baking dish, and arrange a layer of potatoes in the bottom,
making it an inch thick. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dot well
with butter. Then arrange another layer, proceed as before, and so
on until the dish is filled. Then pour over all 1/2 cup of water in
which 2 tablespoons of sugar are dissolved. Put the dish in the oven,
and in ten minutes baste with 2 tablespoons of water. Let cook five
minutes more or until browned on top.
STUFFED SWEET POTATOES
Bake in their skins the number of potatoes required, cut them in half,
scoop out the inside, and mix with chopped celery, and minced onion,
and melted butter, allowing 1 tablespoon of celery and 1/2 teaspoon of
onion to each potato. Season with salt and pepper, refill the skins,
and let brown in the oven.
SOUTHERN SWEET POTATO PIE
Bake 4 large sweet potatoes, then scrape the inside from them, and beat
into it lightly with a fork 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of
sugar, 3 well-beaten eggs, 1 cup of warm milk, a saltspoon of salt,
and a pinch of mixed spice. Line a baking dish with pastry, fill with
the potato, and bake for twenty minutes.
TEXAS SWEET POTATO PIE
Boil 4 or 5 sweet potatoes for half an hour or until cooked. Line
a large baking dish with pie-crust, slice the potatoes lengthwise
while still hot, and put a layer of them on the crust, and cover this
with long strips of pastry. Sprinkle with sugar, dot with butter,
and add a little nutmeg; then place another layer of potato, and
another of pastry, and so on, until the dish is nearly filled. Pour
on enough boiling water to almost fill the dish, and cover the top
with pastry like any deep pie, cutting it here and there to let the
steam escape. Bake for about twenty minutes, or until the crust is
a little browned.
MARYLAND SWEET POTATOES
Peel 6 or 8 medium-sized sweet potatoes, quarter them lengthwise,
and lay them in a large saucepan having rounded sides. Add to the
potatoes 2 heaping tablespoons of butter, and 3 heaping tablespoons of
granulated sugar, and 2 or 3 tablespoons of water, and stir until the
sugar and butter are dissolved. Cover closely and let them cook for
four or five minutes undisturbed, then stir again with a wooden spoon,
being careful to see that the syrup is not sticking on the bottom,
re-cover, and from now on let cook only a couple of moments at a time
before again stirring. The water will of course soon cook away; let
the potatoes cook rapidly in the hot syrup until they begin to soften,
then put them where the fire is less hot, and let them cook slowly
until done. The entire cooking should not take more than fifteen
or twenty minutes, and the thick brown sauce should be thoroughly
scraped from the saucepan and served over the sweet potatoes.
CANDIED SWEET POTATOES
Lay pared sweet potatoes cut in slices in a buttered baking dish
with a cover. Sprinkle each layer with brown sugar, salt and pepper
and cinnamon, and dot with bits of butter. Pour in 1/2 cup of boiling
water for 1/2 dozen potatoes and baste while cooking. Cook moderately
until tender, from half an hour to three quarters, depending on the
heat of the oven. The cinnamon can be omitted if not liked.
GRIDDLED SWEET POTATOES
Cut cold boiled sweet potatoes in slices, lengthwise, and lay them
on a buttered griddle; when browned on one side turn with a pancake
turner and brown the other side. Sprinkle with salt and serve very hot.
FRIED SWEET POTATOES
Cut cold boiled sweet potatoes in half-inch squares and fry them in
melted butter. Salt well, and stir with a knife, and let brown as
much as possible without burning.
FRENCH-FRIED SWEET POTATOES
Cut cold boiled sweet potatoes in sixths, lengthwise, place in a frying
basket, and fry for about five minutes, or until well browned. Drain
and sprinkle with salt.
GLAZED SWEET POTATOES
Let sweet potatoes boil until nearly done, then drain and cool. When
cold cut them in inch-thick slices, or into rounds with a patent
cutter, mix them well with melted butter and sugar, using 2 tablespoons
of sugar to each 1/2 cup of butter, and put them in a deep dish in
a hot oven for ten minutes, or until well browned.
CREAMED SALSIFY (OYSTER PLANT)
Remove the tops from 2 bunches of salsify, scrape and cut to shape,
and put in a bowl of cold water containing some lemon juice, to
retain the whiteness. Drain and put in boiling water, using enough
to cover it, and let cook about three quarters of an hour, salting
the water during the last half-hour's boiling. Drain and serve with
highly seasoned white sauce or parsley sauce made with the water in
which the salsify cooked, with the addition of a little milk or cream.
ENGLISH SALSIFY
Boil salsify as directed above, drain, and serve with bread sauce,
serving fine browned bread crumbs with the sauce.
SALSIFY IN COQUILLES
Boil the salsify as directed, and press through a sieve; then beat
into it 1 tablespoon of butter, season highly, arrange in buttered
coquilles or ramekins, sprinkle grated cheese over the top, and let
brown in the oven.
ESCALLOPED SALSIFY
Boil salsify as directed, not letting it quite finish cooking;
slice, and arrange in buttered baking dish, with layers of slightly
browned crumbs dotted with butter, and sprinkled with pepper, salt,
and paprika. Pour 1/2 cup of milk or cream over to dampen, then cover
the top with crumbs, and bake about fifteen minutes. An egg can be
beaten with the milk to make the dish richer if wanted.
MASHED BLACK SALSIFY (SCHWARZWURZEL)
Proceed as with ordinary salsify, except that it is best not to peel
or cut this sort of salsify until after boiling. When boiled, peel,
and mash the white part, using 1 tablespoon of cream to each cup of
salsify, 1 teaspoon of butter, pepper, and salt. Arrange in individual
dishes or cases with crumbs on top, and bake ten minutes to brown.
FRIED SALSIFY TARTARE
Use cold boiled salsify, cut in any shape desired, dip in egg and
crumbs, and fry in hot fat until browned. Drain well, dredge with salt,
and serve with sauce Tartare.
SPINACH
Spinach should be well picked over, leaf by leaf, and washed in
several different waters, and changed to a different pan each time it
is washed, that the sand may be left behind with each washing. Then
put it in a large kettle, with a scant cup of water for a peck of
spinach, and let it cook over a slow fire until tender; in this way
its own juices will be extracted, and it will be more tasty than if
cooked in water. It should be then drained and chopped extremely fine,
or until as nearly a pulp as possible, and then mashed in a mortar or
with a potato-masher. It is then ready to prepare in any way desired
for the table.
Delicious spinach can be had canned, and if this is used it needs only
to be very finely chopped and mashed, then seasoned, and prepared in
any of the following ways.
GERMAN SPINACH
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and in it let simmer
for ten minutes 1 good-sized onion that has been finely chopped,
then add 4 cups of the boiled, chopped, and mashed spinach to it,
and stir well together, and season thoroughly with salt and pepper;
finish with 1/2 teaspoon of grated nutmeg, and 1 or 2 tablespoons of
whipped cream, and pile high in a heated dish, covering the top with
the chopped whites and riced yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs.
SPINACH WITH WHITE SAUCE
Prepare as in the above recipe, using, instead of the cream, 1/2 cup
of highly seasoned white sauce, and at the last add the juice of 1
lemon or 1 tablespoon of reduced vinegar.
GERMAN SPINACH WITH RHUBARB