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The following recipes are taken from
The Pure Food Cook Book Good Housekeeping Recipes edited by Mildred
Maddocks, Introduction by Harvey W. Wiley M.D. 1915
JUST HOW TO COOK POTATOES
THE best way to cook potatoes is to bake them in their
jackets in an oven of 450 degrees to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. This seems
like a high temperature, but the potato inside does not get hotter than
212 degrees, and cooks by steam thoroughly. When the potato is taken out
of the oven it must be pricked or broken at once, to permit the escape
of the stem which has been generated in the cooking process, and which
if not given egress, will condense into water and make the potato soggy
and quite indigestible. If it is pricked with a fork it it best to warm
the prongs for a few seconds before using in the first potato, to
prevent, as much as possible, any condensation resulting from the hot
steam coming into contact with the cold metal of the fork. It is easy to
see that in this process there is no chance for loss and that if the
potato is scraped out well from the skin (where lie many of the potash
salts), pretty full potato value is secured. Never cut open a baked
potato; always break it or it will be not mealy, but soggy, and barely
fit to eat.
The next best method—in point of economy—is to cook by steaming. Although
the baking is a partial steaming process and actual steaming in the
jackets not only renders the potato deliciously palatable, but the
subsequent removal of the skins, before eating, if done carefully, does
not carry away much of the valuable mineral salts. Steaming takes a
little longer, but it is a good method of cooking, ensuring little waste
not only with potatoes, but with all vegetables.
The process of boiling brings with it the question of boiling in the
jackets, boiling without the jackets, the use of salt in the water, and
the temperature at which to start the potatoes. The most approved method
is that of boiling the potato in the jacket and of beginning the process
with hot water. This takes less time, and preserves the flavor. Potatoes
boiled without their jackets lose, of course, a great part of their
mineral salts and tissue-making material, and they lose also much of the
flavor which is imparted to them from the layer cut off in paring. If
salt be added after fifteen minutes, when the potatoes are about half
cooked, this may save some of the mineral matter and add a little to the
flavor of the potatoes.
Because potatoes are so lacking in fat, proteid, and mineral matter, it
has become an invariable rule, consciously or unconsciously to eat them
with meats, and to prepare them so as to introduce the food constituents
they lack. Thus creamed potatoes and potato au gratin introduce fat and
proteid, and make pretty well-proportioned dishes, though, of course, on
account of the superabundance of starch, such dishes are not adapted to
steady diet. Undoubtedly, like any other article of food the potato must
be prepared attractively. It must not only look well, but must has a
pleasant aroma.
Boiled Potatoes
Scrub the potatoes, scrape
them if desired, and put in hot water. Boil until tender. If the
potatoes are old and have become dry by evaporation it is sometimes wise
to soak them for a little while in cold water, or to start them over the
fire in cold water. Drain until dry, dust with salt, and cover with a
thick cloth until ready to serve; then serve with garnish of parsley.
Baked Potatoes
Scrub with a vegetable brush, put into hot
over (500 degrees Fahrenheit), and let cook until thoroughly soft,
(forty-five minutes, or longer if the potatoes are large). Turn the
potatoes occasionally to insure their baking evenly. Upon removal from
the oven, break the skins at once or thoroughly prick with a warm fork
prong to permit the escape of steam. Then wrap loosely in a napkin and
slip potatoes and napkin into a dish, and serve.
Potato, French Fried
Scrape three or four potatoes, wash them
thoroughly, and then cut into strips; wash them after they are cut, and
dry thoroughly in a cloth. Have ready a pan of very hot clarified fat;
put the potatoes into a frying-basket, plunge into the fat, and fry the
potatoes until they are brown and crisp. When done, drain, sprinkle with
salt, and serve on a folded napkin. This is sufficient for five persons
Savory Potatoes
Six or eight potatoes, two small onions, one
tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley, one heaping teaspoonful of
butter, half a teaspoonful of sale, one-fourth teaspoonful of white
pepper, half a cupful of milk, half-cupful of water, three heaping
tablespoonfuls grated cheese. Put the butter in bottom of saucepan. Pare
the potatoes thinly, chop onions and parsley, mix salt and pepper
together on a saucer. Cut the potatoes into slices and put a layer in
the saucepan. Sprinkle in a little seasoning, then onion and parsley.
Begin again with the potatoes and alternate. When all are used pour in
the water. Cover closely and cook gently for twenty minutes. Now pour in
the milk and allow it to cook for another fifteen minutes. Lift the
potatoes carefully on a flat dish, and strew the grated cheese over them
and brown in the oven. This dish may be cooked in a casserole.
Stuffed Potatoes
Bake the potatoes, and when they are done,
take out of the oven, cut them in halves, and scoop the potatoes out of
their jackets. Mash them until they are smooth with milk, butter,
paprika, and salt. Put them back again into their jackets, and put them
in the over for a few minutes to heat and brown on the top.
Anna Potatoes
Cut about eight cold cooked potatoes into thin
round slices, place them in a dish, sprinkle over them two
tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan or American cheese and two
tablespoonfuls of fresh bread crumbs; spread well over them a piece of
butter about the size of a nut, then place the dish in the oven. After
ten minutes, when a golden brown, serve. This can be made in as many
layers as desired. Paprika, if desired, adds flavor to this.
Nut-Filled Potatoes
Bake until soft and mealy six good-sized potatoes,
prick to let off steam, and then cut directly in halves where they were
pricked, and with a sharp spoon remove the pulp from the skins, turning
into a warmed mixing-bowl; mash thoroughly, adding a small cupful of
rich milk or cream, salt and paprika to taste, one tablespoonful of
minced parsley, one tablespoonful of melted butter, a pinch of poultry
seasoning, and a small cupful of nut meats that have been passed through
the meat chopper; beat with a fork until very light and creamy and
return to shells, which, after dusting, with browned bread crumbs, are
placed in a hot oven for ten minutes to crisp and brown; serve garnished
with small bunches of parsley.
Stuffed Potatoes with Cheese
Bake until soft five or six medium-sized
potatoes, and with a sharp knife cut directly in halves, carefully
removing the cooked potatoes into a mixing bowl; now mash with a potato
masher, and when free from lumps, add a teaspoonful of butter, one
teaspoonful of minced parsley, half a cupful of rich milk, one small
cupful of grated cheese, and salt and pepper to taste; beat with a fork
until light and creamy and heap into the potato skins, dusting the tops
with grated cheese, and return to the oven until crisp and brown on top.
Serve very hot.
Chantilly Potatoes
Prepare some nicely seasoned, light, mashed
potatoes, and mound on a platter. Beat one-half cupful of cream until
stiff, add one-half cupful of soft cheese, grated and seasoned with salt
and paprika. Pile lightly onto the potato and set on the top grate of
the oven until the surface if nicely browned. Be sure that the oven is
very hot.
Molded Potatoes
Press
left-over mashed potatoes into baking-powder cans and chill. Slice in
neat rounds, lay on a buttered dripping-pan in the oven, and bake till
they become puffy and a delicate brown. Serve with broiled steak as a
garnish.
Potato Puff Add to
two cupfuls of hot mashed potatoes, two tablespoonfuls of butter, two
well-beaten eggs, one-half cupful of milk, salt and pepper to taste. Put
in a deep buttered baking-dish, and bake about twenty minutes in hot
oven.
Potatoes Rissolées
New potatoes, or old ones which are cut down to the size of new ones,
may be treated as follows: Fry in deep fat until a golden brown,
sprinkle with salt, and place in a pan; set in the oven until the
potatoes are soft throughout. They may be served with or without a cream
sauce.
Potato Puffs Season
two cupfuls of cold mashed potatoes with salt, pepper, celery salt, and
chopped parsley. Add the beaten yolk of one egg and sufficient flour to
make it of the consistency to roll on a well-floured board. It should be
one-half inch thick. Cut in circles four inches in diameter; place one
tablespoonful or more of well-seasoned, chopped cold meat, moistened
slightly with gravy or stock, upon one-half of each, moisten edges with
cold water, fold, press together, and fry in deep fat. Serve hot.
Mint Potatoes
Wash small potatoes and rub off the skins with
a coarse towel, or pare and scrape them. Put into boiling water with
sprigs of mint sufficient to flavor them well; and cook until done,
drain, and serve with drawn butter.
Mashed White Potatoes and Turnips
Prepare as mashed potatoes, adding an equal
quantity of boiled and masked turnips. Add three tablespoonfuls of
butter to each pint of potato and turnip, with salt and pepper to taste.
Fried Potatoes with Spanish
Sauce Chop fine some
cold boiled potatoes. Season and sauté in hot fat until golden brown.
Fold over like an omelet, slip on a platter, and pour over the potatoes
the following sauce: Boil together for ten minutes, one-half can of
tomatoes, one-half can of shredded pimientoes, and one-half can of
button mushrooms. Season with salt, butter, and paprika or pepper.
Thicken with two tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed to a cream with two
tablespoonfuls of butter. Add to the sauce, cook until smoothly
thickened, stirring all the time. If liked, a little chopped onion may
be used as an additional seasoning.
Potato Chowder
Cut a slice of pork into small dice, fry to a
light brown in a soup kettle. Then add three medium-sized potatoes and
one onion, put through the meat chopper, or slice in small bits. Add
pepper and salt and dredge over a little flour, cover with water and
simmer until the vegetables are tender. Then add a pint and a half of
hot milk. Let it all come to a boil, add a small piece of butter, and
serve with toasted crackers. A tomato cut in small dice, or a little
left-over stewed tomatoes, may be added. |
