Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume II Part 25

POTATO PATTIES (Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 c. mashed potato 1 egg Fine bread crumbs

To the mashed potatoes that have been well seasoned, add the egg and mix thoroughly. Shape into flat, round patties and roll in the bread crumbs. Melt fat in a frying pan, place the patties in it, saute on one side until brown, and then turn and brown on the other side. Serve hot.

83. FRENCH FRIED POTATOES.--Many families are deprived of French fried potatoes because the majority of housewives think they are difficult to prepare. This, however, is not the case, for when the procedure is understood nothing is easier.

Peel the required number of potatoes and cut them into the desired shape. Great variety exists in the method of cutting potatoes for this purpose. However, the form that is usually thought of when French fried potatoes are mentioned is the one obtained by cutting the potatoes into pieces like the sections of an orange and then cutting these sections lengthwise into smaller pieces, like those shown at _b_, Fig. 17. Pieces like those shown at _c_, called _shoestring potatoes_, are also popular.

As soon as cut, in no matter what shape, drop the pieces into cold water, but when ready to fry, remove them from the water and dry on a clean dry towel. Place in a wire basket and lower the basket into a pan of hot fat. Fry until the potatoes are nicely browned, remove from the fat, drain, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve at once.

84. POTATOES AU GRATIN.--Something a little unusual in the way of a potato dish is produced when potatoes are combined with cheese, bread crumbs, and a cream sauce to make potatoes au gratin. In addition to supplying flavor, these ingredients increase the food value of the potatoes so that a highly nutritious dish is the result.

POTATOES AU GRATIN (Sufficient to Serve Six)

3 c. diced cooked potatoes 1/2 c. grated cheese 1/2 c. bread crumbs 1-1/2 c. thin white sauce

Grease a baking dish, place 1/2 of the potatoes in the bottom of the dish, and sprinkle over them 1/2 of the crumbs and then 1/2 of the cheese. Put the remainder of the potatoes in the dish, sprinkle with the rest of the cheese, pour the hot white sauce over all, and place the remaining crumbs on top. Set the dish in a hot oven and bake until well heated through and brown on top.

85. LYONNAISE POTATOES.--When sauted potatoes are flavored with onion and parsley, they are known as Lyonnaise potatoes. As they are very appetizing, potatoes prepared in this way are relished by most persons.

LYONNAISE POTATOES (Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 Tb. b.u.t.ter or ham or bacon fat 1/2 tsp. salt 1 medium-sized onion, chopped Dash of pepper 2 Tb. parsley 3 c. diced cooked potatoes

Melt the fat in a frying pan, and add the onion, parsley, salt, and pepper. When the fat is hot, add the potatoes, which should be diced, like those shown at _d_, Fig. 17, and allow them to saute until slightly brown. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Serve hot.

86. SCALLOPED POTATOES.--Many vegetables may be scalloped, but potatoes seem to lend themselves to this form of preparation to good advantage.

Potatoes prepared in this way are suitable for luncheon, supper, or a home dinner.

Wash and peel the desired number of potatoes and slice them thin. Place a layer in the bottom of a well-greased baking dish, sprinkle lightly with flour, salt, and pepper, and dot with b.u.t.ter. Add another layer of potatoes, sprinkle again with flour, salt, and pepper, and dot with b.u.t.ter. Continue in this way until the dish is filled. Pour a sufficient quant.i.ty of milk over the whole to cover well. Place a cover over the dish, set in a hot oven, and bake for about 1/2 hour. Then remove the cover and allow the potatoes to continue baking until they can be easily pierced with a fork and the surface is slightly brown. Serve hot from the baking dish.

87. CREAMED POTATOES.--A very good way in which to utilize left-over boiled potatoes is to dice them and then serve them with a cream sauce.

If no cooked potatoes are on hand and creamed potatoes are desired, potatoes may, of course, be boiled especially for this purpose. When this is done, it is well to cook the potatoes in the skins, for they remain intact better and have a better flavor.

Cut up potatoes that are to be creamed into half-inch dice, like those shown at _d_, Fig. 17. Make a thin white sauce, pour it over the potatoes until they are well moistened, and allow the potatoes to simmer in this sauce for a few minutes. If desired, chopped parsley may be added to the sauce to improve the flavor. Serve hot.

88. POTATO b.a.l.l.s.--If a potato dish is desired for a meal that is to be dainty in every respect, potato b.a.l.l.s should be tried. These are small b.a.l.l.s of uniform size, like those shown at _e_, Fig. 17, cut from raw potatoes by means of a French cutter, as shown in Fig. 18, cooked until tender, and then dressed with a cream sauce or in any other way. As will be observed, much of the potato remains after all the b.a.l.l.s that can be cut from it are obtained. This should not be wasted, but should be boiled and then mashed or prepared in any other desirable way.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 18]

Wash and peel the potatoes that are to be used, and then from each potato cut with a French cutter all the b.a.l.l.s possible. When a sufficient number have been obtained, boil them until tender in boiling salted water and then drain. Make a thin cream sauce, add the potatoes to this, and heat together thoroughly. Serve hot.

89. POTATO CROQUETTES.--Left-over mashed potatoes can be utilized in no better way than to make croquettes. Of course, if potato croquettes are desired and no potatoes are on hand, it will be necessary to cook potatoes and mash them especially for this purpose. Croquettes made according to the accompanying recipe will be found a delightful addition to the menu. They are often served plain, but are much improved by a medium white sauce or a gravy.

POTATO CROQUETTES (Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 c. mashed potatoes 2 Tb. chopped parsley 1 Tb. onion juice 1 tsp. celery salt 2 eggs Dry bread crumbs

To the mashed potatoes, add the parsley, onion juice, and celery salt and mix thoroughly. Beat the eggs slightly, reserve a small amount to be diluted with water or milk for dipping the croquettes, and add the rest to the potatoes. Shape the mixture into oblong croquettes of uniform size and shape. Roll each in the crumbs, then in the diluted egg, and again in the crumbs. Fry in deep hot fat until an even brown in color.

Remove from the fat, drain, and serve. 90. POTATO PUFF.--Mashed potato combined with egg, seasoned well, and baked in the oven makes a very appetizing dish known as potato puff. This is suitable for any meal at which potatoes would be served.

POTATO PUFF (Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 c. mashed potato 1/2 tsp. celery salt 1 egg

To the mashed potato, add the celery salt. Separate the egg, beat the yolk, and mix it with the potato. Beat the white stiff and fold it into the potato last. Pile into a b.u.t.tered baking dish, set in a hot oven, and bake until the potato is thoroughly heated through and the surface is brown. Serve at once.

SWEET POTATOES

91. SWEET POTATOES are used for practically the same purposes as white potatoes, and while these vegetables resemble each other in many respects they are not related botanically, sweet potatoes being root rather than tuber vegetables. Sweet potatoes are of a tropical nature and have been cultivated for hundreds of years in the West Indies and Central America. They form a staple article of diet in the southern part of the United States, where, on account of the warm climate, they are raised abundantly. They are not raised in the North; still they are consumed there in large quant.i.ties. After maturing, sweet potatoes are collected and dried in kilns before s.h.i.+pping. While this makes it possible for them to keep longer than if they were not dried, they do not keep so well as white potatoes and therefore cannot be stored in such large numbers. If they are to be kept for a considerable period of time, they should be wrapped separately in paper and stored in a cool, dry place.

92. Sweet potatoes vary considerably in size, shape, and quality. Some are short and blunt at the tips, others are long and cylindrical, either crooked or straight, while others are medium in size and spindle-shaped.

Some varieties, which are known as _yams_, cook moist and sugary, while others, which are simply called sweet potatoes, cook dry and mealy. The kind to select depends entirely on the individual taste, for in composition and food value all the varieties are similar. In composition, sweet potatoes resemble white ones, except that a part of their carbohydrate is in the form of sugar, which gives them their characteristic sweet taste, but in food value they are almost twice as great as white potatoes.

93. The preparation of sweet potatoes is similar to that of white potatoes, for they may be boiled, steamed, baked, mashed, creamed, fried, etc. In fact, they may be used at any time to take the place of white potatoes in the diet. A few recipes are here given for this vegetable, but any of those given under White Potatoes may also be used by merely subst.i.tuting sweet potatoes for the white potatoes specified.

94. BOILED SWEET POTATOES.--It is a very simple procedure to boil sweet potatoes. When they are to be prepared in this way, select potatoes of uniform size and either remove their skins or cook them with the skins on. If they are not peeled, scrub them perfectly clean. Put them to cook in boiling salted water and allow them to boil until they may be easily pierced with a fork. Drain the water from them, peel if cooked with their skins on, and serve hot with b.u.t.ter or gravy.

95. BAKED SWEET POTATOES.--Persons who are fond of sweet potatoes prefer them baked to any other method of preparation. Select medium-sized potatoes for this purpose, scrub thoroughly, and put in a hot oven to bake. Bake until they are soft enough to dent when pinched between the fingers. Remove from the oven and serve at once.

96. GLAZED SWEET POTATOES.--To increase the sweet taste characteristic of sweet potatoes and favored by many persons, a sweet sirup is sometimes added. When this is done, the potatoes are first boiled and then cut in half lengthwise and sauted. Sweet potatoes so prepared afford a pleasing variety in the diet.

Clean and peel the desired number of potatoes and boil them as already explained. Cut them in half lengthwise, so that each piece has a flat side. Melt fat in a frying pan, add the halves of sweet potato, and fry until slightly brown. Then turn and fry on the reverse side. About 10 or 15 minutes before removing from the pan, pour a small quant.i.ty of mola.s.ses or a mixture of sugar and water over the potatoes, and allow them to cook in this sirup until they are well covered with the sweet substance. Remove from the pan and serve at once. 97. MASHED SWEET POTATOES.--Used alone without further preparation, mashed sweet potatoes make a very palatable dish. However, as in the case of mashed white potatoes, numerous appetizing dishes, such as croquettes, patties, etc., can be made of mashed sweet potatoes, whether left from a previous meal or cooked for this purpose. In the preparation of all such dishes, the recipes given under White Potatoes may be followed.

Peel the desired number of potatoes and cook them in boiling salted water until they may be readily pierced with a fork. Drain, force through a sieve or a ricer, and season with salt, pepper, and a small amount of b.u.t.ter. Thin the mixture with sufficient hot milk to make it of a stiff, mush-like consistency. Then beat vigorously until the potato is light and creamy. Serve hot.

RADISHES AND THEIR PREPARATION

98. RADISHES are a root vegetable used almost exclusively as a relish or to lend flavor to a vegetable-salad mixture. They are easily and successfully grown and are plentiful and cheap, except when they are out of season and must be raised in hothouses. Numerous varieties of radishes differing from one another in size, shape, and color are raised. The red ones are generally preferred, because they lend color to a dish or a meal, but the white and brown varieties are just as desirable so far as flavor is concerned.

99. Radishes contain very little food value, being about equal to celery and cuc.u.mbers in this respect. They do not supply anything valuable to a meal except mineral salts. Although some persons consider radishes difficult to digest, they contain almost nothing that has to be digested, for they are composed largely of cellulose, which does not digest, and water. Radishes disagree with some persons because, like onions and cabbage, they contain a strong volatile oil that gives them their flavor.

100. Since radishes are always eaten raw, they require very little in the way of preparation. The princ.i.p.al thing is to see that they are perfectly clean and as crisp as possible. To make them crisp, allow them to stand in cold water for some time before using them. Then remove the tops and the roots and scrub thoroughly with a vegetable brush. The small red radishes can be made very attractive by cutting the skin in sections to resemble the petals of a rose. When prepared in this way, a small portion of the green top is allowed to remain.

SALSIFY AND ITS PREPARATION

101. SALSIFY is a root vegetable resembling in food value such other root vegetables as carrots and parsnips. Because it has a flavor similar to that of oysters, especially when it is used for soup, it has received the name of _vegetable oyster_. It consists of long slender roots that are covered with tiny roots. It is somewhat difficult to clean and prepare, but as it may be stored through the entire winter and is particularly desirable for the making of soup, it is a valuable vegetable.

102. In preparing salsify for cooking, sc.r.a.pe the roots rather than peel them. Then put them in a solution of cold salt water made by using 1 teaspoonful of salt to each quart of water and keep them there until ready to cook them. This precaution will, to a certain extent, prevent the discoloration that always takes place in salsify as soon as the skin is removed. When thus prepared, salsify lends itself to the same forms of preparation as do the other root vegetables.

103. b.u.t.tERED SALSIFY.--The simplest way in which to cook salsify is to cut it in thin slices, boil it until tender, and then serve it with b.u.t.ter.

Wash and sc.r.a.pe the desired quant.i.ty of salsify and slice in thin slices. Put to cook in boiling salted water, and cook until it can be easily pierced with a fork. Drain off the water, season with pepper and, if necessary, additional salt, and add 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter for each four persons to be served. Allow the b.u.t.ter to melt and serve the salsify hot.

104. CREAMED VEGETABLE OYSTERS.--If creamed vegetables are favored, vegetable oysters served with a cream sauce will be very much relished.

Clean and sc.r.a.pe the salsify and cut it into 1/4-inch slices. Put to cook in boiling salted water, cook until tender, and then drain. Make a medium white sauce and pour this over the cooked vegetable. Heat together and serve. 105. SCALLOPED VEGETABLE OYSTERS.--A very appetizing scalloped dish can be made of salsify by following the directions given in the accompanying recipe.