POTATOE PASTE. Pound some boiled potatoes very fine, and while warm, add b.u.t.ter 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 b.u.t.ter. 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 b.u.t.ter, 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 b.u.t.ter, another egg, with sweetmeats and almonds. If the pudding is to be baked with meat, boil the potatoes and mash them. Rub the ma.s.s 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 b.u.t.ter, and as much milk as will make them pa.s.s 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 b.u.t.tered.
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 coa.r.s.e 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 quant.i.ty 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 subst.i.tute for it. It gives a fulness on the palate to gravies and sauces at hardly any expense, and is often used to thicken melted b.u.t.ter instead of flour. Being perfectly tasteless, it will not alter the flavour of the most delicate broth or gruel.
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 quant.i.ty 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 b.u.t.ter, and salt, of each a proportion to the quant.i.ty 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 b.u.t.ter, 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 b.u.t.ter, 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 pa.s.s 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 quant.i.ty 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, b.u.t.ter some clean scallop sh.e.l.ls, 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 b.u.t.ter 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 sh.e.l.ls, 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.
POTTED BEEF. Take two pounds of lean beef, rub it with saltpetre, and let it lie one night. Then lay on common salt, and cover it with water four days in a small pan. Dry it with a cloth, season it with black pepper, lay it into as small a pan as will hold it, cover it with coa.r.s.e paste, but put in no liquor, and bake it five hours in a very cool oven.
When cold, pick out the strings and fat. Beat the meat very fine, with a quarter of a pound of fine b.u.t.ter just warm, but not oiled, and as much of the gravy as will make it into a paste. Put it into very small pots, and cover them with clarified b.u.t.ter.--Another way. Take beef that has been dressed, either boiled or roasted; beat it in a mortar with some pepper and salt, a few cloves, grated nutmeg, and a little fine b.u.t.ter just warm. This eats as well as the former, but the colour is not so fine. It is however a good way for using the remains of a large joint.
POTTED BIRDS. Having cleaned them nicely, rub every part well with a seasoning of white pepper and salt, mace and allspice in fine powder.
Put them in a pan, lay on some b.u.t.ter, cover it with a paste of coa.r.s.e flour, and a paper tied closely over. When baked and grown cold, cut them into pieces proper for helping, pack them close into a large potting-pan, and leave as little s.p.a.ce as possible to receive the b.u.t.ter. Cover them with b.u.t.ter, and one third less will be wanted than when the birds are done whole.
POTTED CHEESE. Cut and pound four ounces of Cheshire cheese, one ounce and a half of fine b.u.t.ter, a tea-spoonful of white powdered sugar, a little bit of mace, and a gla.s.s of white wine. Press it down in a deep pot.
POTTED DAMSONS. Weigh the damsons, and wipe them dry one by one, allowing one pound of fine sugar to three pounds of fruit. Spread a little of the sugar at the bottom of the jar, then a layer of fruit, and so on till the jar is full. Then add three or four spoonfuls of water, tie it down close, and put it several times into a cool oven.
POTTED DRIPPING. Boil six pounds of good beef dripping in soft water, strain it into a pan, and let it stand to cool. Take off the hard fat, sc.r.a.pe off the gravy, and repeat it several times. When the fat is cold and hard, put it into a saucepan with six bay leaves, six cloves, half a pound of salt, and a quarter of a pound of whole pepper. Let the fat be entirely melted; and when it has cooled a little, strain it through a sieve into the pot, and tie it down. Turn the pot upside down, that no rats or mice may get at it, and it will keep a long time, and make good puff paste, or crust for puddings.
POTTED HARE. An old hare will do well for this purpose, likewise for soup and pie. After seasoning it, bake it with b.u.t.ter. When cold, take the meat from the bones, and beat it in a mortar. If not high enough, add salt, mace, pepper, and a piece of fresh b.u.t.ter melted in a spoonful or two of gravy that came from the hare. When well mixed, put it into small pots, and cover it with b.u.t.ter. The legs and back should be baked at the bottom of the jar, to keep them moist, and the bones be put over them.
POTTED HERRINGS. Scale, clean, and season them well. Bake them in a pan with spice, bay leaves, and some b.u.t.ter. When cold, lay them in a potting pot, and cover them over with b.u.t.ter. They are very fine for a supper dish.
POTTED LOBSTERS. Half boil them, pick out the meat, cut it into small pieces, season with mace, white pepper, nutmeg, and salt. Press it close into a pot, and cover it with b.u.t.ter; bake it half an hour, and then put in the sp.a.w.n. When cold take out the lobster, and put it into pots with a little of the b.u.t.ter. Beat the rest of the b.u.t.ter in a mortar, with some of the sp.a.w.n, mix the coloured b.u.t.ter with as much as will be sufficient to cover the pots, and strain it. Cayenne may be added, if approved.--Another way. Take out the meat as whole as possible, split the tail, and remove the gut; and if the inside be not watery, it may be added. Season with mace, nutmeg, white pepper, salt, and a clove or two, in the finest powder. Lay a little fine b.u.t.ter at the bottom of the pan, and the lobster smooth over it, with bay leaves between; cover it with b.u.t.ter, and bake it gently. When done, pour the whole on the bottom of a sieve; and with a fork lay the pieces into potting pots, some of each sort, with the seasoning about it. When cold, pour clarified b.u.t.ter over, but not hot. It will be good the next day; but if highly seasoned, and well covered with b.u.t.ter, it will keep some time. Potted lobster may be used cold, or as a frica.s.see, with a cream sauce. It then looks very nicely, and eats well, especially if there is sp.a.w.n. Mackarel, herrings, and trout, are good potted in the same way.
POTTED MACKEREL. Clean, season, and bake them in a pan with spice, bay leaves, and some b.u.t.ter. When cold, lay them in a pot for potting, and cover them over with b.u.t.ter.
POTTED MOOR GAME. Pick, singe, and wash the birds nicely. Dry and season them pretty high, inside and out, with pepper, mace, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Pack them in as small a pot as will hold them, cover them with b.u.t.ter, and bake in a very slow oven. When cold, take off the b.u.t.ter, dry them from the gravy, and put one bird into each pot, which should just fit. Add as much more b.u.t.ter as will cover them, but take care that it be not oiled. The best way to melt it is, by warming it in a bason placed in a bowl of hot water.
POTTED PARTRIDGE. Clean them nicely, and season with mace, allspice, white pepper, and salt, all in fine powder. Rub every part well, then lay the breast downwards in a pan, and pack the birds as close as possible. Put a good deal of b.u.t.ter on them, cover the pan with a paste of coa.r.s.e flour and a paper over, tie it close and bake it. When cold, put the birds into pots, and cover them with b.u.t.ter. The b.u.t.ter that has covered potted things will serve for basting, or for paste for meat pies.
POTTED PIGEONS. Let them be quite fresh, clean them carefully, and season them with salt and pepper. Lay them close in a small deep pan; for the smaller the surface, and the closer they are packed, the less b.u.t.ter will be wanted. Cover them with b.u.t.ter, then with very thick paper tied down, and bake them. When cold, put them dry into pots that will hold two or three in each, and pour b.u.t.ter over them, using that which was baked in part. If they are to be kept, the b.u.t.ter should be laid pretty thick over them. If pigeons were boned, and then put in an oval form into the pot, they would lie closer, and require less b.u.t.ter.
They may be stuffed with a fine forcemeat made with veal, bacon, and the other ingredients, and then they will eat very fine. If a high flavour is preferred, add mace, allspice, and a little cayenne, before baking.