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Potato Pot
Take an earthen jar with a closely-fitting lid, put into it, till it is a quarter full, beef or mutton, cut into convenient-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Cut one or two onions into thin slices-the number being regulated by taste. Lay these over the meat, and fill the dish with peeled potatoes of uniform size. Sprinkle a little salt and flour over these, pour in a cupful of water, or, better still, stock, put the lid on the jar, and bake in a moderate oven. When the potatoes are done enough, lift them carefully out with a spoon so as not to break them. Place them round a dish, put the meat into the centre, pour the gravy over all, and serve very hot. Underdone cold meat may be used for this recipe, though, of course, fresh meat will be nicer. Time, according to the size and quality of the potatoes. If more convenient, the jar can be closely covered, set in a saucepan of water, and stewed for about an hour after the water reaches the point of boiling. Plenty of time should be allowed, as the potatoes are better cooked slowly. Probable cost of potatoes, 1d. or 1 1/2d. per pound. Sufficient, a pie with two pounds of potatoes for three or four persons.
A one-pot bake of the Lancashire hotpot family, written for an earthenware jar rather than a casserole dish. It works well in a modern lidded Dutch oven or a deep stoneware pot with a tight lid.
- The hinge: slow and sealedThe whole point is a tight lid and a long, gentle bake, so the potatoes steam in meat vapour rather than drying or collapsing. If your lid is loose, seal the rim with foil before putting it on.
- Moderate ovenRead "a moderate oven" as 325-350F. Given the small amount of liquid and the tough cuts, the lower end for longer is the better choice.
- TimingThe book gives no fixed time, saying only "Time, according to the size and quality of the potatoes," and to allow plenty of it. For stewing beef or mutton shoulder cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces, allow 2 to 2 1/2 hours at 325F; the potatoes will be done well before the meat is tender, which is why slow cooking matters.
- The water-bath versionStanding the covered jar in a saucepan of water is a water bath, and the recipe allows about an hour from the moment the water boils. An hour will not render raw fresh stewing meat tender, so in practice this route suits the "underdone cold meat" option, or else needs considerably longer.
- Cut of meatUse chuck, shin, or mutton/lamb shoulder or neck. Modern lean cuts have too little collagen and will go stringy in a dry, lightly moistened pot.
- Cold cooked meat"Underdone cold meat" means leftover rare roast. If you use it, cut it thick and add it partway through so it only heats and flavours the pot rather than boiling to threads.
- PotatoesUniform size is not decorative advice: they are lifted out whole at the end. Choose a waxy or all-purpose variety, since floury potatoes will break under the spoon.
- Liquid and seasoningA "cupful" here is not a standardised measure; take it as somewhere between 8 and 10 fl oz, and stock genuinely is better since almost no other liquid enters the pot. The flour sprinkled over the potatoes is what thickens the gravy, so do not omit it.
- YieldTwo pounds of potatoes with the proportionate meat serves three or four, as stated. The meat only needs to fill the jar a quarter full, so the proportion of meat to potato is low; judge the quantity by the vessel rather than by weight.
This is the plain cousin of Lancashire hotpot: meat at the bottom, onions, potatoes on top, one measure of liquid, a lid, and hours in a slow oven. A closed earthen jar suited cooking that needed little watching, whether in a range oven or a bread oven. The recipe quotes a probable cost for the potatoes, and the penny to penny-halfpenny a pound points to a dish aimed at the economical end of the household. The instruction to use up "underdone cold meat" belongs to the same thrift, the reworking of a joint across several meals.