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Left-Over Potatoes

STUDY all sorts of methods for making warmed-up potatoes good and so different that they will not taste alike twice. One day there may be a suspicion of onion about the dish, another the rich flavor given by a spoonful beef extract, a dash chives, parsley, cayenne, or celery, or they may appear au gratin with a delicate cheese flavor. Mashed potato may be warmed again or reappear in a dozen different ways.

There are a few rules to remember in the keeping of left-over potatoes.

Never put them hot into the refrigerator. Do not allow them to stand in an uncovered dish. They will acquire a tough, disagreeable skin, and are reduced to nothing by paring.

Use cold potatoes before they are two days old. In hot weather they will not keep more than twenty-four hours. The sense of smell will speedily reveal to you if they have soured. In hot weather use potatoes as often as possible in a salad. In this, too, seek variety. There are endless recipes for potato salads. Do not make a salad of old potatoes, the newer they are the more satisfactory the salad. In Germany, potatoes for a salad are always boiled in their skins, and it is a fact that they taste better than when pared before cooking. The neatest method for preparing them is to cut the potatoes into cubes about half an inch square or in tiny balls with a potato scoop. Do not cut them too thin or small. They break, and nothing looks more uninviting than a mushy potato salad. Potatoes absorb a great deal of dressing, and they ought to marinate at least an hour before being served.

One of the most acceptable of potato salads is a combination of potato and pickled beet with Worcestershire Sauce and onion juice. Another is made with finely sliced onions as a flavor, and a sprinkling of chopped tarragon, parsley, and chervil. A third has celery and chopped cabbage with minced pickle and a hard-boiled egg. Mushrooms and minced pickle are a favorite addition to a potato salad, while lettuce or celery enters into the make-up of others. There are a few things among vegetables that will combine well with potatoes.

Cold peas are good, so are tomatoes, green peppers, olives, asparagus, red cabbage, cauliflower, capers, turnips, carrots, cucumbers, or string beans.

Sometimes a relish is added to the potato salad by a few slices of salt salmon, several anchovies, or sardines. Sweet potatoes may be put through the potato ricer and converted into croquettes or a pudding or pie. They may be glazed with sugar and butter, warmed in cream, or make an excellent soufflé. Another way is to cut them in thick slices, dip in flour, egg, and crumbs, and fry in deep fat, or slice them into a fritter batter, and fry.

Delmonico Potatoes. 5 cold potatoes, 1 tablespoonful butter, 1 tablespoonful flour, 1 cupful milk, teaspoonful salt, Dust pepper, cupful grated cheese.

Cut the potatoes into fine dice, make a white sauce from the butter, flour, milk, and seasonings, and toss the potatoes lightly into the sauce.

Turn into a baking dish, sprinkle with MRS. CURTIS'S COOKBOOK grated cheese, and bake till light brown.