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Some Kitchen Kinks: Potatoes

Potatoes cooked in dry heat, as by baking in the oven, roasting in ashes, frying in deep fat, or steaming in their jackets retain all their salts and other constituents, and the flavor is more pronounced and savory than when cooked in water. But potatoes so cooked must be served just as soon as they are done, or else they will become soggy and bad flavored.

Potatoes cooked in the skin should be free from any blemish and washed absolutely clean. Old potatoes, that is, potatoes that are kept into the spring and early summer, are better for being soaked in cold water and peeled before cooking.

Boiled Potatoes.

The method and the time given for boiling potatoes are the same whether the potato be peeled, partially peeled, or left with the skin intact. If a dozen or two ordinary sized potatoes are put on the fire in a large stewpan and are covered generously with boiling water and a cover is immediately put on the stewpan, they will be cooked to the proper point in thirty minutes from the time the cover was put on the stewpan. Small potatoes will cook in two minutes less time, and very large potatoes will require about thirty-five minutes' cooking. If the potatoes are to be boiled in their skins, wash them until clean and then with a sharp knife cut a narrow band of the skin from the APPENDIX center of the potato. Cut a little bit of the skin from each end of the potato. If the potatoes are to be peeled use a very sharp knife and remove the thinnest possible layer.

The skins may be scraped off, if preferred, and there are special knives for this purpose. Let the potatoes boil fifteen minutes, then add 1 tablespoonful of salt for every dozen potatoes. When the potatoes have been cooking thirty minutes, drain off every drop of water and let all the steam pass off. They are now ready to serve, though they will not be injured but in fact will be improved by being kept hot for an hour or more, if they are well ventilated in such a way that they dry rather than retain moisture.

When boiled or steamed potatoes must be kept warm for any length of time, place the stewpan on the range on a tripod or iron ring and cover the potatoes with one thickness of cheese cloth. This will protect them from the cold air and allow the moisture to pass off.

Steamed Potatoes.

Steamed potatoes are prepared as for boiling, put in a closed vessel having a perforated bottom, which is then put over a kettle of boiling water. The water must be kept boiling hard every moment. They will require from thirty to forty minutes to cook.

Baked Potatoes.

Select potatoes having a smooth, unmarred surface. Wash perfectly clean and let them drain. Put them in an old baking pan kept for this purpose-do not crowd them-and put in a hot oven. If the oven is large and hot and the potatoes of medium size, forty minutes will answer for the cooking. On the other hand, if the oven is filled with cold potatoes the temperature of the oven will be reduced quickly and it will require an hour to cook the potatoes.

Baked potatoes should be served as soon as they are done. If they must be kept any time after the cooking is completed, break them in order that the moisture may escape. Keep them in a warm oven or covered with cheese cloth in a stewpan.

Reheating Potatoes.

Cold boiled, steamed, or baked potatoes may all be utilized in savory dishes. In reheating potatoes the following things must be kept in mind: The potatoes must be well seasoned to make them savory, they must be heated to as high a temperature as possible without burning them, and they must be served very hot. The cold potatoes may be sliced or be cut into small pieces, seasoned with salt and pepper and browned in a little savory drippings, or seasoned as before and heated in the frying pan with butter or the drippings. A little minced onion, or chives, or green pepper, or a tablespoonful of fine herbs may be added. A tablespoonful of butter and a teaspoonful of flour may be stirred over the fire until the mixture is smooth and frothy. Add to this a pint of well-seasoned potatoes and stir the mixture with a fork for three minutes, then add half a pint of milk and cook until thoroughly heated, being careful not to burn. A pint and a half of cold potatoes cut in cubes and seasoned with salt and pepper may be heated in a pint of the white sauce described elsewhere.

Escalloped Potatoes.

This dish may be prepared by mixing a pint and a half of cold potatoes cut in cubes and seasoned with a teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper, and a pint of cream sauce. Put the mixture in a shallow baking dish, cover with grated bread crumbs, and dot with butter. Bake half an hour in a moderate oven.