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Potato Balls
Wash the necessary amount of potatoes, throw without paring into boiling water and boil until tender, but not soft, a little underdone. Drain, remove the skins and with a potato scoop cut them into round balls. When ready to serve, put them into a frying-basket, sink into smoking hot fat and fry until a golden brown. Drain, dust with salt and serve, either alone or as a garnish to baked or broiled fish, or broiled steak.
A two-stage potato: boiled in the skin, scooped into spheres, then deep-fried to order. The whole thing hinges on underboiling.
- Boil short"Tender, but not soft, a little underdone" is the instruction that matters. A fully cooked potato will crumble under the scoop and collapse in the fat; stop while the centre still offers resistance to a skewer, around 15-18 minutes for a medium potato.
- Potato scoopA melon baller does the job — 1 to 1 1/4 inches gives balls that brown before the middle overcooks. Expect to use no more than half of each potato; save the trimmings for mash, soup or potato cakes.
- Choose the potatoA firm, waxy or all-purpose potato (Yukon Gold, red-skinned) holds a scooped shape. A dry baker such as Russet will fracture.
- "Smoking hot fat"Read this as hot, not literally smoking — fat past its smoke point is breaking down. The recipe gives no temperature; around 375F is the usual modern equivalent. Lower and the balls absorb grease, higher and the surface colours before the inside heats through.
- Dry them firstSurface moisture from boiling makes hot fat spit violently. Spread the balls on a towel and let them dry and cool before they go into the basket, and fry in batches so the temperature does not crash.
- TimingGolden brown takes 2-4 minutes at 375F. Salt the moment they leave the fat, while the surface is still greasy enough to hold it.
- Yield and make-aheadA pound of potatoes will give a dozen or more balls, depending on scoop size — enough to garnish about four plates. Boiling and scooping can be done hours in advance and refrigerated; the frying should not be, as the original notes with "when ready to serve".
Scooped and fried potatoes belong to the vocabulary of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century restaurant garnishes — pommes noisettes and pommes parisiennes in French kitchen French. Deep-frying in a wire basket was ordinary domestic practice by then, fat being strained and kept for reuse rather than discarded after a single frying.