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Potatoes a la Italienne
2 cups mashed potatoes 1/2 cup cream or top milk 2 tablespoons shortening 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon onion juice 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 1/2 cup finely chopped cooked ham 1 egg yolk, beaten 3 egg whites, beaten stiff 1 tablespoon grated cheese Combine all ingredients but cheese. Beat until light and fluffy. Heap lightly on greased baking dish, leaving top rough. Sprinkle with cheese. Brown delicately in moderately hot oven for 15 minutes. Serves 8.
A potato soufflé in all but name, stiff whites lightening leftover mashed potato and cooked ham. Two details in the wording carry the whole dish.
- Fold, do not beatAs written, the whites go in with everything else and the whole is beaten. Modern practice would be to beat the potato base with the yolk, cream, shortening and seasonings, then fold the three stiff whites in afterward in two or three additions; beating them in flat gives a denser, heavier mound.
- Moderately hot ovenThat means 375-400F. Fifteen minutes at that heat sets the outside and colors the cheese without collapsing the interior.
- Top milkBefore homogenization, cream rose to the top of the bottle and the first pour was "top milk." Half-and-half is the closest modern equivalent; whole milk works but yields a slacker mixture.
- ShorteningMost likely hydrogenated vegetable shortening, though in older usage the word could also cover lard or butter. Butter gives better flavor here and behaves the same way in a warm potato base.
- Onion juiceGrate half a small onion on a fine rasp and press the pulp through a sieve, or squeeze the grated pulp in your hand. A tablespoon takes roughly half a medium onion. Minced raw onion is not a substitute -- it stays crunchy in fifteen minutes.
- Leave the top roughThe peaks are the point; they brown and crisp while the body stays soft. Do not smooth it with a spatula.
- Grated cheeseAssume a hard dry grating cheese, Parmesan or a very sharp aged cheddar. One tablespoon over an eight-serving dish is a light dusting for color rather than a cheese topping; two or three is more in line with modern taste.
- Timing and yieldThe recipe says Serves 8, which suggests a side-dish portion. A heaped egg-lightened mixture like this will settle as it cools, so bake it to come out as the rest of the meal goes to the table.