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Potatoes in Jackets
Bake as many potatoes as are needed; when done, take off a little piece from one end to permit them to stand, from the other end cut a large piece, remove carefully the inside, and rub through a fine sieve, or mash thoroughly; put on the fire with half an ounce of butter and one ounce of grated cheese to every four fair-sized potatoes; and add boiling milk and pepper and salt as for mashed potatoes; fill the potato shells, and sprinkle over mixed bread-crumbs and grated cheese; and put in hot oven and brown. Many prefer to omit cheese and bread-crumbs, filling the shells heaping full and then browning.
An early twice-baked potato, stood on end rather than split lengthwise. The only real difficulty is keeping the shells intact while you scoop.
- Oven temperatureThe recipe gives no temperature or time for the first baking; "hot oven" appears only for the final browning, which in period usage is roughly 425F. For the initial bake, 425F suits a russet of 8-10 oz in 50-60 minutes, until a skewer slides through with no resistance. For the browning stage the same heat works, or a broiler for 3-4 minutes.
- The weightsHalf an ounce of butter is one tablespoon and one ounce of grated cheese is a scant quarter cup, both per four potatoes. That is a restrained hand by modern standards; doubling either is no loss.
- Which potatoUse a floury baking potato -- russet or a similar starchy variety. Waxy potatoes will not pass through a sieve cleanly and turn gluey when mashed.
- Sieve versus masherPushing the hot flesh through a fine sieve, or a ricer, gives the smooth texture the recipe is after. A food processor is the one tool to avoid: the blades rupture the starch and the filling turns to paste.
- Work hotScoop and mash while the potatoes are still too hot to hold comfortably, and use boiling milk as directed. Cold milk into cooling potato gives a stiff, pasty filling.
- Keeping the shells wholeLeave about a quarter inch of flesh attached to the skin. The recipe asks for "a large piece" cut from the top, which gives easy access for scooping; a smaller opening will hold together better if you are careful with the spoon.
- CheeseAn unspecified "grated cheese" of this period would have had to be firm and dry enough to grate, so a firm cheddar or Parmesan behaves as intended. Fresh mozzarella or a soft cheese will weep.
- YieldOne potato per person as a side dish, two if it is the centre of a light supper. The filled shells can be refrigerated a day ahead and browned from cold, adding about ten minutes.
Stuffed baked potatoes appear in American and British cookery through the second half of the nineteenth century, when the kitchen range made a long, steady dry heat routine rather than an event; before that a potato was more often boiled or roasted in the ashes. The instruction to trim one end so the potato will stand upright is given simply "to permit them to stand" -- whether for presentation or for stability while filling and browning, the recipe does not say. Cheese and buttered crumbs browned on top is the standard gratin finish of the period. The closing note that "many prefer to omit cheese and bread-crumbs" is characteristic of these compilations, which routinely recorded two ways of doing a thing rather than settling the question.