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May 21
Menu: Oloronnaise Potage; Broiled Shad Roe *Anna Potatoes; tatoes.; Duckling Braise with Cherries; Fresh Asparagus, Swiss; Weimar Pudding; Coffee Anna Potatoes-Peel, wash and drain 4 good-sized, sound, raw poSlice them with a Saratogachip potato machine. If none is at hand, slice them as fine as possible. Grate 2 ounces of Parmesan or Swiss cheese. Heat 2 tablespoons Crisco in a small frying pan, remove pan from fire and cover bottom with light layer of potatoes. Mix teaspoon salt with 2 saltspoons white pepper, sprinkle a little over potatoes, spread a little cheese over potatoes, and place few bits Crisco over cheese. Arrange another layer of potatoes-and so on till all are employed. Cover pan, place on moderate fire for 5 minutes. Turn them over with cake turner; let them cook again 3 minutes, then place in hot oven for 10 minTurn on hot dish and serve. utes.
The text has been clipped at both ends — the potatoes themselves are never quantified, and the header word "Grate" is all that survives of the title, which tells you the potatoes were grated or sliced very thin. Read it as a small skillet potato-and-cheese cake for two, and expect to supply the missing measurements yourself.
- The missing potatoesFor a small frying pan (8 inches) figure about 1 1/2 lb of raw potatoes, peeled and either coarsely grated or sliced paper-thin. Waxy potatoes hold their layers; russets will collapse into a mash, which is not what the recipe is after.
- SaltspoonA saltspoon is usually reckoned a quarter teaspoon, so "2 saltspoons white pepper" is about 1/2 teaspoon — a lot of pepper for a dish this size.
- CriscoCrisco in 1913 was hydrogenated cottonseed oil, sold as a butter and lard substitute. Any solid shortening works; butter tastes better here and browns the crust more, and 2 tablespoons of oil will also do.
- Fire and oven temperaturesA "moderate fire" on the stovetop means medium, not high — the cheese between the layers should melt before the bottom colours. "Hot oven" in this period is generally reckoned somewhere around 400–450F.
- Squeeze grated potatoes dryIf you grate rather than slice, wring the shreds in a towel first. Wet potato steams instead of frying and the cake will not hold together when you turn it.
- The turnFive minutes is not long enough to set a cake this thick. Wait until the edges look dry and the underside slides freely in the pan before attempting the flip with a cake turner; a plate-and-invert is safer than a spatula if the pan is full.
- Timing overallThe stated 5 + 3 + 10 minutes will leave thin-sliced potatoes barely cooked. Allow 8–10 minutes per side on the stove and 15–20 minutes in the oven, and test with a knife tip through the centre.
- CheeseTwo ounces of Parmesan or Swiss cheese grated fine is right for this quantity. Both are salty, so hold back some of the teaspoon of salt until you taste.
This page belongs to the "Calendar of Dinners" in the back portion of The Story of Crisco (1913), Procter & Gamble's book-length advertisement for its new hydrogenated cottonseed shortening — a dated menu for every day of the year, with recipes in which Crisco replaces butter or lard. The dish itself is a home-kitchen version of the layered potato gratins of French cooking, started on the stovetop and finished in the oven. The truncated header and the stray "May 22" are artifacts of the page's layout, which is why the potato quantity and part of the title have gone missing here.
The text has been clipped at both ends — the potatoes themselves are never quantified, and the header word "Grate" is all that survives of the title, which tells you the potatoes were grated or sliced very thin. Read it as a small skillet potato-and-cheese cake for two, and expect to supply the missing measurements yourself.
- The missing potatoesFor a small frying pan (8 inches) figure about 1 1/2 lb of raw potatoes, peeled and either coarsely grated or sliced paper-thin. Waxy potatoes hold their layers; russets will collapse into a mash, which is not what the recipe is after.
- SaltspoonA saltspoon is usually reckoned a quarter teaspoon, so "2 saltspoons white pepper" is about 1/2 teaspoon — a lot of pepper for a dish this size.
- CriscoCrisco in 1913 was hydrogenated cottonseed oil, sold as a butter and lard substitute. Any solid shortening works; butter tastes better here and browns the crust more, and 2 tablespoons of oil will also do.
- Fire and oven temperaturesA "moderate fire" on the stovetop means medium, not high — the cheese between the layers should melt before the bottom colours. "Hot oven" in this period is generally reckoned somewhere around 400–450F.
- Squeeze grated potatoes dryIf you grate rather than slice, wring the shreds in a towel first. Wet potato steams instead of frying and the cake will not hold together when you turn it.
- The turnFive minutes is not long enough to set a cake this thick. Wait until the edges look dry and the underside slides freely in the pan before attempting the flip with a cake turner; a plate-and-invert is safer than a spatula if the pan is full.
- Timing overallThe stated 5 + 3 + 10 minutes will leave thin-sliced potatoes barely cooked. Allow 8–10 minutes per side on the stove and 15–20 minutes in the oven, and test with a knife tip through the centre.
- CheeseTwo ounces of Parmesan or Swiss cheese grated fine is right for this quantity. Both are salty, so hold back some of the teaspoon of salt until you taste.
This page belongs to the "Calendar of Dinners" in the back portion of The Story of Crisco (1913), Procter & Gamble's book-length advertisement for its new hydrogenated cottonseed shortening — a dated menu for every day of the year, with recipes in which Crisco replaces butter or lard. The dish itself is a home-kitchen version of the layered potato gratins of French cooking, started on the stovetop and finished in the oven. The truncated header and the stray "May 22" are artifacts of the page's layout, which is why the potato quantity and part of the title have gone missing here.