POTATOES IN CREAM. Half boil some potatoes, drain and peel them nicely, and cut into neat pieces. Put them into a stewpan with some cream, fresh butter, and salt, of each a proportion to the quantity of potatoes; or instead of cream, put some good gravy, with pepper and salt. Stew them very gently, and be careful to prevent their breaking.
POTATOES FRIED. If they are whole potatoes, first boil them nearly enough, and then put them into a stewpan with a bit of butter, or some nice clean beef drippings. To prevent their burning, shake them about till they are brown and crisp, and then drain them from the fat. It would be an elegant improvement, to flour and dip them in the yolk of an egg previous to frying, and then roll them in fine sifted bread crumbs: they would then deserve to be called potatoes full dressed.—If to be fried in slices or shavings, peel some large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them in shavings round and round, as in peeling a lemon. Dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping. Take care that the fat and the fryingpan are both perfectly clean. Put the pan on a quick fire; as soon as the lard boils, and is still, put in the potatoe slices, and keep moving them till they are crisp. Take them up and lay them to drain on a sieve, and then send them to table with a very little salt sprinkled over.—To fry cold potatoes, put a bit of clean dripping into a fryingpan. When melted, slice in the potatoes with a little pepper and salt; set them on the fire, and keep them stirring. When quite hot, they are ready. This is a good way of re-dressing potatoes, and making them palatable.
POTATOES MASHED. When the potatoes are thoroughly boiled, drain and dry them well, and pick out every speck. Rub them through a cullender into a clean stewpan: to a pound of potatoes allow half an ounce of butter, and a spoonful of milk. Mix it up well, but do not make it too moist. After Lady day, when potatoes are getting old and specked, and also in frosty weather, this is the best way of dressing them. If potatoes are to be mashed with onions, boil the onions, and pass them through a sieve. Mix them with the potatoes, in such a proportion as is most approved.
POTATOES PRESERVED. To keep potatoes from the frost, lay them up in a dry store room, and cover them with straw, or a linen cloth. If this be not convenient, dig a trench three or four feet deep, and put them in as they are taken up. Cover them with the earth taken out of the trench, raise it up in the middle like the roof of a house, and cover it with straw so as to carry off the rain. Better still if laid above ground, and covered with a sufficient quantity of mould to protect them from the frost, as in this case they are less likely to be injured by the wet. Potatoes may also be preserved by suffering them to remain in the ground, and digging them up in the spring of the year, as they are wanted.
POTATOES ROASTED. Choose them nearly of a size, wash and dry the potatoes, and put them in a Dutch oven, or cheese toaster. Take care not to place them too near the fire, or they will burn on the outside before they are warmed through. Large potatoes will require two hours to roast them properly, unless they are previously half boiled. When potatoes are to be roasted under meat, they should first be half boiled, drained from the water, and placed in the pan under the meat. Baste them with some of the dripping, and when they are browned on one side, turn and brown them on the other. Send them up round the meat, or in a small dish.
POTATOES SCALLOPED. Having boiled and mashed the potatoes, butter some clean scallop shells, or pattipans, and put in the potatoes. Smooth them on the top, cross a knife over them, strew on a few fine bread crumbs, sprinkle them a little with melted butter from a paste brush, and then set them in a Dutch oven. When they are browned on the top, take them carefully out of the shells, and brown the other side.
POTATOES STEAMED. The potatoes must be well washed, but not pared, and put into the steamer when the water boils. Moderate sized potatoes will require three quarters of an hour to do them properly. They should be taken up as soon as they are done enough, or they will become watery: peel them afterwards.
POTTED BEEF. Take two pounds of lean beef, rub it with saltpetre, and let it lie one night. Then lay on common salt, and cover it with water four days in a small pan. Dry it with a cloth, season it with black pepper, lay it into as small a pan as will hold it, cover it with coarse paste, but put in no liquor, and bake it five hours in a very cool oven. When cold, pick out the strings and fat. Beat the meat very fine, with a quarter of a pound of fine butter just warm, but not oiled, and as much of the gravy as will make it into a paste. Put it into very small pots, and cover them with clarified butter.—Another way. Take beef that has been dressed, either boiled or roasted; beat it in a mortar with some pepper and salt, a few cloves, grated nutmeg, and a little fine butter just warm. This eats as well as the former, but the colour is not so fine. It is however a good way for using the remains of a large joint.
POTTED BIRDS. Having cleaned them nicely, rub every part well with a seasoning of white pepper and salt, mace and allspice in fine powder. Put them in a pan, lay on some butter, cover it with a paste of coarse flour, and a paper tied closely over. When baked and grown cold, cut them into pieces proper for helping, pack them close into a large potting-pan, and leave as little space as possible to receive the butter. Cover them with butter, and one third less will be wanted than when the birds are done whole.
POTTED CHEESE. Cut and pound four ounces of Cheshire cheese, one ounce and a half of fine butter, a tea-spoonful of white powdered sugar, a little bit of mace, and a glass of white wine. Press it down in a deep pot.