BY MRS. EMMA P. EWING.
There are only seven distinct methods of cooking potatoes, namely: roasting, baking, boiling, steaming, stewing, frying, and broiling. But the culinary possibilities of this simple esculent are so illimitable it can be served in about as many different ways as there are days in the year, and be acceptable in all of them, if properly done; for no member of the vegetable kingdom returns a richer reward for the care bestowed upon it than the potato.
Roasted Potatoes.—The primitive method of roasting potatoes under, or among the ashes of a wood fire, is an excellent one. Bury the potatoes in hot ashes to the depth of two or three inches, cover with live coals, and leave undisturbed for half an hour, or until thoroughly roasted. As soon as done, which can be ascertained by taking one of them from its bed and testing it, remove, brush clean, break tenderly, place in a dish, and serve. The starch in a potato will absorb moisture when the starch cells are broken by heat, and unless roasted or baked potatoes are cracked as soon as cooked, and the steam allowed to escape, they will become sodden, dark colored, and rank in flavor. After being broken they can be kept for a considerable length of time, without much deterioration.
Baked Potatoes.—Potatoes can be baked by placing them in the oven of a stove or range, either in a pan or on the grate. To bake a potato just right, it should be washed clean, wiped dry, put in an oven at a moderate temperature, and subjected to a gradually increasing heat until the skin assumes a light brown color, and becomes firm. The white flesh inside will then be well cooked and mealy, and will possess the exquisite aroma and delicious flavor of a perfectly roasted potato. If the oven is at the proper temperature, potatoes will bake in from forty to sixty minutes, according to size, and like those roasted under the ashes, should, as soon as done, be removed and broken.
If the flesh is scooped out of partly baked potatoes, mashed, mixed with sausage meat, seasoned, replaced in the scooped-out shells, and re-baked, they are called German potatoes; if it is mixed with grated cheese, bread crumbs and other ingredients, and similarly treated, they are called stuffed potatoes.
Potatoes are nice when pared and baked with fowl or meat of any kind. Wash, pare, parboil, and place them in the pan containing the fowl, or meat. Turn over when partly cooked, that they may brown evenly. They can be baked in drippings, without meat, and also without being parboiled.
Kentucky potatoes are potatoes pared, sliced, put in layers in a baking dish, moistened with milk, seasoned with salt, pepper, etc., and baked in a quick oven. If they are moistened with broth or other liquid, and the seasoning varied somewhat, each variation will produce a slightly different dish, and each can, without impropriety, be named after one of the different States of the Union.
Boiled Potatoes.—Very few people know how to boil a potato so it will be dry, mealy and fine flavored. To prepare potatoes for boiling unpared, or in their jackets, wash well in lukewarm water with a brush, and rinse in cold water. To prepare for boiling without their jackets, wash, pare, remove all the eyes and dark spots, and soak well in cold water. To boil either pared or unpared, put the potatoes, when prepared, in a liberal allowance of slightly salted boiling water, let them boil gently until tender enough to be easily pierced with a fork, then drain, cover with a folded towel, and set back on the range, or near the fire, to dry off. If treated in this manner, they will, when served, be tender and mealy—perfect powdery snow balls in appearance—and will be apt to tempt even the most fastidious.