Part 7

Use cold boiled parsnips, cut in any shape desired,--balls, or long strips,--and put them in a frying basket, and fry in hot fat until brown. Drain, and dredge with salt to serve.

BROILED PARSNIPS

Use boiled parsnips, cut each in 3 slices, lengthwise, dip in melted butter, broil until brown, and sprinkle with salt before serving.

GREEN PEAS

Newly picked green peas should be shelled and put in a double-boiler with a little salt, and 1 teaspoon or more of sugar, and no water. Cover closely and keep water in under pan boiling for about three quarters of an hour. Add a little butter before serving.

GREEN PEAS PAYSANNE

Cook peas as in the above recipe adding a few lettuce leaves which have been washed and cut in strips. Drain them before adding butter and salt.

CANNED PEAS

Canned peas should be slowly cooked in their own stock for ten minutes, drained, and seasoned with butter, pepper and salt, and a little milk or cream added to them.

CANNED PEAS WITH ONION

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1 tablespoon of chopped onion; let simmer for five minutes, then add 1 can of peas, drained of their juice, and 1/4 of a cup of cream or milk; season well with salt and pepper, and serve after ten minutes' slow cooking.

STUFFED PEPPERS

Slice the stem-end from sweet peppers, cut out the insides, and fill with a mixture made of 1 cup of fine crumbs, 1 grated onion, 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Set in a pan containing a little water and melted butter, and bake from twenty minutes to half an hour, basting occasionally.

Peppers can be parboiled for ten minutes before stuffing, but though softer they lose their colour to some extent.

PEPPERS STUFFED WITH MUSHROOMS

Cut the stem-end from sweet peppers, remove the inside, and fill with mushrooms Czarina, or mushrooms in tomato sauce, and bake twenty to thirty minutes, basting with a little butter and water, which should be in the pan in which they are cooked.

PEPPERS WITH RICE

Cut the stem-end from sweet green peppers, remove the inside, fill with boiled rice and chopped tomato in equal proportions, and season well with pepper and salt. A few chopped mushrooms, olives, or boiled eggs may be added to the filling. Bake from twenty to thirty minutes, basting with butter and water.

GREEN PEPPERS WITH EGG

Parboil 6 green peppers for five minutes, first having cut off the stem-end and removed the seeds. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan, and when melted add 1 finely chopped onion, and let it cook slowly for ten minutes; then stir in 3 tablespoons of fine bread crumbs, and season with salt, pepper, and catsup. Upon removing the peppers from the boiling water set them up cup-like in a shallow pan, and put 1 tablespoon of this mixture into each; break into each pepper 1 egg, cover with some more of the prepared crumbs, and bake for ten minutes if the eggs are liked soft, for fifteen if liked hard. Serve on toast with 1 1/2 cups of white sauce containing 2 tablespoons of grated cheese.

PEPPERS WITH CORN

Cut a slice from the end of sweet peppers, remove the inside, and fill with canned corn, well salted; replace the ends and bake.

Peppers, like tomatoes, may be filled in so many ways that it is useless to endeavour to enumerate them, for the ingenious cook can multiply them without end.

ESCALLOP OF PEPPERS AND CORN

Cut enough sweet corn from the cob to make 3 cups. Take 2 or 3 sweet green peppers and remove the insides, then slice them in very thin circles and arrange a layer of the corn in a buttered baking dish, salt it, and then place some rings of the peppers, then another layer of corn, and so on, until the dish is filled, finishing the top with peppers. To a cup of cream (or milk) add 1 beaten egg and 2 tablespoons of melted butter; pour this over the whole, and bake for half an hour in a hot oven. Canned corn may be used, in which case less cream will be needed.

FRIED PEPPERS

Remove the seeds from 6 sweet green peppers, cut the pods in squares about half an inch across. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted add 1 sliced onion, and let simmer for two or three minutes; then put into the pan the cut-up peppers, and fry for ten minutes. Add 1/2 cup of brown or tomato sauce and serve on toast with boiled rice, or on flat rice cakes.

CREAMED PIMENTOS

Put the pimentos from 1 can into 2 cups of white sauce, and let cook in a double boiler for ten minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, some pepper and salt, and serve on toast.

ROLLED PIMENTOS

Remove the pimentos from the can, and with a sharp knife cut them open on one side and open them out. Arrange the flat pieces thus made on a large plate or board, with the inner part up, and spread with finely chopped onion, sprinkle with salt and celery salt, and roll into firm rolls. Place these in a well-buttered tin, add a little hot water, cover, and set in a hot oven for ten minutes; then uncover, add 1 tablespoon of butter, and when it melts baste the pimentos with it. Let them cook five minutes more, and serve with the melted butter poured over them, or with parsley butter.

PIMENTOS WITH OKRA

Split the pimentos with a sharp knife, salt the inner part, then roll each around a pod of freshly boiled or canned okra. Place in a well-buttered pan, add a little hot water, and let cook ten minutes covered, and five uncovered. Add more butter during the last five minutes, baste the rolls, and serve with the butter poured over them, or with tomato sauce.

PIMENTOS WITH TOMATO

Lay the large flat pimentos from a can on a platter, and slide into each a slice of tomato which has been sprinkled with salt and celery salt. Fry in a covered pan for five minutes, and serve plain or with caper sauce.

POTATOES

Between the good cooks who contend that a potato is never properly "boiled" if it is boiled at all, and those who either cook potatoes in a steamer, or put them in cold water which is carefully watched to see that it does not actually boil, cooking thus until the potatoes are tender, and those who drop them into rapidly boiling salted water, letting them boil hard until done, there is wide latitude for individual preference. I would advise those who do not have potatoes served on the table which are white and floury and thoroughly cooked through, to see that one of the above-mentioned ways of cooking potatoes is carried out in their kitchens. Potatoes put in boiling water, or put in a covered steamer over rapidly boiling water, will cook in from twenty minutes to half an hour, the time depending, of course, upon the size and age of the potatoes; they should always be carefully scrubbed and cooked in their skins, and peeled afterwards.

MASHED POTATOES

Having boiled or steamed the required number of potatoes, peel them as expeditiously as possible and break them up in a hot saucepan; mash and then beat them vigorously with a wooden spoon or a fork, add a generous piece of butter, dredge with salt and a little pepper, and beat them until they are light; then moisten slightly with a very little hot milk or cream, beat them for a moment more, and serve very hot.

POTATO SOUFFLÉ

Put into a saucepan 3 or 4 cups of warm mashed potato and 1 tablespoon butter. Add the yolks of 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons cream (or milk), salt and pepper, and stir over fire until well mixed. Remove from the fire and add the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Heap in a buttered baking dish and let brown on the top in the oven.

MASHED POTATO SOUFFLÉ IN CASES

Select large potatoes, scrub them and let them bake until mealy, which will be in from half an hour to three quarters, then cut them in half, lengthwise, and carefully scrape out the potato, laying aside the skins to use as cases. Mash the potatoes with a wire potato-masher, add 1 tablespoon of butter for every 5 potatoes used, and season well with salt and pepper. Beat the whites of eggs very stiff, allowing 2 to every 5 potatoes, and mix them lightly through the potato with a fork; fill the potato skins with the mixture, heaping them full; brown them slightly in the oven before serving, and garnish the dish on which they are served with sprigs of parsley. Five potatoes will fill 6 or 7 cases.

RICED POTATOES

Break up well-boiled dry potatoes with a fork, dredge with salt and pepper, and press through a sieve or a so-called "ricer" into a hot serving dish.

RICED POTATO FRITTERS

Boil 6 large potatoes, press them through a sieve, and add 3 lightly beaten eggs, 2 teaspoons of flour creamed with 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 cups of milk. Beat well together, and drop from a large spoon into deep, hot fat; they will rise to the top a light brown when done. Chopped chives or chopped parsley may be added to the mixture if desired.

MASHED POTATOES WITH ONION

To 4 or 5 cups of mashed potato add 1 cup of boiled onion minced to a pulp, 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of cream, some pepper and salt; beat lightly together, and before serving brown the top for a moment in the oven.

BAKED POTATOES

Select potatoes of uniform size, scrub them well, place in a hot oven until they yield to pressure of the fingers, which will be in most cases in about three quarters of an hour. They should not stand after baking, and should be served in an open dish. A baked potato that is worked with the fingers while being turned in the hand a few times, becomes light and soft.

ROAST POTATOES

Pare small, round potatoes, and lay them in cold water. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a shallow baking pan, and let it melt in the oven; then wipe the potatoes, and lay them in the pan, rolling each in the hot butter. Let them cook in a moderate oven from one half to three quarters of an hour, and baste them during the cooking five or six times with the butter. Sprinkle with salt before serving.

DENVER POTATOES

Peel several smooth oval potatoes and cut in half, lengthwise. Dig out a small hole in the centre of the smooth side, and level the rounded parts so they will sit evenly. Put a lump of butter in each, and place in a pan with a little water, first dredging with salt and pepper, and bake about twenty-five minutes or until browned.

BROILED POTATOES

Cut cold boiled potatoes lengthwise into quarter-inch slices, dip each in flour, and lay in a folding broiler. Broil until evenly browned on both sides, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve on a hot dish with a bit of butter on each, or as a garnish to other vegetables.

FRIED POTATOES SOUFFLÉ

Peel and trim the required number of potatoes to a uniform size, cut both ends straight across, and then slice the potatoes into slices about 1/16 of an inch thick, and drop them into cold water for about half an hour, and then dry them with a cloth. For the frying two kettles of fat are necessary, one of which must be perfectly fresh; drop the potatoes into the used fat or oil and let them fry until about half done; but do not let them brown at all; drain them thoroughly and let them get cold. Five or six minutes before they are to be served drop them into the fresh fat which should be almost smoking, move them about lightly with a fork, and they will puff out to a considerable size; let them become a golden brown, put them in the oven on brown paper for a moment, and serve instantly.

WHOLE POTATOES FRIED

Use very small new potatoes, and, after boiling them, roll in egg and cracker crumbs, and fry in hot, deep fat. Use alone or as a garnish to baked tomatoes.

FRENCH-FRIED POTATOES

Peel potatoes which are of medium size and cut into even eighths, lengthwise, and then let them lie in cold water for fifteen minutes; then dry them between the folds of a clean cloth, and put in a frying basket. Immerse slowly in hot fat, and fry until a golden brown; drain at once, and dredge with salt.

SARATOGA CHIPS

Cut potatoes into thin slices with a potato cutter, lay in cold water twenty minutes, dry, and fry in deep, hot fat until crisp. Drain from the fat onto brown paper, dredge with salt, and serve very hot.

POTATOES PARISIAN

These are cooked exactly like French-fried potatoes, except that the little vegetable cutter, which cuts tiny globes of potato, is used to form the shapes. Some care must be taken to use strength enough with the cutter to make it cut perfectly round balls.

POTATO STRAWS

Peel 4 or 5 potatoes and then cut them with a patent vegetable cutter in strings; lay them in very cold water for twenty minutes, drain, and put in a frying basket, and slowly immerse in hot fat, and let them fry until a golden brown. Drain, and dredge with salt before serving.

POTATO CRADLES

Peel, wash, and dry potatoes of uniform size and shape. Cut in two, lengthwise, and scoop out the inside, and fry the potato cases in hot fat until brown; then drain and sprinkle with salt. Serve hot peas heaped up in each cradle and garnish with mint or parsley.

POTATOES LYONNAISE

Take 5 or 6 cold boiled potatoes and cut them in slices. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when it is melted add 2 thinly sliced, medium-sized onions, and fry these, letting them cook very slowly ten minutes; then season with pepper and salt and add the sliced potatoes, and let these fry slowly, turning with a knife until they are a golden brown; season afresh with pepper and salt, and add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley before serving. These potatoes will take a great deal of salt and pepper.

GERMAN FRIED POTATOES

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted add 5 or 6 cold boiled potatoes cut in slices, season highly with salt and pepper, fry until done, which will be about twelve or fifteen minutes, turning with a knife; when nearly done stop stirring, and let the potatoes brown on the bottom of the pan; serve in a hot dish with the browned slices on the top.

FRIED POTATO SAVOURY

Fry cold sliced or diced potatoes, and when browned add 1/2 teaspoon of onion juice or extract, then arrange in a buttered baking dish in layers with grated cheese, pepper, salt, and some butter in each layer, cover the top with a few brown crumbs and chopped parsley or chives, and let heat a few minutes in the oven. Chopped chives can be arranged with the layers of potato if the flavour is liked.

CREAMED POTATOES

Put 2 tablespoons of butter into a saucepan, and when melted add 1 tablespoon of minced parsley and pepper and salt, stir until very hot, then add a scant cup of milk, containing 1 teaspoon of flour and a pinch of soda, and when this boils add diced cold boiled potatoes, and, when thoroughly heated through, serve.

ESCALLOPED POTATOES

Boil 10 or 12 medium-sized potatoes in their skins, and after peeling slice them in slices 1/4 of an inch thick. While the potatoes are boiling make a sauce of 2 cups of milk, the juice of 1 onion, salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 1 tablespoon of thickening flour. Butter a baking dish, and arrange a layer of potatoes, cover with sauce, then put another layer of potatoes, and so continue until the dish is filled. Then cut 2 hard-boiled eggs in neat slices, arrange them over the top, sprinkle with cracker crumbs and a little finely chopped parsley, and cook ten or twelve minutes in the oven.

POTATOES DELMONICO

For a large baking dish 4 cups of cold boiled diced potatoes will be required. Butter a baking dish, and put a layer of potatoes an inch deep in the bottom, and cover this with well made white sauce, and sprinkle slightly with salt and pepper; then add another layer of potato, and white sauce, and seasoning, and so on, until the dish is heaping full, and then sprinkle the top with grated cheese, and let brown well in a hot oven.

OAK HILL POTATOES

Butter a baking dish well, and place in it alternate layers of sliced cold boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, seasoning each layer; then pour over it a white sauce in which grated cheese is melted. Cover the top of the dish with cracker crumbs, and brown in the oven.

HEILBRONN POTATOES

Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a deep saucepan, and when melted stir into it, with a flat-ended wooden spoon, 2 tablespoons of flour and let brown, then add 2 tablespoons of vinegar and use 2 cups of boiling water or vegetable stock in making this into a smooth sauce. Add 1/2 an onion, sliced, 2 cloves, 2 allspice, a piece of thin lemon peel, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and let cook very slowly, stirring for ten minutes. Then add more vegetable stock or boiling water to make a thin sauce and strain it; return to the fire and add 5 or 6 parboiled thinly sliced potatoes, 2 tablespoons of capers, and let cook slowly for fifteen minutes, stirring frequently; then pour into the saucepan 1/2 cup of cream (sour preferred), and serve in a deep, hot dish.

SAVOURY POTATO CAKES

Chop 6 cold boiled potatoes, and crush with a potato masher (or use cold mashed potato); add to them 1 tablespoon of mixed herbs, 1 teaspoon of chopped onions, pepper, salt, 1 tablespoon of melted butter, and 1 beaten egg; mould into flat cakes, and put in a frying pan containing 1 tablespoon of melted butter; brown, and turn with a pancake turner to brown the other side.

POTATO HASH

Put 8 cold boiled potatoes and 2 medium-sized onions in a chopping bowl and chop them fine. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large frying pan, place the potatoes and onion in it, and smooth the top even with a fork. Season well with salt and pepper and put over a moderately hot fire, shaking the pan vigorously from time to time to keep the hash from burning. If it is shaken instead of being stirred it will brown well on the bottom. Turn out onto a hot serving dish, with the browned part on top, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

POTATO OMELET

Butter a frying pan with 1 teaspoon of butter, and cover the bottom of the pan with sliced cold boiled potatoes laid flat; let these fry a few moments, then pour over them 2 well-beaten eggs and 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley or chives, season well with salt and pepper, and turn from the pan when browned.

CURRIED POTATOES

Chop 1 good-sized onion very fine, and fry in 2 tablespoons of butter until transparent and cooked, but not brown; then remove most of the onion with a strainer, pressing the juice from it into the butter, and put in 4 or 5 sliced cold boiled potatoes; sprinkle some curry powder and salt and pepper over them and fry, turning them frequently until done. The amount of curry can vary from 1 to 2 teaspoons.

POTATO FRICASSEE

Put in a saucepan 1 generous tablespoon of butter and 1 cup of milk; when hot add some cold potatoes cut in dice, season with pepper, salt, and a few drops of onion juice. Let them get thoroughly hot, then add the beaten yolks of 2 eggs, stir constantly until thick. Great care must be taken not to let it cook too long or the sauce will curdle. Add a little chopped parsley before serving.

POTATOES RENNEQUIN

Boil 6 potatoes, peel them, and let them dry in a warm place on the stove.

Put 1 tablespoon of butter into a saucepan, and when partly melted slice the potatoes into it. Now add 1 tablespoon of water, some salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of minced parsley; let it become thoroughly heated, then add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and serve very hot.

POTATOES AND CHEESE

Mince or chop fine 5 or 6 peeled raw potatoes, and toss in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of butter until cooked. Place a layer of these in a buttered baking dish, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with grated cheese; then add another layer of potatoes, and proceed thus until the dish is full. Pour melted butter over and let brown in the oven.

ESCALLOPED POTATO AND ONION

Peel and slice very thinly 5 or 6 medium-sized potatoes and 3 or 4 onions, and arrange them in layers in a buttered baking dish, dotting them with butter, and sprinkling with pepper and salt. Over all pour 1/2 cup of milk, or enough to dampen well, and almost cover, and set the dish in a shallow pan containing a little water, and let the escallop cook slowly for about an hour, keeping it covered for the first half-hour, and uncovered afterward to brown. Serve in the baking dish.

NEW POTATOES IN BUTTER

Scrub small new potatoes with a stiff brush, and boil or steam them for twenty-five minutes, and serve them with melted butter to which a teaspoon or more of finely chopped parsley has been added.

CREAMED NEW POTATOES

Scrub small new potatoes with a stiff brush which will remove the skins, and boil or steam them about twenty-five minutes; then cover them with a highly seasoned white sauce.

BAKED NEW POTATOES

Scrub the skin from small new potatoes, and cook in salted boiling water about twenty minutes or until tender. Make a white sauce of 1 tablespoon of flour, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1 cup of milk seasoned highly with salt and pepper, and, after arranging the boiled potatoes in a baking dish or casserole, pour the sauce over them, and on the top of all pour 1 well-beaten egg. Put the dish in the oven and let it stay just long enough to set the egg. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before sending to the table. If preferred the egg can be added to the white sauce instead of being put on top.

MOCK NEW POTATOES

Peel the required number of large old potatoes, and with a Parisian potato cutter cut them into small balls; drop these in boiling water, and when done cover with a highly seasoned white sauce, to which is added a very little chopped parsley.

BOILED SWEET POTATOES

As the skin of sweet potatoes does not come off well after cooking it is best to peel them before baking or boiling.

Select large sweet potatoes, put them in boiling water, and let them boil from half to three quarters of an hour. Peel them and arrange them in a hot dish, with 1/2 cup of melted butter poured over them.

BAKED SWEET POTATOES

Wash and peel the sweet potatoes and put them in the oven. A medium-sized potato will take about forty minutes to bake.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES

Peel and boil 6 or 7 sweet potatoes, drain off all the water, and then mash with a wire potato-masher in the saucepan in which they were cooked; mix with them while hot 2 tablespoons of good butter, and dredge generously with salt, and serve very hot.

SWEET POTATO SOUFFLÉ

Mix with mashed sweet potatoes when slightly cooled the beaten yolks of 2 eggs and then the stiff whites of the eggs. Heap in a buttered baking dish and let brown in the oven.

ESCALLOPED SWEET POTATOES

Slice what will make 4 or 5 cups of cold boiled sweet potatoes, butter a baking dish, and arrange a layer of potatoes in the bottom, making it an inch thick. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dot well with butter. Then arrange another layer, proceed as before, and so on until the dish is filled. Then pour over all 1/2 cup of water in which 2 tablespoons of sugar are dissolved. Put the dish in the oven, and in ten minutes baste with 2 tablespoons of water. Let cook five minutes more or until browned on top.

STUFFED SWEET POTATOES

Bake in their skins the number of potatoes required, cut them in half, scoop out the inside, and mix with chopped celery, and minced onion, and melted butter, allowing 1 tablespoon of celery and 1/2 teaspoon of onion to each potato. Season with salt and pepper, refill the skins, and let brown in the oven.

SOUTHERN SWEET POTATO PIE

Bake 4 large sweet potatoes, then scrape the inside from them, and beat into it lightly with a fork 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 3 well-beaten eggs, 1 cup of warm milk, a saltspoon of salt, and a pinch of mixed spice. Line a baking dish with pastry, fill with the potato, and bake for twenty minutes.

TEXAS SWEET POTATO PIE