The Book of Household Management Part 137

POTATO-SUGAR.--This sugary substance, found in the tubers of potatoes, is obtained in the form of syrup or treacle, and has not yet been crystallized. It resembles the sugar of grapes, has a very sweet taste, and may be used for making sweetmeats, and as a subst.i.tute for honey. Sixty pounds of potatoes, yielding eight pounds of dry starch, will produce seven and a half pounds of sugar. In Russia it is extensively made, as good, though of less consistency than the treacle obtained from cane-sugar. A spirit is also distilled from the tubers, which resembles brandy, but is milder, and has a flavour as if it were charged with the odour of violets or raspberries. In France this manufacture is carried on pretty extensively, and five hundred pounds of the tubers will produce twelve quarts of spirit, the pulp being given to cattle.

TO BOIL POTATOES.

1137. INGREDIENTS.--10 or 12 potatoes; to each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.

_Mode_.--Choose potatoes of an equal size, pare them, take out all the eyes and specks, and as they are peeled, throw them into cold water. Put them into a saucepan, with sufficient cold water to cover them, with salt in the above proportion, and let them boil gently until tender.

Ascertain when they are done by thrusting a fork in them, and take them up the moment they feel soft through; for if they are left in the water afterwards, they become waxy or watery. Drain away the water, put the saucepan by the side of the fire, with the lid partially uncovered, to allow the steam to escape, and let the potatoes get thoroughly dry, and do not allow them to get burnt. Their superfluous moisture will evaporate, and the potatoes, if a good sort, should be perfectly mealy and dry. Potatoes vary so much in quality and size, that it is difficult to give the exact time for boiling; they should be attentively watched, and probed with a fork, to ascertain when they are cooked. Send them to table quickly, and very hot, and with an opening in the cover of the dish, that a portion of the steam may evaporate, and not fall back on the potatoes.

_Time_.--Moderate-sized old potatoes, 15 to 20 minutes after the water boils; large ones, 1/2 hour to 35 minutes.

_Average cost_, 4s. per bushel.

_Sufficient_ for 6 persons.

_Seasonable_ all the year, but not good just before and whilst new potatoes are in season.

_Note_.--To keep potatoes hot, after draining the water from them, put a folded cloth or flannel (kept for the purpose) on the top of them, keeping the saucepan-lid partially uncovered. This will absorb the moisture, and keep them hot some time without spoiling.

THE POTATO.--The potato belongs to the family of the _Solanaceae_, the greater number of which inhabit the tropics, and the remainder are distributed over the temperate regions of both hemispheres, but do not extend to the arctic and antarctic zones. The whole of the family are suspicious; a great number are narcotic, and many are deleterious. The roots partake of the properties of the plants, and are sometimes even more active.

The tubercles of such as produce them, are amylaceous and nutritive, as in those of the potato. The leaves are generally narcotic; but they lose this principle in boiling, as is the case with the _Solanum nigrum_, which are used as a vegetable when cooked.

TO BOIL POTATOES IN THEIR JACKETS.

1138. INGREDIENTS.--10 or 12 potatoes; to each 1/2 gallon of water, allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.

_Mode_.--To obtain this wholesome and delicious vegetable cooked in perfection, it should be boiled and sent to table with the skin on. In Ireland, where, perhaps, the cooking of potatoes is better understood than in any country, they are always served so. Wash the potatoes well, and if necessary, use a clean scrubbing-brush to remove the dirt from them; and if possible, choose the potatoes so that they may all be as nearly the same size as possible. When thoroughly cleansed, fill the saucepan half full with them, and just cover the potatoes with cold water, salted in the above proportion: they are more quickly boiled with a small quant.i.ty of water, and, besides, are more savoury than when drowned in it. Bring them to boil, then draw the pan to the side of the fire, and let them simmer gently until tender. Ascertain when they are done by probing them with a fork; then pour off the water, uncover the saucepan, and let the potatoes dry by the side of the fire, taking care not to let them burn. Peel them quickly, put them in a very hot vegetable-dish, either with or without a napkin, and serve very quickly.

After potatoes are cooked, they should never be entirely covered up, as the steam, instead of escaping, falls down on them, and makes them watery and insipid. In Ireland they are usually served up with the skins on, and a small plate is placed by the side of each guest.

_Time_.--Moderate-sized potatoes, with their skins on, 20 to 25 minutes after the water boils; large potatoes, 25 minutes to 3/4 hour, or longer; 5 minutes to dry them.

_Average cost_, 4s. per bushel. Sufficient for 6 persons.

_Seasonable_ all the year, but not good just before and whilst new potatoes are in season.

a.n.a.lYSIS OF THE POTATO.--Next to the cereals, the potato is the most valuable plant for the production of human food. Its tubers, according to a.n.a.lysis conducted by Mr. Fromberg, in the laboratory of the Agricultural Chemical a.s.sociation in Scotland, contain the following ingredients:--75.52 per cent. of water, 15.72 starch, O.55 dextrine, 3.3 of impure saccharine matter, and 3.25 of fibre with coagulated alb.u.men. In a dried state the tuber contains 64.2 per cent, of starch, 2.25 of dextrine, 13.47 of impure saccharine matter, 5.77 of caseine, gluten, and alb.u.men, 1 of fatty matter, and 13.31 of fibre with coagulated alb.u.men.

TO BOIL NEW POTATOES.

1139. INGREDIENTS.--Potatoes; to each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.

_Mode_.--Do not have the potatoes dug long before they are dressed, as they are never good when they have been out of the ground some time.

Well wash them, rub off the skins with a coa.r.s.e cloth, and put them into _boiling_ water salted in the above proportion. Let them boil until tender; try them with a fork, and when done, pour the water away from them; let them stand by the side of the fire with the lid of the saucepan partially uncovered, and when the potatoes are thoroughly dry, put them into a hot vegetable-dish, with a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a walnut; pile the potatoes over this, and serve. If the potatoes are too old to have the skins rubbed off, boil them in their jackets; drain, peel, and serve them as above, with a piece of b.u.t.ter placed in the midst of them.

_Time_.--1/4 to 1/2 hour, according to the size.

_Average cost_, in full season, 1d. per lb.

_Sufficient_.--Allow 3 lbs. for 5 or 6 persons.

_Seasonable_ in May and June, but may be had, forced, in March.

POTATO STARCH.--This fecula has a beautiful white crystalline appearance, and is inodorous, soft to the touch, insoluble in cold, but readily soluble in boiling water. It is on this starch that the nutritive properties of the tubers depend. As an aliment, it is well adapted for invalids and persons of delicate const.i.tution. It may be used in the form of arrow-root, and eaten with milk or sugar. For pastry of all kinds it is more light and easier of digestion than that made with flour of wheat. In confectionery it serves to form creams and jellies, and in cookery may be used to thicken soups and sauces. It accommodates itself to the chest and stomach of children, for whom it is well adapted; and it is an aliment that cannot be too generally used, as much on account of its wholesomeness as its cheapness, and the ease with which it is kept, which are equal, if not superior, to all the much-vaunted exotic feculae; as, salep, tapioca, sago, and arrow-root.

TO STEAM POTATOES.

1140. INGREDIENTS.--Potatoes; boiling water.

_Mode_.--This mode of cooking potatoes is now much in vogue, particularly where they are wanted on a large scale, it being so very convenient. Pare the potatoes, throw them into cold water as they are peeled, then put them into a steamer. Place the steamer over a saucepan of boiling water, and steam the potatoes from 20 to 40 minutes, according to the size and sort. When a fork goes easily through them, they are done; then take them up, dish, and serve very quickly.

_Time_.--20 to 40 minutes. _Average cost_, 4s. per bushel.

_Sufficient_.--Allow 2 large potatoes to each person.

_Seasonable_ all the year, but not so good whilst new potatoes are in season.

USES OF THE POTATO.--Potatoes boiled and beaten along with sour milk form a sort of cheese, which is made in Saxony; and, when kept in close vessels, may be preserved for several years. It is generally supposed that the water in which potatoes are boiled is injurious; and as instances are recorded where cattle having drunk it were seriously affected, it may be well to err on the safe side, and avoid its use for any alimentary purpose.

Potatoes which have been exposed to the air and become green, are very unwholesome. Cadet de Vaux a.s.serts that potatoes will clean linen as well as soap; and it is well known that the berries of the _S. saponaceum_ are used in Peru for the same purpose.

HOW TO USE COLD POTATOES.

1141. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold potatoes; to every lb. allow 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 2 ditto of minced onions, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, milk.

_Mode_.--Mash the potatoes with a fork until perfectly free from lumps; stir in the other ingredients, and add sufficient milk to moisten them well; press the potatoes into a mould, and bake in a moderate oven until nicely brown, which will be in from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. Turn them out of the mould, and serve.

_Time_.--20 minutes to 1/2 hour.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

POTATO BREAD.--The manner in which this is made is very simple.

The adhesive tendency of the flour of the potato acts against its being baked or kneaded without being mixed with wheaten flour or meal; it may, however, be made into cakes in the following manner:--A small wooden frame, nearly square, is laid on a pan like a frying-pan and is grooved, and so constructed that, by means of a presser or lid introduced into the groove, the cake is at once fas.h.i.+oned, according to the dimensions of the mould. The frame containing the farina may be almost immediately withdrawn after the mould is formed upon the pan; because, from the consistency imparted to the incipient cake by the heat, it will speedily admit of being safely handled: it must not, however, be fried too hastily. It will then eat very palatably, and might from time to time be soaked for puddings, like tapioca, or might be used like the ca.s.sada-cake, for, when well b.u.t.tered and toasted, it will be found an excellent accompaniment to breakfast. In Scotland, cold boiled potatoes are frequently squeezed up and mixed with flour or oatmeal, and an excellent cake, or _scon_, obtained.

FRIED POTATOES (French Fas.h.i.+on).

1142. INGREDIENTS.--Potatoes, hot b.u.t.ter or clarified dripping, salt.

_Mode_.--Peel and cut the potatoes into thin slices, as nearly the same size as possible; make some b.u.t.ter or dripping quite hot in a frying-pan; put in the potatoes, and fry them on both sides of a nice brown. When they are crisp and done, take them up, place them on a cloth before the fire to drain the grease from them, and serve very hot, after sprinkling them with salt. These are delicious with rump-steak, and, in France, are frequently served thus as a breakfast dish. The remains of cold potatoes may also be sliced and fried by the above recipe, but the slices must be cut a little thicker.

_Time_.--Sliced raw potatoes, 5 minutes; cooked potatoes, 5 minutes.

_Average cost_, 4s. per bushel.

_Sufficient_,--6 sliced potatoes for 3 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

A GERMAN METHOD OF COOKING POTATOES.