Page:The White House Cook Book.djvu/214

 192 VEGETABLES.

TO BOIL NEW POTATOES.

Do NOT have the potatoes dug long before they are dressed, as they are never good when they have been out of the ground for some time. Well wash them, rub off the skins with a coarse cloth, and put them in boiling water salted. 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 partly removed, and when the potatoes are thoroughly dry, put them in a hot vegetable dish, with a piece of butter the size of a walnut ; pile the potatoes over this and serve. If the potatoes are too old to have the skins nibbed off; boil them in their jackets; drain, peel and serve them as above, with a piece of butter placed in the midst of them. They require twenty to thirty minutes to cook. Serve them hot and plain, or with melted butter over them.

MASHED POTATOES.

TAKE the quantity needed, pare off the skins and lay them in cold water half an hour ; then put them into a saucepan with a little salt ; cover with water and boil them until done. Drain off the water and mash them fine with a potato masher. Have ready a piece of butter the size of an egg, melted in half a cup of boiling hot milk and a good pinch of salt ; mix it well with the mashed potatoes until they are a smooth paste, taking care that they are not too wet. Put them into a vegetable dish, heaping them up and smooth over the top, put a small piece of butter on the top in the centre, and have dots of pepper here and there on the surface as large as a half dime.

Some prefer using a heavy fork or wire beater, instead of a po- tato masher, beating the potatoes quite light and heaping them up in the dish without smoothing over the top.

BROWNED POTATOES.

MASH them the same as the above, put them into a dish that they are to be served in, smooth over the top and brush over with the yolk of an egg, or spread on a bountiful supply of butter and dust well with flour. Set in the oven to brown ; it will brown in fifteen minutes with a quick fire.

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