Elements of the theory and practice of cookery

3 tablespoonfuls of scalded milk, X to >^ teaspooiiful of salt, and ^ teaspoonful of Mdiite pepper.^ Beat all together until light and creamy. Heap in a dish without smoothing the top. It may be put in a baking-dish, the top brushed with milk, and browned in a hot oven. Creamed Potatoes Cut cold boiled potatoes into one-half inch cubes ; put these into a saucepan, nearly cover them with milk, and cook gently until nearly all the milk is absorbed. Add white sauce, stir for one minute, sprinkle with finely cut parsley, ^ and serve. 1 Always use white pepper on potatoes, in white sauce, and in any- other food where black pepper would show distinctly. 2 To cut parsley. — Pick off several sprigs ; if wet, dry with a clean towel. Hold them in a firm bunch on a board or plate, and cut them through and through, repeating until very fine. FUEL FOODS: SOME STARCHY PLANTS 67 White Sauce (for Vegetables) Butter, 2 tablespoonfuls. Salt, Yz teaspoonful, ) Flour, 2 tablespoonfuls. Pepper, ^ teasx^oonful, ) Milk, 1 cupful. Rub flour and butter together with a spoon in a small saucepan. Add milk, and stir steadily over a moderate heat until the sauce boils. Add salt and pepper. For richer white sauce use part cream. Cream sauce is white sauce made with all cream instead of milk. Use one and one-half teaspoonfuls of flour to one cupful of cream. Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes are best baked.* If to be boiled, leave the skins on, pare after cooking, and dry for a few min- utes in a moderate oven. They may be riced. 120. Food value of potatoes. — Potatoes contain too small a quantity of foodstuffs to be valuable if eaten alone. Eaten with richer food, they form an important article of diet, and one we do not tire of, particularly if they be cooked in a variety of ways. For more about sweet and white potatoes see pp. 193-199 in Food Prodncts of the World; or pp. 59, 60, in Foods and Bev- erages, au interesting little book written for school children. Repeat at home the experiments in this section ; use some of the starch you obtain to starch small pieces of cloth. Bring these and some of the dried starch and cellulose to school. 1 This recipe makes one cup of sauce, enough for four moderate- sized potatoes, or one pint of potato cubes. 68 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY Section 2. Starch Sources op Starch 121. Experiments. — A. Put one heaping tablespoonful of cracked or rolled oats with about one cupful of cold water in a small bowl ; rub the oatmeal between your thumb and fingers for a few minutes, and observe the effect on the water. Fill a small test-tube (a) with the water and set it aside. B. Half fill another test-tube {b) with the water and boil it. Compare the paste formed with that from potato starch (§ 110). Add a drop of iodine solution. What substance does oatmeal contain ? C. Soak rolled wheat, corn-meal, tapioca, rice, or any prepa- ration used for breakfast mush, as you did oatmeal in Exp. A; boil the water, and test it for starch. Is there any substance com- mon to all these foods ? What is it ?