To Cook. Greens. — This is the simplest of dishes, and yet it is
not always a well-served one. Greens should be properly boiled ;
the water should be soft, and a tablespoonful of salt added to a large-
sized pot of i✪ To Cook Greenst, which should be boiling hot when the greens are
thrown in. It should be kept boiling until they are done, which can
be told by their sinking to the bottom of the pot, and then they
should be skimmed out as quickly as possible into a colander, so that
all the water will run out. Press them with a small plate, then turn
upon a platter; add a large piece of butter, and cut up fine. Serve
smoking hot.
To Boil Potatoes. — Ten or twelve potatoes; to each half-gallon
of water allow one heaped tablespoonful of salt. Choose potatoes
of an equal size, pare them, take out all the eyes and specks, and, as
464 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
they are peeled, throw them into cold water. Put them into a sauce-
pan, with sufficient cold water to cover them✪ To Boil Potatoes, 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 after-
ward, 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, with an opening in the
cover of the dish, that a portion of the steam may evaporate, and not
fall back on the potatoes. Moderate-sized old potatoes will cook in
fifteen to twenty minutes after the water boils; large ones, half an
hour to thirty-five minutes.
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.
How to use Cold Potatoes. — To every pound of cold potatoes
allow two tablespoonfuls of flour, two ditto of minced onions, one
ounce of butter, milk✪ How to Use Cold Potatoes. 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 in a mould, and bake in a
moderate oven until nicely browned, which will be in from twenty
minutes to half an hour. Turn them out of the mould, and serve.
Cook twenty minutes to half an hour.
Fried Potatoes {French fashion). — Potatoes, hot butter or clarified
dripping, salt✪ Fried Potatoes (French fashion). Peel and cut the potatoes into thin slices, as nearly
the same size as possible ; make some butter or dripping quite hot in
a frying-pan ; put in the potatoes and fry them on both sides of a nice
COOKERY RECIPES, 465
Page 297 · 4 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
To Cook Greens. — This is the simplest of dishes, and yet it is not always a well-served one. Greens should be properly boiled ; the water should be soft, and a tablespoonful of salt added to a largesized pot of it, which should be boiling hot when the greens are thrown in. It should be kept boiling until they are done, which can be told by their sinking to the bottom of the pot, and then they should be skimmed out as quickly as possible into a colander, so that all the water will run out. Press them with a small plate, then turn upon a platter; add a large piece of butter, and cut up fine. Serve smoking hot.
To Boil Potatoes. — Ten or twelve potatoes; to each half-gallon of water allow one heaped tablespoonful of salt. Choose potatoes of an equal size, pare them, take out all the eyes and specks, and, as
464 THE hearthstone; or, life at home.
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 afterward, 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, with an opening in the cover of the dish, that a portion of the steam may evaporate, and not fall back on the potatoes. Moderate-sized old potatoes will cook in fifteen to twenty minutes after the water boils; large ones, half an hour to thirty-five minutes.
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.
How to use Cold Potatoes. — To every pound of cold potatoes allow two tablespoonfuls of flour, two ditto of minced onions, one ounce of butter, milk. 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 in a mould, and bake in a moderate oven until nicely browned, which will be in from twenty minutes to half an hour. Turn them out of the mould, and serve. Cook twenty minutes to half an hour.
Fried Potatoes {French fashion). — Potatoes, hot butter or clarified dripping, salt. Peel and cut the potatoes into thin slices, as nearly the same size as possible ; make some butter or dripping quite hot in a frying-pan ; put in the potatoes and fry them on both sides of a nice
Records on this page
To Cook GreensTo Boil PotatoesHow to Use Cold PotatoesFried Potatoes (French fashion)