Potatoes, now so often forbidden by doctors, seem to
me excellent, wholesome food for people who do not eat
meat. They can be cooked in such an endless variety of
ways, though most English cooks confine themselves, as a
rule, to only two or three. The secret of good mashed
potatoes is to boil them dry, and beat them up with
boiling milk, adding a little butter or cream. Cold
DECEMBER 253
milk makes them heavy, and spoils them. Another way
is to put in a stew-pan some potatoes and two or
three sliced onions, to boil, with only enough water to
cover them. When they are done, beat them well with
a fork, have ready some boiling milk and a piece of
butter, stir these in by degrees as you beat, till the
potatoes are like a thick pur£e. ' Dainty Dishes ' has
several receipts for cooking potatoes.
A seaweed called Laver is a delicious, wholesome, and
uncommon vegetable in London in November and
December. It is to be bought at any of the really good
grocers', not greengrocers'. The London supply, I be-
lieve, comes from Devonshire, prepared and cooked, and
requires nothing beyond a little stock and butter to
moisten it when it is warmed up. It should be served
in a small copper saucepan with a lamp under it, as it is
not good unless very hot indeed. For helping it a small
wooden spoon is better than a silver one ; at least, so it
used to be served in old days in the North, when I
remember it as a child. Half a lemon is sent up with it.
A good many people do not like it, I am bound to
confess; but those who do, find it a treat they look
forward to — and it is good either 'by itself or with any
roast meat, especially mutton.
The same little copper saucepan is useful for a wild
duck sauce which I always make on the table. The
saucepan, on a spirit-lamp, comes up with some gravy in
it ; I then squeeze in half or all of a lemon, according to
quantity required, and add a little red wine — Port is the
best — and some Cayenne pepper. When warm, I pour it
over the slices of wild duck on each plate. Wild duck
should be very lightly roasted.
Eice plays a large part in our cooking all the year
round ; Patna is nearly always the best. Eisotto a la
Milanese is an original Italian receipt : — Cut up four onions
254 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN
very fine, and fry a nice brown. Throw into the stew-pan
1 Ib. of rice, and let it slightly colour ; then moisten with good
stock, and cook it for 35 minutes. Season with pepper
and salt, a little nutmeg, and Parmesan cheese. Serve
very hot. Chopped truffles or mushrooms may be added.
An excellent winter salad for serving with wild duck
and many other birds is watercress, carefully picked and
washed, pieces of orange (cut as described below for the
compote), all the juice of the oranges, and a few drops of
good salad oil added just before serving.
Page 150
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
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Potatoes, now so often forbidden by doctors, seem to
me excellent, wholesome food for people who do not eat
meat. They can be cooked in such an endless variety of
ways, though most English cooks confine themselves, as a
rule, to only two or three. The secret of good mashed
potatoes is to boil them dry, and beat them up with
boiling milk, adding a little butter or cream. Cold
DECEMBER 253
milk makes them heavy, and spoils them. Another way
is to put in a stew-pan some potatoes and two or
three sliced onions, to boil, with only enough water to
cover them. When they are done, beat them well with
a fork, have ready some boiling milk and a piece of
butter, stir these in by degrees as you beat, till the
potatoes are like a thick pur£e. ' Dainty Dishes ' has
several receipts for cooking potatoes.
A seaweed called Laver is a delicious, wholesome, and
uncommon vegetable in London in November and
December. It is to be bought at any of the really good
grocers', not greengrocers'. The London supply, I be-
lieve, comes from Devonshire, prepared and cooked, and
requires nothing beyond a little stock and butter to
moisten it when it is warmed up. It should be served
in a small copper saucepan with a lamp under it, as it is
not good unless very hot indeed. For helping it a small
wooden spoon is better than a silver one ; at least, so it
used to be served in old days in the North, when I
remember it as a child. Half a lemon is sent up with it.
A good many people do not like it, I am bound to
confess; but those who do, find it a treat they look
forward to — and it is good either 'by itself or with any
roast meat, especially mutton.
The same little copper saucepan is useful for a wild
duck sauce which I always make on the table. The
saucepan, on a spirit-lamp, comes up with some gravy in
it ; I then squeeze in half or all of a lemon, according to
quantity required, and add a little red wine — Port is the
best — and some Cayenne pepper. When warm, I pour it
over the slices of wild duck on each plate. Wild duck
should be very lightly roasted.
Eice plays a large part in our cooking all the year
round ; Patna is nearly always the best. Eisotto a la
Milanese is an original Italian receipt : — Cut up four onions
254 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN
very fine, and fry a nice brown. Throw into the stew-pan
1 Ib. of rice, and let it slightly colour ; then moisten with good
stock, and cook it for 35 minutes. Season with pepper
and salt, a little nutmeg, and Parmesan cheese. Serve
very hot. Chopped truffles or mushrooms may be added.
An excellent winter salad for serving with wild duck
and many other birds is watercress, carefully picked and
washed, pieces of orange (cut as described below for the
compote), all the juice of the oranges, and a few drops of
good salad oil added just before serving.