Soyer's standard cookery

Take one pound of cold cooked potato and mash until all the lumps have disappeared, add a pat of butter and enough milk or cream to make the potato soft and of the right consistency to form into balls. Add a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a very small quantity of chives (if liked), mix well and form into balls. Coat them with eggs, roll them in finelygrated breadcrumbs, fry a golden brown, drain and serve. I Potatoes a la Lyonnaise. Select some waxy potatoes which have been boiled or steamed and allowed to become cold; cut them into diceshaped pieces and flour them. Put some clarified drippings (about an ounce is sufficient for half a dozen medium-sized potatoes) into a frying pan, with a dessertspoonful of onion (which has been scalded and finely chopped) and the potatoes, and fry them till they are slightly browned, taking care to turn them constantly, so that they do not burn. Then pour into the pan a small quantity of stock or milk, and when it boils add salt and pepper and a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, and serve very hot. Potatoes a la Maitre d'Hotel. Boil some new potatoes, then slice them, and heat them with two ounces of butter, some minced parsley, a few drops of lemon juice, and a half teacupful of stock, salt and pepper. Puffed Potatoes. Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices about one-eighth of an inch in thickness. Cut each slice into half. Soak the potatoes in cold water for half an hour. Dry well by rolling them up in a cloth. Put plenty of clean fat into a stewpan and as soon as it is hot (not boiling) put in the potatoes (in a frying basket). Let them cook slowly until they are tender, but they must on no account be allowed to get brown. Put aside on paper to drain. When they have had time to cool, prepare a bath of boiling fat. Place some of the potatoes (not too many at a time) in a frying basket. Immerse them in the boiling fat, when they should puff up, and quickly become a golden brown. Remove the basket directly the potatoes are ready. When all are done, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve at once. The secret of success lies in the two cookings, and the potatoes must be perfectly dry before cooking. Potato Ribbons. Wash, dry, and peel some large potatoes. Now pare them round and round into long strips. The strips should not be too thin, or they will break. Place in a frying basket and drop into hot fat, and fry a delicate brown; drain and sprinkle with salt, cayenne, and white pepper. Potatoes and Cheese. Beat two large eggs thoroughly, add three-quarters of a pint of milk, and season with a little pepper and salt. Next butter a lange baking dish and put in first a layer of slices of cold potatoes. Sprinkle with grated cheese and a little pepper and salt and add carefully two tablespoonfuls of the eggs and milk. Repeat the process till the dish is full, letting the top layer be one of grated cheese. Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour and serve in the dish in which it is cooked. This is a simple and economical way of using up cold potatoes. It makes an excellent supper dish. Boiled Potatoes. Cook the potatoes in their jackets in salted water, after which peel them, cut into slices and place on a dish. Pour over them a white sauce with capers, or gherkins cut into pieces about the size of capers.