Boiled Potatoes

Ingredients

• Potatoes
• a teaspoonful of salt

Method

1. 1

   Put potatoes into plenty of cold water with salt.

2. 2

   Cook slowly until they can be pierced with a skewer.

3. 3

   Drain carefully, cover, and place by the fire to finish cooking in steam for 4-5 minutes.

4. 4

   Remove the lid to let steam escape and shake gently to prevent sticking.

Nutrition per serving

As published

This recipe was extracted from The girl's own cookery book (1882) by Phillis Browne, page 49. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Potatoes. — Wash in two or three waters and brush well before paring. In Ireland potatoes are both cooked and served in their skins, but this plan is not a popular one with English cooks. After being thoroughly cleansed, peel old potatoes thinly with a sharp knile and remove the specks and eyes. When potatoes are a bad colour it is generally due to their having been peeled without having been previously well washed and scrubbed. New potatoes should be well washed, then either rubbed with a towel or scraped with a sharp knife. Carrots. — Wash and brush well, then scrape as thinly as possible with a knife, from the head downwards. If small they may be boiled whole. If large they may be either cut into quarters or cut fancy shapes. Turnips. — Wash and brush well, then peel thickly till you reach a line which is a little way below the skin. Cut them up if too large. French beans. — Break off the end and tear the strings from each side of the pod. Cut the beans slanting into two or three pieces. French or globe artichokes. — Carefully wash these, and with a pair of scissors cut off the points of the leaves. When elaborately cooked the choke, that is the hay-like substance which is at the heart of the vegetable, must be removed. This is not necessary for plain boiling. Asparagus. — Choose heads of equal size. Scrape the stems slightly and throw them into cold water as they are done, but do not keep them in long. Cut the white ends evenly, and tie the asparagus into small bundles. Bind with tape. Sea kale. — Wash and trim the roots. Bind in bundles. lettuce. — (See Salads.) Spinach. — This is a very gritty vegetable. It needs to be washed in several waters, and should be lifted with 78 The Girl’s Own Cookery Book. both hands out of one pan of water into another in order to leave the grit behind. When clean take the leaves, one at a time, double them together, and tear away the stalk and fibre from the middle of each leaf. Celery. — Wash thoroughly, and cut away the root and the outer stalks. Peas and Windsor beans. — Shell these a short time before they are wanted. They will lose both colour and flavour if shelled long before being cooked. Dried vegetables, such as peas, haricot beans, and lentils, should be soaked over-night in cold water. Dis- coloured beans, or beans which float, should be thrown away. Vegetables after being prepared should be laid in cold water until they are to be boiled. It is, however, a mistake to leave them over long in water, as green vege- tables especially would deteriorate in quality if soaked. They should be well drained before being cooked. Green vegetables after being trimmed and cleansed should be put into plenty of fast-boiling salted water, without soda, and should be kept boiling quickly, the lid off the pan, till done. The only exceptions to this rule of quick boil- ing being green peas, beans, asparagus, cauliflower, and brocoli. The reason why the exceptions are made is that quick boiling might break the skins of the peas and beans, the heads of the asparagus, and the flower of the cauli- flower. Peas should not be put into salted water, a little sugar should be thrown into the water instead. Spinach is an exception to the general rule of boiling in plenty of water. This vegetable has so much water in its composition that it only needs to cook in as much water as hangs about it after washing. It should be packed into a large empty saucepan, a little salt should be sprinkled over it, and it should then be allowed to boil quickly in its own juices till tender. It will fall consider- ably in boiling, indeed we may calculate that when boiled it will occupy only one-tenth of the space which was needed for it before boiling. When tender the water should be pressed from it till it is as dry as possible. It may then be chopped small, put into a stewpan with an ounce of butter and a little pepper and salt, and stirred over the 79 How to Cook Vegetables. fire with a wooden spoon till hot. A superior method of ser\'ing it is to squeeze it in a cloth to free it from mois- ture, then rub it through a wire sieve and stir it over the fire with pepper, salt, butter, and a small quantity of cream. Asparagus and sea kale are dished upon toast, in order that they may be drained perfectly. Melted butter may be poured over sea kale, but never over asparagus. Potatoes should be one kind, and as nearly of one size as possible. Old potatoes are e.\cellent steamed. If boiled they should be put into plenty of cold water, with a teaspoonful of salt

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.