144 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1906 



The wrong way of peeling potatoes — thumb too far 

 from Knife. Makes thicK irregular slices 



It is true, therefore, that the best part of 

 the potato lies next to the skin and that is 

 why thin peeling is so important. This pro- 

 cess can be transformed from a dirtv, tedious 

 job to a fine art. If you will scrub the 

 potatoes till clean the work of peeling will be 

 much easier and pleasanter. Use cold water 

 and an ordinary five-cent nail-brush, kept 

 for this purpose. Make the knife follow 

 your thumb closely all the time you are peel- 

 ing or you will have no control over it. 

 Potato peelers can be bought for five cents. 

 While they force thin peeling thev are not 

 often very sharp and soon get out of order. 

 New potatoes do not require peeling as the 

 skin is very thin; they must be scraped. 



THE BEST AND WORST WAYS OF COOKING 



The commonest mistakes we make in cook- 

 ing potatoes are that we use too many fried 

 and boiled potatoes. Fried potatoes are 

 less easily digestible than food cooked in 

 other ways. The most wasteful way to cook 

 potatoes is to peel them, put them in cold 

 water and bring them slowly to a boil. This 

 method allows the water to penetrate to the 

 centre of the potato so that a good deal of 

 the starch may be dissolved and lost and 

 the potato becomes soggy because it has not 

 been "cooked dry." On the other hand, if 

 you put peeled or cut potatoes into boiling 

 water the gluten is hardened at once (as is 

 that other common albuminous food — the 

 white of an egg) thus preventing the water 

 from getting to the starch and thereby ensur- 

 ing a mealy potato. 



The best way to cook potatoes is to bake 

 them, because a dry heat being used none 

 of the food value is lost. Next in nutritive 

 order is the boiling of potatoes with their 

 skins on. Next comes steaming which every- 

 one should practice instead of the common 

 way of boiling because it wastes less starch, 

 while giving the same kind of flavor and tex- 

 ture. Frying is the least rational process. 

 Of the "fancy" methods "ricing" is one of 

 the easiest and most attractive and it has the 

 great advantage of being useful for potatoes 

 unfit for other uses. 



THE BEST WAY OF BAKING 1 



In baking a hot oven is necessary, or the 

 skin will not be crisp. Choose large, well- 

 matured tubers, as small potatoes are not 

 attractive and new ones are not mealy 

 enough. A round one is better than an 

 oblong one, for the pointed ends of the latter 

 remain hard and soggy while the rounded 

 part is floury and well cooked. Prick the 

 skin, to allow the steam to escape, when the 

 potatoes are nearly cooked, otherwise the 



potato will probably burst. Potatoes can be 

 beautifully baked on the top of the gas range, 

 instead of heating the oven for one dish. 

 Use the asbestos mats that you can get at 

 any hardware store, two for five cents. 

 Place a mat on one of your top burners, put 

 on your potatoes, and cover to keep in the 

 heat. Bake as usual, turning frequently. 



THE BEST WAY OF BOIL 



It is better to boil potatoes with their skins 

 on than to cut and neel them, because a 



Showing relative size of cooked starch grains at 

 the right and uncooKed at the left; paucity of starch 

 in internal medullary area ; abundance of starch in 

 external medullary area. (Courtesy Cornell Countryman) 



great deal of the starch is dissolved by boiling 

 water and thrown away with it. Put the 

 potatoes into cold water, which draws out 

 the disagreeable acid in the skin of the potato. 

 After scrubbing the potatoes, put them in 

 cold water, bring it to the boil, and then boil 



A good, cheap substitute for the ideal steamer shown 

 below. A ten-cent home contraption 



the potatoes briskly for about twenty-five 

 minutes. When done, drain off every drop 

 of water, shake the pan gently to break the 

 skin, so as to let the steam escape. Now 

 put the pan near the fire for about ten 

 minutes with a soft cloth on the top. to ab- 



An ideal steamer, which costs $1.55, but soon 

 pays for itself by saving what is wasted in the com- 

 mon method of boiling 



Make the knife follow your thumb closely, or you 

 will have no control over it 



sorb the steam. Peel them, and send them 

 hot to the table. 



STEAMING BETTER THAN BOILING 



The next method in order of merit is 

 steaming. Here the potatoes are not 

 dropped into the water, but cooked entirely 

 by the steam from boiling water. Special 

 steam cookers can be bought for the purpose, 

 but I have often improvised one that answers 

 the same purpose. A ten-cent frying basket 

 fitted on an ordinary saucepan will do very 

 well. The only thing to be careful about is 

 that the lid fits pretty snugly, or the steam 

 will escape, and the potatoes will take much 

 longer to cook. Peel the potatoes, and have 

 the water boiling in the lower part of the 

 steamer. Put the top part on, lay the pota- 

 toes in that, put the lid on, and leave them. 

 By this method, which is the best way to get 

 "boiled" potatoes, you can leave them alone 

 for an hour or more without fear of their be- 

 ing over-done or breaking. 



To find out if they are soft try them with 

 a skewer or knitting needle. Push it into 

 the potato, and if it goes in quite easily the 

 potato is done. Do not use a fork, as so 

 many people do, or you will break the potato 

 and spoil its table appearance. When the 

 potatoes are cooked sufficiently, take the 

 steamer part off the lower saucepan, shake 

 the potatoes gently, and finish as for potatoes 

 boiled in their jackets. Sprinkle with salt 

 just before taking the pan from thefire. 



THE BEST WAY TO BOIL PEELED POTATOES 



Choose potatoes of equal size as nearly 

 as possible, e. g., all large ones one day, all 

 small ones the next. If obliged to cook 

 large and small at the same time do not 

 cut the large ones to make them the same 

 size as the small, but cook the larger ones 

 about eight or ten minutes before the small 

 ones are put in. 



Have ready a saucepan with plenty of boil- 

 ing water. Prepare the potatoes the same 

 way as for steaming. If you do not require 

 the potatoes at once after peeling, lay them 

 in cold water until needed; this makes them a 

 good color when cooked. Peel the potatoes 

 and plunge them into boiling water, boil 

 gently and evenly (if boiled very fast they will 

 'break), try them with a skewer, and if done, 

 proceed the same as with potatoes cooked in 

 their skins. 



Potatoes that have been overcooked or 

 cooked too fast and have broken in the water, 

 can be turned into a dainty and palatable 

 vegetable by mashing. Pass them through 

 a potato "ricer, " or beat them with two 

 forks, with the prongs joined together. 



