Can You Cook a Potato? 



EFFIE M. ROBINSON 



WITH an extra bushel of potatoes 

 for every man, woman and child 

 in the United States (official 

 figures) this year the cooking of 

 the potato becomes a real menace. Simple! 

 Yes, any one can boil a potato — somehow — 

 but the problem is to do it right, and know 

 how and why you do it.- 



How to Choose Your Potatoes 



/GREENISH, or black colored, frozen or 

 ^-" softened potatoes may as well be thrown 

 out at once. Don't waste your time prepar- 



There is economy in properly peeling a potato. Let the 

 knife closely follow the thumb and pare thinly 



ing them for the table — find some other use 

 for them. Potatoes should be firm and white 

 and of even size. Whether you dig them from 

 your own ground or buy them from the stores, 

 large and small are always jumbled together. 

 Now, if cooked as they come the small ones will 

 be cooked to a mash before the large ones are 

 done. If you must cook large and small to- 

 gether do not cut the large ones but make a 

 handicap race out of it. Start to cook the large 

 ones a few minutes before the small ones are 

 put in, they will then all finish cooking at the 

 same time. 



Preserve the Gluten 



DEEL your potatoes very thinly. The 

 *■ gluten, which lies just underneath the 

 skin, is the most nutritious part of the potato; 

 the rest of it being composed chiefly of water 

 and starch. As you will see by the illustra- 

 tion of a slice of potato, the layer of gluten 

 is very thin in some places, and if the skin is 

 peeled off in great chunks the gluten is peeled 

 off with it and thrown away, thereby losing 



the nourishment and wasting the potato, and 

 consequently more potatoes will be needed for 

 a dishful. 



New potatoes must be scraped as the skin 

 is very thin and peeling would cut away too 

 much. All potatoes must be scrubbed quite 

 clean before peeling. This done drop them 

 into a bowl of clean water. Use a small 

 sharp vegetable paring knife, letting the thumb 

 follow the knife closely all the way down the 

 potato. This keeps control of the knife and 

 will prevent it slipping. Drop them into 

 cold water, after peeling them, till you are 

 ready to cook them to prevent them from 

 turning black. 



If You Don't Want to Peel Them 



COME people think it is better to cook 

 ^ potatoes with the skin on and that they 

 are a better flavor. If this is done they must 

 be put on in cold water to draw out the poi- 

 sonous acid, called solanin, that is in the skin. 

 It gives a bitter flavor and has sometimes 

 been known to cause illness. It is more pro- 

 nounced in old potatoes. 



When preparing potatoes with the skin on, 

 whether new or old, it is a good plan to "top 

 and tail" them. That is, cut a small piece 

 ofF each end of the potato, or you can cut a 

 very narrow strip off all around it, making it 

 easier for the salt to penetrate, besides giving 

 the potatoes a better flavor. 



The Water You Must Use 



DUT potatoes into boiling water to harden 

 *• the gluten. Gluten is the same sort 

 of substance as the albumen found in the 

 white of eggs and if put into cold water it will 

 melt and soften. As a result a great deal of 



Do you realize that the outer portion of the potato has 

 the best food value? Gluten is shown by the darkened area 

 on the margin of the picture 



"Flowery and light." The tool on the left is handy and 

 efficient. Two forks make a serviceable masher 



it will be lost before the water gets hot enough 

 to harden it. Have plenty of water in order 

 to give the starch grains room to swell, and 

 to each two quarts of water add a heaping 

 teaspoonful of salt. Keep the lid on closely 

 to prevent the steam escaping. Boil them 

 gently and steadily to prevent them from 

 breaking. After half an hour try them with 

 a skewer or a steel knitting needle (anything 

 that will make one hole); a fork pushed into 

 a soft boiled potato will break it and spoil its 

 appearance. When the tubers are tender, drain 

 the water off into a bowl (not into the sink!) 

 as the water is a good foundation for cream 

 soups or broths. 



How to Have "Balls of Flour" 



NOW for the secret of dry floury potatoes! 

 Drain the potatoes dry. Give the pan 

 a sharp, quick shake. This breaks the coat- 

 ing of gluten and the white starchy inside is 

 exposed, making the potato look like a ball of 

 flour. Put the saucepan back in a warm 

 place, laying a clean soft cloth on the top to 

 absorb the steam. Don't put the lid on as 

 that keeps the steam in and makes the potato 

 soggy and discolored. You can keep potatoes 

 warm with the cloth on top for about ten 

 minutes without spoiling. 



134 



How to Steam 



TF MORE convenient, potatoes can be 

 *■ steamed instead of boiled. The water 

 must be boiling and steam ready before the 

 potatoes are put into the steamer. Peel them 

 the same as you would for boiling, then place 

 them in the steamer and sprinkle salt over 

 them. They will take about one hour. Shake 

 the pan as for boiled potatoes. I see no par- 



"Hacking off" the skin is wasteful of food. And moreover, 

 sacrifices the best part of the potato 



ticular advantage in this method myself if 

 the potatoes are put into boiling water, 

 though some people claim that there is so 

 much water in a potato that it is better not 

 to put them into more. 



For Salad 



POTATOES for salad must not be shaken 

 *■ because they are required to be as waxy 

 or watery as you can get them. The small 

 potatoes are best for that purpose. Cut them 

 while hot. 



How to Bake 



* I "'HE lady next door to me never baked a 

 ■*• potato in her life and there may be 

 others like her. You cannot bake new pota- 

 toes — the skin is too thin. But when the 

 skin becomes thick and corklike it is "a deli- 

 cious way to cook them. Scrub them quite 

 clean; then dry them thoroughly. Have a 

 hot oven ready to bake them in or the skin 

 will not be crisp; and when they are nearly 

 done prick them with a skewer in two or three 

 places to allow the steam to escape; otherwise 

 they will quite likely burst all over the oven. 

 They take about one hour to bake. 



"Is it done?" Use a knitting needle to explore; a fork may 

 smash the potato to a pulp 



