Cold baked potatoes will be converted at once into stuffed potatoes, and put aside for rewarming. Two cold boiled potatoes will make a comfortable dish of hashed browned potatoes, or may be served with cream sauce or au gratin. Stuffed Potatoes Baked potatoes that are left over must be made into stuffed potatoes before they are heavy and cold. At the close of the meal at which they were first served, cut the potatoes directly into halves, scoop out the inside portion, put it through an ordinary vegetable press, or mash it fine; add a little butter, salt, pepper and sufficient milk to make a light mixture; stand this over hot water and beat until light and smooth. Put it back into the shells, and stand them aside in a cold place. When ready to serve, brush the top with beaten egg, run them into a quick oven until hot and golden brown. Potato Croquettes Cold mashed potatoes may be made into croquettes by adding to each pint four tablespoonfuls of heated milk, the yolks of two eggs, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of grated onion, a quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper; stir over the fire until the mixture is thoroughly heated; form into cylinder-shaped croquettes, dip in egg and rolled bread crumbs and fry in smoking hot fat. Potato croquettes are more difficult to fry than meat croquettes; the fat must be at least 365 degrees (Fahr.) and the rolling carefully done. Potato Puff The above mixture may have the whites of the eggs beaten and stirred in, and baked in the oven; serve in the same dish in which it was baked. Potato Roses for Garnishing Cold boiled potatoes may have added sufficient milk to make a soft paste; stir it over the fire until smooth; put it into your pastry bag, using a star tube; hold the bag firmly, pressing out on greased papers these little potato roses; brown in the oven and use them for garnishing fish dishes. Potato Custards Stir two cups of cold mashed potatoes, with four tablespoonfuls of milk, over the fire until they are warm and light; take from the fire and add three eggs beaten light with four tablespoonfuls of sugar. Add a teaspoonful of vanilla, stir in carefully a pint and a half of milk. Put this mixture into greased custard cups; stand in a baking pan of boiling water and bake in a moderate oven until set, about twenty or thirty minutes. Where a little cooked meat and, at the same time, mashed potatoes, are left over, the meat may be seasoned with a savory sauce, turned into a baking dish, the mashed potatoes slightly thinned with hot milk and then slightly thickened with flour, and used as a crust. This makes what we call a potato pie. Four tablespoonfuls of milk and four of flour would be a good allowance to each cupful of mashed potatoes. |