To Boil New Potatoes

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861
Source
The Book of Household Management
Yield
3.0 lbs for 5-6 persons
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (3)
for serving
Instructions (6)
  1. Do not have the potatoes dug long before they are dressed, as they are never good when they have been out of the ground some time.
  2. Well wash them, rub off the skins with a coarse cloth, and put them into boiling water salted in the above proportion.
  3. Let them boil until tender; try them with a fork, and when done, pour the water away from them.
  4. Let them stand by the side of the fire with the lid of the saucepan partially uncovered, and when the potatoes are thoroughly dry, put them into a hot vegetable-dish, with a piece of butter the size of a walnut.
  5. Pile the potatoes over this, and serve.
  6. If the potatoes are too old to have the skins rubbed off, boil them in their jackets; drain, peel, and serve them as above, with a piece of butter placed in the midst of them.
Original Text
TO BOIL NEW POTATOES. 1139. INGREDIENTS.—Potatoes; to each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt. Mode.—Do not have the potatoes dug long before they are dressed, as they are never good when they have been out of the ground some time. Well wash them, rub off the skins with a coarse cloth, and put them into boiling water salted in the above proportion. Let them boil until tender; try them with a fork, and when done, pour the water away from them; let them stand by the side of the fire with the lid of the saucepan partially uncovered, and when the potatoes are thoroughly dry, put them into a hot vegetable-dish, with a piece of butter the size of a walnut; pile the potatoes over this, and serve. If the potatoes are too old to have the skins rubbed off, boil them in their jackets; drain, peel, and serve them as above, with a piece of butter placed in the midst of them. Time.—1/4 to 1/2 hour, according to the size. Average cost, in full season, 1d. per lb. Sufficient.—Allow 3 lbs. for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable in May and June, but may be had, forced, in March. POTATO STARCH.—This fecula has a beautiful white crystalline appearance, and is inodorous, soft to the touch, insoluble in cold, but readily soluble in boiling water. It is on this starch that the nutritive properties of the tubers depend. As an aliment, it is well adapted for invalids and persons of delicate constitution. It may be used in the form of arrow-root, and eaten with milk or sugar. For pastry of all kinds it is more light and easier of digestion than that made with flour of wheat. In confectionery it serves to form creams and jellies, and in cookery may be used to thicken soups and sauces. It accommodates itself to the chest and stomach of children, for whom it is well adapted; and it is an aliment that cannot be too generally used, as much on account of its wholesomeness as its cheapness, and the ease with which it is kept, which are equal, if not superior, to all the much-vaunted exotic feculae; as, salep, tapioca, sago, and arrow-root.
Notes
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