Potatoes Recipe

Leeks to the Welsh, to Dutchmen butter's dear;

Of Irish swains, _potatoes_ is the cheer.

GAY.

Wash them, but do not pare or cut them, unless they are very large. Fill

a saucepan half full of potatoes of equal size (or make them so by

dividing the larger ones), put to them as much cold water as will cover

them about an inch; they are sooner boiled, and more savory than when

drowned in water. Most boiled things are spoiled by having too little

water; but potatoes are often spoiled by having too much; they must be

merely covered, and a little allowed for waste in boiling, so that they

may be just covered at the finish. Set them on a moderate fire till they

boil; then take them off, and put them by the side of the fire to simmer

slowly till they are soft enough to admit a fork. Place no dependence on

the usual test of their skins cracking, which, if they are boiled fast,

will happen to some potatoes when they are not half done, and the

insides quite hard. Then pour the water off--(if you let the potatoes

remain in the water a moment after they are done enough, they will

become waxy and watery),--uncover the saucepan, and set it at such a

distance from the fire as will secure it from burning; their superfluous

moisture will evaporate, and the potatoes will be perfectly dry and

mealy.

You may afterwards place a napkin, folded up to the size of the

saucepan's diameter, over the potatoes, to keep them hot and mealy till

wanted.

This method of managing potatoes is in every respect equal to steaming

them, and they are dressed in half the time.

There is such an infinite variety of sorts and sizes of potatoes, it is

impossible to say how long they will take doing: the best way is to try

them with a fork. Moderate sized potatoes will generally be done enough

in fifteen or twenty minutes.