POTATOES HELP OUT OUR MEALS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 365, 21 June 1946, Page 26

POTATOES HELP OUT OUR MEALS

OTATOES are sometimes spoken of disparagingly, especially by those who are trying to reduce. But we must remember that in Scotland and Ireland, for many years, potatoes formed the staple article of diet, along with fish and oatmeal. Potatoes baked in their jackets contain almost everything the body needs to keep it healthy, except fat-that is about 1 per cent. But potatoes absorb fat very readily in cooking-fried potatoes can absorb about 40 per cent. of their own weight of fat. Potatoes served often also lessen the consumption of bread and flour-and with world shortage of grain this could be a help. Here are some tasty recipes. Potato Charlotte with Carrot Sauce Grease a mould. Fill with finely sliced raw potatoes. Sprinkle each layer with pepper and salt, and put dabs of cooking fat. Bake in a hot oven about an hour, and then turn out carefully on to a dish. It should be golden brown, Serve with this CARROT SAUCE. Three tablespoons of finely grated carrot; 4 tablespoons of wholemeal; 4% teaspoon of salt; 1142 cups of boiling water; 2 tablespoons of orange or lemon juice; 3 tablespoons of butter (or fat), and about a tablespoon of sugar to taste. Mix the carrot, sugar, flour, salt and water smoothly, in a double saucepan, till thick and clear. Add the rest, and cook gently over boiling water. Fish and Potato Casserole One and a-half pounds of mashed potatoes; ¥20z. butter or good cooking fat; 1 egg; 120z. of flaked or mashed fish; 4% pint of good white sauce, and a little parsley. Mix together the mashed potato, the egg, and the butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Put it in the casserole, leaving a big hole or well in the centre. Mix the fish with the white sauce, and some chopped parsley, and put it into the hole in the centre. Mark the potato round the edge, and bake in a moderate oven about 30 or 40 minutes. You could sprinkle it all with chopped parsley, or flakes, or bread. crumbs. Potato Savoury Pie Fill a pie dish with alternate layers of sliced apple and potato, seasoning each layer with salt, pepper, grated cheese, and minced onion. Add about 4% teacup of water. Cover with a short crust, and bake for % hour. Tomato may be substituted for the apple. Potato Soup Two pounds of potatoes; 1 leek; 1 stick of celery; 2 pints of water; 1 pint of milk; 2o0z. butter or fat; 2oz. of sago; and seasoning. Cut up the vegetables, and put in a saucepan with the butter or fat (use only the white part of the leek), and cook slowly for ten minutes. Add the milk and water and

boil for about an hour. Rub through a fine sieve. Boil again, add the sago and let it simmer till transparent. If you have no sago, you could thicken it at the last with a little cornflour. Season, add a little top milk, boil again, and serve with fingers of fried bread, or toast. Cornish Potatoes Boil, mash and season some potatoes, adding sufficient beaten egg to bind the mash to a paste. Roll this out, and cut into rounds about four inches across, and half an inch thick. Place on each some minced boiled, fish, seasoning, and a little dripping.’ Cover with another round, press the edges together, flour both sides, and fry in boiling fat to a golden brown. Drain, atrange on a dish, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Tomato satice is tasty with this. Potato Pancakes Peel 1%4lb. of raw potatoes, grate them on a fine grater. Into 3 cups of grated potatoes, stir 1 grated small onion; 1 unbeaten egg; 5 tablespoons of flour; 1 teaspoon of salt, and pepper to taste. Heat some fat in a pan, and. drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture into the hot fat. Fry until crisp and brown, and then turn and brown the other side, Plan to fry the pancakes immediately, to prevent the potatoes discolouring. Potato Flan Boil 11b. of potatoes, and mash them with milk and butter. Arrange this round the edge of a dish, and brush with egg of milk, and brown it under a griller or in the oven. Make a good white sauce with 14 pint of milk, add 2 tablespoons of grated cheese; 1 hard-boiled egg sliced; parsley, pepper and salt to taste. Pour into the flan, and decorate with chopped parsley. Serve hot. Any cooked vegetables could be added to the white sauce, with the cheese, and used for the filling. Or buttered carrots could be put in-with or without the white sauce. Potato Rolls This is a good way to use up crusts of bread. Put some breadcrusts to soak in water. Boil some poviatoes agd mash them while hot with a litile piece of butter; add,enough sifted flour and a little milk to make a pliable paste. Roll out on a floured boaid, and cut into squares. Strain the water from the crusts and squeeze as dry as possible. Add chopped parsley, a good pinch of mixed herbs; salt and pepper; and sofne finely chopped onion or celery. Mix well together, put a spoonful on each pastry square, damp the edges, and fold over hike a sausage roll. Bake in a good oven for about 25 minutes, and serve hot. Irish Potato Cakes Half a pound of mashed potatoes; 207. butter or fat; Yelb. of flour; 1 small teaspoon of baking powder; and milk or (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) water to mix. Rub the butter into the flour; add the potato, mix well to a dough with milk or water. Roll out on to a floured board, and cut into rounds. These can be used in the following ways-(1) Bake in the oven and serve as scones; (2) Use as pastry to cover

pies. (3) Fry in shallow fat, and serve for breakfast with a small portion of chopped bacon to each; for tea with a small teaspoon of jam on each; or for supper with grated cheese sprinkled on, and then lightly grilled.