This section is from the book "The Bride's Cook Book", by Ralph P. Merritt. Also available from Amazon: Larousse Gastronomique.
Always serve potatoes with meat. Never serve bread and potatoes.
Boil 6 sweet potatoes and cut each lengthwise in 2 or 3 slices. Pour about 1/2 cup honey into a pan until the bottom is covered about 1/4 inch deep. Let this become very hot, put in the sweet potatoes, and cook about 10 minutes. The grape sugar in the honey combined with the dextrin in the sweet potato gives a delicious nutlike flavor to potatoes cooked in this manner. The honey must be hot when the sweet potatoes are put in, as too long cooking destroys the flavor. Serve with butter and salt.
1. Steam potatoes in their skins. In this way you will save one pound of potatoes in every seven pounds you prepare. It improves their flavor.
2. Much nutriment is lost when potatoes are boiled. Steam or bake them.
3. Choose potatoes of equal size. Otherwise some will be over-cooked and others under-cooked.
Prepare a saucepan of boiling water with steamer attached. Scrub the potatoes well. Put them into the steamer and cook them about one-half hour or until potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork. Remove steamer from the pan. Shake it until the potatoes are dry, and serve in their skins, or peel, if desired.
If you have no steamer, use a basin, placed in a saucepan containing boiling water. In this case, cook five or six minutes longer.
Scrub potatoes well, dry and place in a baking tin. Bake in a moderate oven from one to two hours, according to size. Too great heat will cause the potatoes to shrivel.
Potatoes are improved by being steamed for about twenty minutes before baking. Large potatoes are best for baking.
Steam potatoes until the skins peel off easily. Roughen the surface with a fork and sprinkle with a little flour and salt. Place potatoes in a pan with two or three tablespoon of dripping. Baste often and cook until potatoes are brown and tender.
Use large potatoes of uniform size and wash and scrub them well. When baked, cut off a piece lengthwise and scoop out the inside of the potato. Mash this with margarine and milk. Add any minced cooked meat or cooked flaked fish, anchovy or the remains of any sauce, such as egg sauce, shrimp sauce or parsley sauce. If you have no sauce, a little more milk and margarine may be used. Replace the mixture in the potato and cover with the pieces which have been previously removed, reheat and serve hot.
1. A variation of this is to line the scooped-out potato with the mashed potato mixture. Then break a fresh egg carefully into the center and bake until just set.
2. Another variation would be to use a fillet of cooked fish cooked with well-flavored white sauce instead of an egg.
6 Large Potatoes 1/2 Cup Grated Cheese Butter Substitute Salt and Pepper.
Bake potatoes, remove ends, scrape out inside without breaking shells, mash, mix with cheese and season with pepper and salt. Refill shells, put on ends and bake fifteen minutes.
Raw Potatoes.
Chopped Onion.
Cheese.
Pimientos (optional)
Dice potatoes to the amount needed; add onion to taste, and parboil five minutes. Make a cream sauce and add cheese to the sauce. Pour over the potatoes and onions. Add chopped pimientos and bake.
10 Cold Cooked Potatoes 10 Tomatoes.
6 Tablespoons Margarine or Drippings.
1 Onion Sliced Fine (optional)
Slice the potatoes. Peel and slice tomatoes. Melt the fat in a pan, and add the potatoes, tomatoes and, if desired, the finely-sliced onion. Cook gently for 10 minutes, carefully stirring occasionally. Serve hot.
Arrange a layer of sliced raw or boiled potatoes in greased baking dish and sprinkle with grated cheese and a little flour. Repeat until dish is nearly full. Pour milk over the whole, about one-half cup to every three potatoes. Skim milk is good. Bake in a moderate oven until done. The length of time required depends upon whether the potatoes are raw or boiled and whether the baking dish used is deep or shallow. Boiled potatoes baked in a shallow dish will take only 20 minutes. Raw potatoes in a deep dish may take as much as 1 1/2 hours.
Steam potatoes, remove skins and mash in the saucepan, using a little milk and margarine to soften. Season and serve very hot.
To 1 1/2 pounds mashed potatoes, beat in -.
2 Tablespoons Flour.
2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Cooked.
Onions 2 Tablespoons Grated Cheese.
Salt and Pepper to Taste and, If desired a little Curry Powder may be added.
Shape into pyramids on a greased tin or a fireproof dish and bake until nearly browned (about 1/4 hour).
A variation of this may be made by using -.
3/4 Pound Mashed Potatoes, and 1/2 Pound Mashed and Sliced Cooked Carrot.
 
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