Chapter X

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Boiled potatoes may be used, but baked are better in texture and flavor for creaming.

=6. French fried potatoes.=——Wash and pare small potatoes, cut in eighths lengthwise, and soak a few minutes in cold water. Take from water, dry between towels, and fry in deep fat. Drain on brown paper and sprinkle with salt.

(1) _Deep fat frying._——An iron kettle is the best for deep fat, 3 quarts a convenient size. A wire basket is almost necessary for frying soft material.

Fill the kettle 1/2 full of fat and place over fire. When a slight blue smoke or vapor rises from it, it is ready to test. Test with small cubes of bread. If bread browns in 1 minute, the temperature is right for uncooked mixtures. If it browns in 10 seconds, it is right for cooked materials. Care must be taken to keep the temperatures at the right point, for if too cool, the material will soak fat; if too hot, both fat and material to be cooked will burn.

(2) _To clarify fat._——Drop several slices raw, pared potato into the fat and let bubble up. Strain all through cheesecloth back into pail from which fat was taken. The potatoes seem to absorb food odors and collect crumbs and leave the fat clear.

=7. Stewed celery.=——A green vegetable. Stalks of celery, too tough or coarse for serving uncooked, are delicious when stewed. The process is simple. Wash, scrape, and cut the stalks crosswise. Place them in a stewpan, barely cover with hot water, adding a teaspoonful of salt to a pint of celery. Cook gently for half an hour or until the celery is tender. Use the liquid remaining in making a sauce, adding some milk to make the necessary amount of liquid. Three fourths of a cup of sauce is enough for a pint of celery. See