The Boston cooking-school cook book

Season to taste with pepper and salt, and just before serving add yolks two eggs and one-half tablespoon lemon juice. [Illustration: MACEDOINE OF VEGETABLES À LA POULETTE.—_Page 308._ ] [Illustration: STUFFED PEPPERS.—_Page 298._ ] [Illustration: O’BRION POTATOES.—_Page 315._ ] CHAPTER XX POTATOES COMPOSITION Water, 78.9% Starch, 18% Proteid, 2.1% Mineral matter, .9% Fat 1.% Potatoes stand pre-eminent among the vegetables used for food. They are tubers belonging to the Nightshade family; their hardy growth renders them easy of cultivation in almost any soil or climate, and, resisting early frosts, they may be raised in a higher latitude than the cereals. They give needed bulk to food rather than nutriment, and, lacking in proteid, should be used in combination with meat, fish, or eggs. Potatoes contain an acrid juice, the greater part of which lies near the skin; it passes into the water during boiling of potatoes, and escapes with the steam from a baked potato. Potatoes are best in the fall, and keep well through the winter. By spring the starch is partially changed to dextrin, giving the potatoes a sweetness, and when cooked a waxiness. The same change takes place when potatoes are frozen. To prevent freezing, keep a pail of cold water standing near them. Potatoes keep best in a cool dry cellar, in barrels or piled in a bin. When sprouts appear they should be removed; receiving their nourishment from the starch, they deteriorate the potato. New potatoes may be compared to unripe fruit, the starch-grains not having reached maturity; therefore they should not be given to children or invalids. Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes, although analogous to white potatoes, are fleshy roots of the plant, belong to a different family (Convolvulus), and contain a much larger percentage of sugar. Our own country produces large quantities of sweet potatoes, which may be grown as far north as New Jersey and Southern Michigan. Kiln-dried sweet potatoes are the best, as they do not so quickly spoil. Baked Potatoes Select smooth, medium-sized potatoes. Wash, using a vegetable brush, and place in dripping-pan. Bake in hot oven forty minutes or until