Brought to us by Jeanette
“Old” potatoes, 6 medium
Salt
Homogenized milk, 1 cup
Butter “the size of an egg”
Pepper
Drippings, 2 tablespoons
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Scrub potatoes, and put them in a kettle. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, cover with warm water, and simmer. After 15 minutes begin testing with fork; when potatoes are soft and flaky remove from heat, drain, and peel.
Heat milk in saucepan just to boiling point; add butter. Break up the potatoes in the kettle with the beetle and andd half the buttery milk. With the beetle blend potatoes and liquid; then switch to slotted spoon and beat “as you would a cake” – that is, working alway in the same direction to incorporate as much air as possible.
Divide day-old chilled mashed potatoes into number of servings desired. Heat drippings in skillet. Shape potatoes as you would hamburgers and fry them in hot fat, turning once after thye have browned on the first side. Remove them to a warm platter as soon as they are crusty.
* Unfortunately my potatoes were too moist to form into patties to fry.
Source: The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Classic Stories
