FRENCH FRIED SWEET POTATOES

Wash and cut small uncooked sweet potatoes into quarters; dry them and lower them into boiling hot fat.  Brown thoroughly; remove with a skimmer; drain and dry on paper; sprinkle with salt and serve.

ROAST SWEET POTATOES

These are commonly called “baked” sweet potatoes.  Select those of uniform size; wash, and roast in the oven until done, which you can easily tell by pressing the potatoes.  If done they will leave an impression when touched.  It usually requires three-quarters of an hour.  Serve in their “jackets.”

ROAST SWEET POTATOES WITH MEAT

Pare, cut lengthwise, salt and put them around roast meats or poultry of any kind.  Roast about three-quarters of an hour, or until brown.

SWEET POTATOES AND APPLES

Wash and pare long sweet potatoes.  Cook in boiling salted water until almost soft; drain and cut slices crosswise, two inches high.  Core, pare and cut apples in one-half inch rounds.  Into a spider, place the potatoes upright, with a slice of apple on top of each.  Pour over one-half cup of maple syrup, one-fourth cup of water and two tablespoons of butter.  Baste frequently until apples are soft.  Then pour one teaspoon of rum over each section, place a candied cherry in the center of each apple and bake ten minutes.  Remove to platter and if desired, pour more rum over and around.  Light the liquor and bring to the table burning.

CANDIED SWEET POTATOES

Boil sweet potatoes, peel and cut into long slices; place in an earthen dish; place lumps of butter or chicken-fat if desired on each side, and sprinkle with sugar.  A little water or juice of half a lemon may be added.  Bake until the sugar and fat have candied and the potatoes are brown.

DRIED BEANS

Look the beans over carefully to remove all dirt and pebbles, then wash clean.  Soak them overnight in plenty of cold water.  In the morning pour off the water and put them in a stew-pan with cold water enough to cover them generously.  Let them come to the boiling point in this water, then drain.  If the beans are old and hard, for each quart put a piece of soda about the size of a large bean in the water in which they are soaked overnight, also in the first water in which they are boiled.

The scalded and drained beans should be put back in the stew-pan and covered generously with boiling water.  Add one tablespoon of salt for one quart of beans.  They should now cook slowly, with the cover partially off the stew-pan until they have reached the required degree of tenderness.  For stewed and baked beans the cooking must stop when the skins begin to crack.  For beans served with a sauce they should cook until perfectly tender, but they must not be broken or mushy.  For purees and soups they should be cooked until very soft.