Sweet Potatos
Choose the sweet potatos large, and nearly of the same size, then you can either boil or roast them. When small they should always be boiled; as, when baked or roasted, the skin becomes so thick and hard, that it takes up nearly the whole potato. Wash them very clean, and cut off a bit from each end. Put them into a large pot of boiling water without salt, and boil them steadily for at least an hour. Probe them with a narrow-bladed sharp knife, and if it does not easily penetrate all through the largest potato, (in at one side and out at the other) continue the boiling till all are soft throughout. Then take them up, peel them, and keep them warm till sent to table.
To Bake Sweet Potatos they should all be large. Wash them, dry them, and cut off the ends. Then bake them in an oven, lying side by side, not piling one on another. Or else (which is better) roast them in hot ashes. They will not be done in less than an hour and a half, perhaps longer. Then wipe them clean, and serve them up in the skins. Eat them from the skins, with cold butter and a tea-spoon.
To Stew Sweet Potatos.—Wash and wipe them. Then scrape off the skins with a sharp knife. Split them, and cut them into long pieces. Stew them with fresh pork, veal, or beef; first putting at the bottom a very little butter or water to start them, and then the gravy of the meat will suffice for cooking them—skimming it well. Water to stew should be hot.
Mashed Sweet Potatos are very nice. When well boiled, mash them smoothly with a potato beetle. Mix them with fresh butter, and then stir them well, or beat them with a large wooden spoon to render them light. Afterwards, you may make them into round thick cakes, and touch the surface of every one with pepper—red or black. This is a breakfast dish for company.