Chesepeake and Ohio Railroad Puff Potatoes

Max, we too are being overrun with deer. They are so hungry and thirsty that we are seeing them even in rural subdivisions. Pretty soon, we’ll hear the rednecks saying. “Honey, keep the gun handy. You never know when you’ll see a deer out on the back porch.”

You can have your Reindeer Mulligan Stew, Max. I’ll keep with more practical and tasty railroad recipes. Like this one from the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. It is sort of a rehash of the old second day mashed potato patties everyone used to know how to make. What makes this different is baking the finger sized pieces.

It has just come to me as I write you, how this recipe came to be popular with the railroad chefs. One, it is cheap and filling. Potatoes then were the item that covered a lack of meat on the table. But for the railroad chef who came up with this recipe, I’ll bet it was the fact that it could be made up in the down hours between meals when there would not be such a rush.

Sure, it would use up any leftover mashed potatoes from a previous meal (which saved the railroad money), but the cooks would have them made up ahead of the meal and sitting in the refrigerator. All the cook had to do was pop the tray into the oven and in ten minutes, you have a fancy potato dish that looked like you slaved over the stove for hours!

This is a recipe that any caterer today should drool over. Not to mention those of us who are lazy and like to look like we labor for hours in our kitchens, plus not spend much mula. Ssssssh. Someone might learn our little secrets.

Puff Potatoes from Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad:

6 large white potatoes
Salt to taste
2 oz. Butter
3 egg yolks
Pinch nutmeg
Flour for dusting
Egg and milk wash

Butter a baking sheet and set aside.

Peel and cut up the potatoes. Place in saucepan, add enough water to barely cover the potatoes, salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook until potatoes are soft. Drain in a colander. Mash with a potato masher, then add the egg yolks, butter and nutmeg.

Put potatoes on lightly floured pastry board. Dust with flour, roll into a long strip and flatten to about 1 inch wide. Cut into finger length pieces. Place fingers on buttered baking sheet an inch apart, brush with a little mixed egg and milk wash and bake until nicely browned, about 10 minutes.

If you don’t have a baking sheet with a Teflon-like finish, you might want to line the sheet with foil first to make it easier to clean up, and so you don’t scratch up your finish.

Serves 6.