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How We Cook in Tennessee

A page of old Tennessee cookbook recipes for preparing Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes and related potato dishes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Jackson (Tenn.). First Baptist Church. The Silver Thimble Society · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

How We Cook in Tennessee

five persons

Ingredients

Directions

Make the onion potato bake

  1. Boil Irish potatoes and mash the potatoes.

  2. Season with salt, pepper and butter.

  3. Mince a large onion fine and mix it through the potatoes.

  4. Put the mixture in a baking dish and smooth over the top.

  5. Dot with bits of butter.

  6. Put in the oven and brown.

Make potato balls

  1. Mash hot potatoes.

  2. Grate a small onion.

  3. Mix the potatoes with melted butter, chopped parsley, white pepper, pepper and salt to taste.

  4. Form into balls.

  5. Roll in egg, then in bread crumbs, then egg again and crumbs again.

  6. Fry in hot lard to a delicate brown.

Bake the layered and stuffed potatoes

  1. Slice raw potatoes thin.

  2. Place in a pudding dish, with pepper, salt and butter after each layer.

  3. Dredge flour over each layer except the top one.

  4. Butter the dish well before using.

  5. When the dish is full, pour in a cup of milk and bake nearly one hour.

  6. Cut off one end of large, smooth Irish potatoes.

  7. Bake well done with the jackets on.

  8. Take out the inside and cream it.

  9. Season with salt, pepper, butter and a little mustard.

  10. Stuff this back into the jackets.

  11. Put back in the oven until real hot.

Bake and serve plain potatoes

  1. Wash and scrub potatoes of uniform size with a brush, and dig out all eyes.

  2. Cook in just enough water to keep from burning until easily pierced with a fork.

  3. Drain, then place potatoes in the oven for five minutes to dry and become mealy.

  4. Wash and dry potatoes.

  5. Bake in a moderate oven until a fork will easily pierce them, turning them occasionally.

  6. Press each potato until it bursts slightly.

  7. Serve at once in a folded napkin placed in a hot dish.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

422Calories
13 gProtein
20 gFat
51 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Jackson (Tenn.). First Baptist Church. The Silver Thimble Society. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Potato + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Parsley + mustardtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,588 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Irish potatoes
Starch that mashes into a soft base and bakes to a fluffy, set texture.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and browns in the oven for flavor.
Milk
Adds moisture that softens the layers as the dish bakes.

The step that matters

Cook in just enough water, then dry the potatoes. Too much water dilutes flavor and makes the flesh waterlogged, while too little can scorch the pan. Draining and a brief oven drying evaporate surface moisture so the flesh turns dry and mealy rather than wet.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, parsley, milk, pepper):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, parsley, milk, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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