No. 636 — Potatoes Stuffed with Meat Forcemeat
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 636 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Wash and peel eighteen to twenty-four large potatoes. Trim a little from their bases so they stand upright, remove the tops and hollow out the centers carefully without cutting through the sides.
Put the potatoes in cold salted water, bring to the boil once or twice, then lift out carefully with a perforated spoon and let cool. Coat in beaten egg and breadcrumbs.
For the filling, finely chop ½ Russian pound of raw, boiled or roast veal or beef and fry it lightly in ½ spoonful of butter. Add five or six cooked morels, ¼ glass of fresh sour cream, about two spoonfuls of stock, salt, pepper and three or four crushed rusks. Bring the mixture to the boil.
Stuff the potatoes, replace their tops and set them in a buttered sauté pan, sprinkling a little butter over them. Bake in the oven.
If desired, when baked, remove the tops and put two halves of a cooked crayfish tail on each potato; sprinkle with fresh herbs. Usually serve at breakfast.
Pour over champignon sauce No. 435 or sour-cream sauce No. 423 when serving.
To provide
18–24 large potatoes and ½ Russian pound of meat ¼ Russian pound of butter and ¼ glass of sour cream 5–6 morels and 3–4 rusks | Optional 24 crayfish tails and greens Sauce No. 435 or 423 |