Boxty

Chef Kate's Note:

Boxty is essentially potato cakes using both grated and mashed potatoes. The word comes from the Irish bac-stai, for the traditional cooking of potatoes on the hob (bac) over an open fire (stai.) Margaret Johnson ("The New Irish Table") gives this recipe for a boxty from a restaurant in Killarney, County Kerry, using only grated potatoes. She recommends serving it with bacon and cabbage or Irish stew.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 16 potato ...

• 1 lb boiling potato, peeled
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 -4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Line a large bowl with a piece of muslin or cheesecloth, or a clean linen towel.
2. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the potatoes into the bowl.
3. Squeeze the cloth to extract as much of the starchy liquid as possible.
4. Discard the starchy liquid, return the potatoes to the bowl, and stir in the onion, eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
5. Add the flour and mix well.
6. In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat.
7. Drop the potato mixture, 1 tablespoonful at a time, into the skillet; do not crowd the pan.
8. Flatten each cake with a spatula and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned and crisp.
9. Transfer the cakes to a baking sheet and keep warm in a 200-degree oven.
10. Repeat until all the mixture is used, adding more butter as necessary.
11. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[natasha8642]

What a wonderful recipe. My husband just made this for my breakfast and it was delicious, the entire batch was ate in less than 30 minutes!! This is sure to be a family favourite. Thank you.

[Chef #559862]

Pretty good! After reading the other reviews, I used the food processor with grater attachment, which I heartily encourage others to use-- so easy!! I would rather to use a sweet onion, and I would mince it rather than chop it next time. The nutmeg was interesting, and played very well with the pepper. It's worth a try with the nutmeg, but I'm not certain I'd use it again.

[French Tart]

A super and very authentic recipe for Boxty. I make mine with mashed potato or grated potato, and this recipe worked well with the latter method. I have never added nutmeg before, and I rather liked it - I used lots of black pepper, but not much salt, as I only has salted butter to hand. I was late making this for St Patrick's Day, but I never need an excuse to make this classic recipe - so, thanks Kate for posting a variation on a much loved Irish postao dish.......made for PRMR tag game. FT:-)