Boxty: A Traditional Irish Dish

In just a few short days we will be celebrating Saint Patrick's Day, get out your green clothing, a shamrock and let your Irish side show! 

My husband and I are both from Irish heritages. It is stronger on my husbands side then on mine, we have more Scottish and English then the Irish, but I still love adding that to my lineage. Saint Patrick's Day has become quite the "holiday" all over the world. Traditionally Saint Patrick's Day is to celebrate the death of the foremost patron saint of Ireland who was Saint Patrick. When you celebrate it in it's actual traditional way it is a religious holiday and is observed that way in Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador. Most everyone else who are not even from an Irish background will celebrate it in the commercial sense where they chase leprechauns, wear green, have parades, eat green food and get super drunk.

I really wanted to make something that was a traditional Irish dish, but as my husband and I were looking through recipes and traditional Irish foods we both realized, we did not like most of it. I am going to be honest here, I am really not a fan of a lot of their traditional food. I got a little discouraged because I wanted to have a Saint Patrick's day post for you all. Well my husband searched and found something that both of us went "Yes!" to.

Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake, it is traditionally fried and consists of finely grated raw potatoes mixed with flour, egg, milk and mashed potatoes. It is so popular in Ireland that there is even a folk rhyme about it:

Boxty on the griddle,
And Boxty on the pan;
The wee one in the middle
Is for Mary Ann.
Boxty on the griddle,
boxty on the pan,
If you can't bake boxty
sure you'll never get a man.
Boxty on the griddle,
Boxty on the pan,
If you don't eat boxty,
You'll never get a man.

Apparently all you single ladies, all you need to do is know how to make Boxty and eat it to get a man.

Boxty with Mustard-Chive Creme Fraiche Sauce and Smoked Salmon

Ingredients:

2 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes
1/2 cup of milk
1/3 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 large egg
1/4 cup of cream
5 tablespoons of butter
8 ounces of sliced smoked salmon
1/4 cup of fresh chives
salt and pepper
canola oil

For the mustard sauce:

1/2 cup of creme fraiche 
1/4 cup of whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons of finely chopped chives
salt and pepper

Directions:

For the mustard, sauce mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate until time to serve. 

Preheat oven to 200F, take a baking sheet and place a cooling rack on top and set in the oven. 

Take half of the potatoes peel and cut them into dices and place in a pot with some salted water and cook them until they are soft when a fork is inserted. 

While those are cooking, take the other half of potatoes and peel and grate them by using a cheese grater. Place them on a thin clean kitchen towel or if you have a cheese cloth and sprinkle with salt and squeeze as much water out of them as possible. 

In a separate bowl mix together the milk, flour, baking powder, egg, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

When the potatoes are done boiling prepare them like you would mashed potatoes, add some cream, salt and butter. Mash or whip them up until they are nice and smooth.

Take the grated potatoes and add them to the mashed potatoes, then add the milk, egg and flour mixture. Stir all together. 

Grab a large non stick skillet and heat up a small amount of butter and some canola oil until it is bubbling and hot. Take a scoop of the potato mixture, about 1/4 cup, and place it in the frying pan. You want to work in batches so you might get 2 to 3 at a time in the frying pan. Cook for 3 minutes on one side then flip and cook for another 2 minutes. Transfer the pancakes to the oven while you are frying the other pancakes. 

When all of the batter is gone plate the Boxty. Place the Boxty on the plate first, then add a good spoon full of the mustard sauce on top, roll up your smoked salmon and place on the sauce, then place a few chives on top of the salmon.

Eat right away, enjoy!
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It turned out really well, and we all really liked it! My husband said it was nice to find something that was a traditional Irish food that we could stomach and like. If any of you are searching for something that is a little more of a refined Irish dish, but is also traditional and has potatoes in it, here is the perfect dish!

You can find the original recipe here at the Cooking Channel. Hope you have a wonderful Monday and enjoy Saint Patrick's Day!

Happy cooking!
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