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Irish potato pancakes lox-style.
There are many culinary staples in the world that are more or less the same thing but called something different depending on the culture or region. For example, a piece of dough wrapped around a filling can be called a dumpling, a peirogi, an empenada, a ravioli or whatever the hell you want to call it. When it comes to mixing potatos with flour and frying them up pancake-style in a pan, you might think of the Jewish latke or the polish potato pancake (placki ziemniaczane) or even Denny's hashbrowns for fuck's sake, but in Ireland, where they know a thing or two about potatoes, it's called the boxty. And it's bitchin.
I'm not aware of the Irish topping theirs with smoked salmon and essentially creating a lox, but the recipe below is from the NY Times and, as noted, theirs is done in more of a "modern fashion". I'm sure St. Brigid wouldn't mind.
I more or less followed the NY Times recipe, but noted a few tweaks in italics below.
Ingredients
FOR THE PICKLED RED ONIONS:
½ small red onion
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
FOR THE BOXTY:
Fine sea salt and black pepper
2 pounds all-purpose potatoes, preferably Rooster or Yukon gold
1 cup buttermilk (or just regular ass whole milk)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, as needed
Smoked salmon and sour cream (or plain yogurt), for serving (optional)
Preparation
Step 1
Prepare the pickled red onions: Slice the red onion thinly from stem to stem, then transfer slices to a small heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, salt and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium, stirring occasionally, until sugar and salt dissolve, then pour on top of onions; set aside.
If you don't pickle your own onions you're missing out. It's quite possibly the easiest thing to do in the kitchen that feels like a meaningful culinary achievement.
Step 2
Prepare the boxty: Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water; season generously with salt and bring to a boil over high heat.
Step 3
Peel half the potatoes, then cut them into 1-inch cubes, tossing the cubes into the water as you go. Once the water comes to a boil, continue to cook until potatoes are soft, 10 to 15 minutes. I usually boil my potatoes for about 10 min. Boiling for 15 seems a bit overkill.
Step 4
While the diced potatoes boil, peel the remaining potatoes, then grate them coarsely using a box grater. Season the grated potatoes generously with 2 teaspoons sea salt and 1 teaspoon pepper, toss to coat, then transfer them to a clean, dry kitchen towel. Squeeze the grated potatoes over a sink to remove the excess liquid, then transfer them to a large bowl. I had no clue how much water you can squeeze out of raw potatoes. Holy fuck.
Step 5
Once the diced potatoes are soft, transfer them to a colander to strain, then transfer to the large bowl with the grated potatoes; mash until creamy, and mashed and grated potatoes are well combined.
Step 6
Pour the buttermilk on top of the warm potato mixture and stir briefly just to combine. I used whole milk because I didn't feel like buying just a little bit of buttermilk.
Step 7
Add the flour and baking powder and stir until thoroughly combined.
Step 8
In a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Working in batches, spoon in the potato mixture using 1/3 cup measure to form small 3- to 4-inch-wide pancakes, leaving at least 1 inch of space between pancakes. Cook until nicely browned on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining pancakes, adding more butter between batches as needed.
Step 9
Serve pancakes topped with pickled red onions, and smoked salmon and sour cream, if you like. I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream because this is clearly a very healthy dish.
Impress your partner, your dog or yourself with this breakfast for champions and marvel that you fucking made it from scratch!
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