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Irish Potato Cakes

Posted on by Becks

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 To me, this is the easiest and tastiest way to use up some left-over mashed potato.
These potato cakes are nothing like the famous Norn Irn Potato Bread which, although delicious, probably has a lot more flour in it – this recipe definitely has potatoes as its main ingredient.
In fact, there’s hardly any recipe to it at all, as it depends on how much potato you have to use up.
At home, we often deliberately over-cater on the mashed potato, so can we can make these delicious little cakes the next day.
Of course you can add anything you like to them, as long as it’s finely chopped, so think left-over champ (spring onions), grated cheese,  little bits of bacon or crumbled black pudding…
Ingredients:
Mashed potato ( Cold, they have to be cold)
plain flour
milk
salt and pepper
Method:
Put the mashed potato into a decent-sized bowl P1080192
Add some salt and pepper to taste
Put a splash of milk in and stir it well until combined.
Add about (and this is very vague – sorry) a dessert spoon of flour and mix in well.
What you’re trying to achieve here is to add enough flour to make the mix less sticky but not get too stodgy. If you can handle it relatively easily, then there’s enough flour in.
Sprinkle some more flour onto a board and put the potato mix onto it.

P1080194Pat it down with your hands until it’s circular in shape and about 1cm thick (you don’t need anything as sophisticated as a rolling pin)

Then cut it into 4, or 6 pieces
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Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan, heated to medium hot (the traditional method would naturally have involved cooking it in butter, so if you feel like being a ‘divil’, go for it!) If you’re using butter don’t let it burn.
Put each piece into the pan, mirroring the original shape (see pics)
Allow to cook for about 3-4 mins until nicely golden, then turn them over and cook the other side too( you might need to add a little more oil/ butter)
These are best served hot, straight off the pan, with a little knob of butter melting over them…
These are excellent as part of a traditional breakfast; as a side dish to accompany a main course, or, you know, just on their own with the afore-mentioned butter!
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About

I started writing down recipes in an old copybook when I was about 16. With 6 children at home, my Mother was always glad of a hand in the kitchen, and really allowed us to experiment - as long as we washed up afterwards, and left the kitchen immaculate! Having a tidy kitchen has followed me through my life, as has the habit of writing down my favourite recipes; except that these days I write them for my website, and add photographs when I can. The website really started when it occurred to me that my daughter might like to have these recipes when I've forgotten them. In my early days of cooking for family and friends, I used to phone my Mum all the time to ask her for the recipe for some of our favourite family dinners. She rarely had a recipe to hand - I think, like me, she made a lot of it up as she went along.. So welcome to Eating for Ireland - these are the recipes that my friends and family having been eating these past 40 years.. yes, I truly am ancient! They are tried and tested, and have worked for me for all that time - I have updated them as new ingredients became available - I really hope you'll find something that you can make into a family favourite of your own. You don't have to tell anyone where you found these great new dishes that you're serving up - it can be our little secret, but I'd really love it if you could give me a sneaky 'follow' on Facebook and Instagram.. So off you go - have a good rummage around, you're bound to find something new! My sincere thanks to all of you who have found a recipe that you liked and dropped me a line to tell me - I really do love to hear from you! Happy Cooking! Becks xx

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