St Patrick’s Day Food with JP Passion – Irish potato cakes
By JP Kennedy
John Paul Kennedy is a self-taught cook and an avid fan of collecting cookery books with a passion for good old-fashioned home cooking. His passion for proper family cooking stems from his TWO Grandmothers who were both excellent cooks, one of whom was a trained chef. JP promises to bring us plenty of family-inspired recipes and tasty treats while showing us how to get the basics right.
Irish potato cakes are typically made from mashed potato, and either flour or baking soda, and are usually fried.
They sometimes get confused with a similar dish called boxty, which is made using raw potatoes – Irish potato cake is made using cooked potatoes.
In keeping with the Irish tradition of never letting anything go to waste, left-over mashed potatoes were mixed with other ingredients and fried to make mouth-watering potato cakes.
Ingredients: Makes 8-10 potato Cakes
- 1kg potatoes (Maris Piper are the best, I find)
- 1 egg-yolk
- 100ml crème fraiche
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 spring onions finely chopped
- 100g smoked bacon lardons cooked (or leftover chunks of ham)
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- Sea salt and ground black pepper
Method:
1. Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until nice and tender, drain and mash with a potato masher.
2. While the potatoes are still warm add in the crème fraiche, mustard, egg yolk and salt & pepper then add in the spring onions and mix well to combine.
3. Add the flour and bacon lardons / ham pieces and mix well again.
4. Using a tablespoon take a generous piece of the mixture and roll into a ball and pat down into a patty shape.
5. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the potato cakes on both sides until nice and golden brown. I recommend doing this in two batches to make it easier to turn them on the pan.
6. Transfer to a warmed plate until you are ready to serve them with my Beef and Guinness Stew – Irish Comfort food heaven!
While sadly the St Patrick’s Day parade has been cancelled this year, hopefully a few Paddy’s Day-themed recipes will pick up your spirits.
This wholesome Irish Stew gives me a real nostalgic appreciation for good old-fashioned Irish cooking and on our national patron saint’s day I think it’s important to cook an authentic and traditional Irish meal.
This succulent piece of Irish beef brisket is cooked low and slow, with lots of chunky veg, in beef stock with 400mls of Guiness added for an incredible flavour.
Serve it with my beautiful Irish Potato Cakes for the perfect comfort food to enjoy this St Patrick’s Day. I hope you give these dishes a try – I promise you they are simply delicious.
Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona duit.
Contact JP On:
Twitter: @JPKCooking
Email: JPKCooking@gmail.com
Instagram: jpkennedy.kennedy
