Pages

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Irish Potato Farl

Oh. my. gosh.First of all, Happy St. Patricks day! I wanted to try a traditional Irish Recipe for my St. Pattys day breakfast this year, little did I know it would be the easiest recipe I have ever attempted, .and seriously one of the best things I have ever tried. Behold, Irish Potato Bread Farl. Apparently it's a breakfast staple in Northern Ireland a part of something called an Ulster Fry. An Ulster Fry, according to Wikipedia, is a full Irish breakfast, usually fried (go figure), consisting of bacon, eggs, sausage, soda bread, and potato farl. Now, I have never been to Ireland, but apparently they eat quite well! The Potato Farl is delightfully crisp on the outside and smooth and creamy on the inside. It reminded me a bit of a less oily hashbrown, but a million times better. I messed with the recipe proportions because I only had three little potatoes left over, which yielded 1 1/3 cups mashed potatoes. The recipe source I used said that the amount of flour can vary, just add bit by bit until a soft dough forms. A good rule of thumb is use half as much flour as potato. So, for example, I had 1 1/3 cups mashed potatoes, so I used a scant 2/3 cup flour. The finished product is supposed to be savory and is often served with onions and mushrooms. But I like my breakfast on the sweet side so I topped it with butter and syrup.
It was delightful, and, dare I say it, I liked it better than pancakes! And that is something because I LOVE pancakes! Next time you have mashed potatoes, definitely set a few aside for a hearty potato farl, and Happy St. Patricks day!

Irish Potato Farl
Ingredients
2 cups hot boiled potatoes
Scant 1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter + more for griddle

While hot, mash potatoes well with salt and butter. Gradually work in flour in smaller increments until a soft dough forms. Dough should be a little tacky but workable.
Divide and roll/press into a circular shape about 9″ and 1/4″ thick.
Cut into 6 or 8 ‘farls’ (wedges). Grill in a hot, greased griddle or pan until well browned on both sides.
So. So. Good.
Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

10 comments:

  1. I'm so glad I don't work today. Making this immediately!! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lucky! I wish I had the day off! I hope you love it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These look grand! Thanks for sharing. Will try them this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my goodness, that sounds fabulous! I am a bit of a potato addict :) Definitely have to give this a try.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your potato farls look delish, I make something almost exactly the same but call it a potato cake!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yum, it looks good. We will have to try that sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Liz,
    What a perfect dish for today. Your Farl just looks delicious. I really like your recipe. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and please come back!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! This looks amazing! Thanks for linking up to the It's a Keeper Thursday blog hop! Be sure to come back next week and link something new!

    Christina @ It's a Keeper
    http://www.everydaytastes.com/
    http://twitter.com/itsakeeperblog
    http://www.facebook.com/ItsAKeeper

    ReplyDelete
  9. Made these yesterday for brunch! Yum!! I tweaked it a bit because I was out of butter and really made them into pancakes, but they were so good! Thanks for posting. I have a post for them scheduled for Friday!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Looing forward to making these today for some friends from northern Ireland. HOWEVER, please please please, it is not Saint Patty’s day. Patty is a girls name so please stop using it when referring to Saint Patrick’s day.

    ReplyDelete