These delicious Irish Boxty pancakes with cold smoked salmon and a chive and wholegrain mustard creme fraiche are perfect for a St. Patricks Day brunch or dinner!
These fabulous, simple to make Irish boxties are delicious for brunch, lunch or snacks and are absolutely perfect for St. Patrick's Day!
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What is an Irish Boxty?
For those of you who have never had a Boxty before, it is a traditional Irish potato pancake made by combining mashed potatoes and grated potatoes with binding ingredients and frying until crisp. And yes, it's as good as it sounds.
I first had an Irish Boxty at a restaurant called Gallaghers Boxty House in Dublin, Ireland and have been hooked ever since. Gallaghers serves their Boxtys with a variety of toppings, ranging from corned beef or curry chicken. My personal favorite is the classic Irish Boxty paired with Irish cold smoked salmon. This is is my take on that classic dish!
Equipment
You will need a large mixing bowl, a medium mixing bowl, a baking sheet and a large non-stick skillet.
You will also need paper towels, cheese cloth or a clean kitchen cloth to drain the shredded potatoes of moisture.
Ingredients
- Mashed Potatoes: This is a great recipe for using up any leftover mashed potatoes in your fridge. If you don't have any leftovers you can make some fresh by boiling about 1 ½ lb of russet or yukon gold potatoes until soft. Then mashed until smooth with a little milk and butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste and then allow to cool to about room temperature before mixing in with the other ingredients.
- Grated Potatoes: They key to a great Boxty is draining as much moisture as possible from the grated potatoes. I like to do this by putting the grated potatoes in several paper towels and squeezing until almost all of the liquid has released.
- All-Purpose Flour
- Milk: I recommend using whole milk, but skim or 2% will also do.
- Eggs
- Green Onions
- Smoked Salmon: I recommend looking for Irish or Scottish style cold smoked salmon. Hot smoked salmon (which flakes easily) does not work as well in this recipe.
- Creme Fraiche: Creme Fraiche is a French cultured dairy product with a thick and creamy consistency. It is available at most grocery stored but if you can't get your hands on any you can substitute sour cream.
- Whole Grain Mustard
- Fresh Chives
- Lemon
- Salt & Pepper
Tips & Tricks for a Great Irish Boxty:
It's really important to squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the grated potatoes so that your Boxty isn't too soggy. Be sure not to skip this step!
While cooking the Boxtys you may need to adjust the temperature throughout to maintain a medium high heat that will result in a golden brown Boxty. If your Boxtys start looking too dark, just turn it down a little. If they are not getting nice and brown feel free to turn it up.
Check out other St. Patrick's Day Recipes !
Made this recipe? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Irish Boxty with Smoked Salmon & Mustard Creme Fraiche
These delicious Irish Boxty pancakes with smoked salmon and chive mustard creme fraiche are perfect for a St. Patrick's Day brunch or dinner!
4
servings15
minutes10
minutes25
minutesIngredients
1.5 cups peeled and grated potato, I recommend Russet or Yukon Gold
1.5 cups mashed potatoes (leftover mash works great or simply boil about 1.5 lb of potatoes until soft then mash with a little butter and milk and season to taste with salt & pepper)
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup milk
2 eggs
⅓ cup chopped green onions
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1-2 tbsp cooking fat, I like olive oil, vegetable oil or even ghee
½ cup Creme fraiche
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp fresh minced chives, plus more for for garnish
6-8 oz cold smoked salmon
salt & pepper
Lemon wedges (optional)
fresh chopped dill (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
Grate 1.5 cups of peeled Russet of Yukon Gold potatoes. Place the grated potatoes in the middle of several paper towels (or cheese cloth or a clean kitchen towel) and fold over. Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the potatoes into a small bowl. Once the potatoes have been drained of most of their liquid discard the excess liquid and place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl. - In the bowl with the grated potatoes add 1.5 cup of mashed potatoes, 1.5 cup flour, ½ cup milk, 2 eggs, ⅓rd cup of finely chopped green onions, 1 tsp of salt and ½ tsp of pepper. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together until combined, being sure not to overwork.
- Heat about 1 tbsp of cooking fat over medium high in a large non-stick skillet until hot and shimmering. Scoop out about ⅓rd cup of the potatoes mixture and place in the hot oil, pressing down to form a round shape. Fry for about 4-5 minutes on the first side and then flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes on the other side until cooked through and golden brown. Remove from skillet and sprinkle with a little salt. Place cooked Boxtys on a baking sheet in the 200 degree oven to keep warm while you finish any remaining batches.
Continue this process until all the mixture has been used up, adding extra cooking fat as needed. - While the Boxtys are cooking, combine creme fraiche with wholegrain mustard, minced fresh chives and a pinch. of salt & pepper. Set aside.
- Serve Boxtys with a dollop of the chive and wholegrain mustard creme fraiche Divide the smoked salmon between the Boxtys and garnish with a little more chopped chives and a wedge of lemon. Enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe can easily be doubled or even tripled to feed a crowd.
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Wow, that looks fantastic. I love the addition of the mustard. Just a little bit of tart to go with the potato and salmon. Delicious! I can't wait to try it.
This totally makes me wish I liked salmon! I love these flavors and the way you’ve written this post!
Ooh, this was definitely a fancier meal for me to make, but it was so good! Love the mustard creme fraiche.
These Irish potato pancakes look mouth-wateringly good. I like the sound of them with corn-beef.
Love salmon! Have to try your recipe as soon as possible!
This looks absolutely scrumptious!
Yum....I loved every single layer!
This looks insanely, incredibly good. Yummmmmmy!