~ by Cathy Mahrholz ~
With the coronavirus scare, St. Patty’s Day just wasn’t the same this year, with the cancellation of most parades and celebrations. The one exception was the Center of the Known Universe, Divide, Colorado, which displayed some unique St. Patty flavor. Way to go Divide.
Regardless, we just didn’t’ get to celebrate this tradition much in 2020. It didn’t help that the state-wide closure of bars, restaurants and casinos occurred right on the morning of March 17. Talk about bad Irish luck.
For those who still yearn for the St. Patty spirit, here is a recipe for “Irish Boxty.” a yummy traditional Irish potato pancake that you roll up with corned beef, cabbage and horseradish sauc.
Irish Boxty
These are potato pancakes, super easy to make, and up here in the mountains you can use less baking powder than the original recipe called for…if you live at a lower elevation than 8000 or 9000 feet, be sure to add a little more baking powder. Make the batter a little thinner than for regular American pancakes so that they can be thin enough and large enough to roll like a crepe or an enchilada.
1 cup grated raw potato
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup cooked mashed potatoes (these can be leftovers from a previous meal)
1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
- Grate the potato into a medium size mixing bowl
- Pour the buttermilk over the grated potatoes (keeps them from turning brown)
- Mix in the mashed potatoes
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt
- Beat the egg in the cup you used to measure the buttermilk and add to the mixture and stir thoroughly to mix.
You need not measure these ingredients exactly, and if the mixture seems too thick, add more milk or buttermilk. If it seems too thin, beat in a little more flour. You might have to practice a little bit when cooking the boxty, but they’re good to eat however they turn out…as long as they’re cooked!
- Have two frying pans preheated on medium heat, then add a little olive oil (vegetable oil works, too) A drop of water should skitter around the pans when they are hot enough.
- Using a ladle, or a large mixing spoon, pour enough batter onto the center of the pre-heated pan, and spread it around to make a pancake about 7 or 8 inches in diameter, a little thicker than a tortilla
- when the surface of the pancake is dry and the edges look a little brown, flip the pancake over and allow it to brown on the other side. Roll them up with a filling of corned beef, cabbage and horse radish sauce.