Tuesday 16 March 2010

A Bit Of Potato Bread For St. Patricks Day

It's St. Patricks day tomorrow so I thought I'd give you my recipe for Irish potato bread. When we were younger we celebrated by colouring our beer green and drinking lots of it, or by concocting an Irish Stew entirely from Guinness and a couple of carrots. But those days are long gone and now we make do with a big plateful of this. It has to be dripping with butter to be entirely authentic. But that's ok, because I'm fairly sure that some years ago calorie counting was declared illegal on St Patricks Day. Possibly on all other public holidays as well, come to think of it. It is also best served warm and the traditional way of achieving this is to cook in batches and keep on a plate under a fresh tea towel in a low oven until you are ready to feast. We like to savour it without any additions; but it is good with ham, bacon, sausages and eggs.


  • 1 lb and 4 oz cooked mashed potato
  • 1 oz butter
  • 5 oz plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • oil for frying
  1. Put the mashed potato in a mixing bowl and add the butter and the salt. Gradually add in the flour, kneading it gently
  2. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least an hour
  3. Roll out the dough on a floured surface so that it is about 1/2cm thick and cut into triangles
  4. Heat oil or fat (whatever you cook your roast potatoes in) and fry until browned.
And that's all there is to it.

19 comments:

Cheri said...

looks yummy.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

YUMMY!!! I actually have some left-over mashed potatoes in my refrigerator right now too. Thanks for the recipe. :o)

Carmen said...

Oooooh they even look naughty! Sounds yum. Definitely going to try this - I'll make extra mash the next time I do Bubble & Squeak.... ohhh Bubble & Squeak cakes - wonder if that would be nice too! Num!

Clair said...

Oh, these bring back memories. My dad and I used to make these when I was little. It was my favourite treat for the weekends. Yum!

Maria Ontiveros said...

Looks soooo good. I'm running a St. Patrick's Day post tomorroow.
Rinda

scrappyjacky said...

Looks delicious....and I have a feeling calorie counting has now been declared illegal-full stop!!Irish soda bread is very yummy as well.

JO SOWERBY said...

yummy, im making cupcakes and cookies at the mo
Jo xxx

Fun Mama - Deanna said...

Sounds wonderful! I usually go for Irish soda bread (minus all the fruit and junk Americans usually put in it) for St. Patrick's Day, but I'll keep this one in mind too.

Rhona said...

That looks yummy! Fried potatoes and butter on top - glad the calorie counting is banned ;o)

Anna said...

We always used to celebrate with Irish Stew when I was a child but it usually passes me all by nowadays... which is a shame really!
Those look delicious! :)

debs14 said...

This looks scrummy! Didn't realise that was how it was made, I shall definitely give this a whirl. My husband would probably insist on washing it down with a pint of the black stuff!

Micayla said...

Oh yummy. I have never tried it even when in Dublin....may have to have a go.
Of course I will keep blogging and scrapping when I move. Both are very important to me and I would miss everyone if I gave up....may take me a while to settle and get sorted though!!

Lizzie said...

Mmmm... a bit like my Potato Farls recipe.. so buttery. Sounds fab. I may just have to make these tomorrow!

Ruth said...

I'll be giving this a go tomorrow, thanks.

Bubbles said...

Yes, it looks all scrummy and buttery... BUT...
rewind a little.
Green beer??!!

Amy said...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Yes, our days of green beer swilling have gone as well :-) I think the kids would love this as part of our dinner tonight! Spuds and potatoes .... what could be better?

humel said...

Yum :-) (Especially with bacon. And maybe eggs too. And Guinness. Obviously!) Thanks for sharing x

melissa said...

Haha! My boyfriend would love that Guinness "stew" ;-) Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

sharyncarlson said...

Mmmmmm, this sounds and looks so yummy. We love potatoes in this house, must give this a try!

Related Posts with Thumbnails