Boxty

This recipe makes six three-inch pancakes—enough for two people if covered with smoked salmon and crême fraîche or bacon and eggs.

You can make this gluten-free by using cornstarch in place of the flour.

• 6 oz. peeled raw potato
• 2 oz. cooked mashed potato
• 1 scallion, sliced thin
• 3 oz. plain flour
• 0.5 tsp. baking soda
• 10–12 oz. buttermilk
• 1 pinch salt
• 0.25 tsp. fresh-ground black pepper
• 0.5 oz. butter

A decent baking potato weighs about a half pound and this is what you want here. Peel one and cut off a quarter. Cut that into chunks, boil it for 15 minutes, and mash it, without adding milk or butter.

Put the flour, mashed potato, baking soda, salt, pepper, and 8 oz. of the buttermilk in a mixing bowl and whisk them together.

Grate the remaining three quarters of your potato into a clean cloth, squeezing as much excess water from the potatoes as you can.

Add the scallion and grated potatoes to the mash mix and incorporate by hand with a fork or a whisk. It should have a nice dropping consistency like a good batter. Add as much more of the buttermilk as necessary.

Heat a griddle or pancake pan to a medium heat, add butter and allow it to foam.

Drop quarter-cup measures of batter into the pan and cook gently for 3–4 minutes.

Turn the pancake over and cook for 2 more minutes.

If the first pancake sticks, dump it, wipe the pan, and start again.

Serve a person two or three boxty pancakes with crispy bacon and an egg, sunny side up.