Boxty (Irish Potato Cakes) using leftover mashed potatoes

Now that Thanksgiving is over, if your house is anything like mine your fridge is bursting with holiday leftovers. I enjoy them at first but after awhile I just can't face into another "Thanksgiving" plate or sandwich. I also don't want to just throw the leftovers out. I hate being wasteful. So I am always looking for new ways to turn leftovers into appealing meals that we look forward to eating. One of my favorites is BOXTY (Irish Potato Cakes); they are warm, buttery, crispy, and creamy all at the same time. They can be topped with almost anything and are so easy to make. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

2 tbsp. melted butter

1/4 cup flour

pinch of salt

additionally you will need:

1 tbsp. butter for frying

flour for dusting

STEP 1:

Place potato, melted butter, flour, and salt in a bowl.

STEP 2:

Mix until the ingredients form a sticky dough. It will still feel like mash potato, but be more pliable like play-doh.

STEP 3:

Divide the dough into four equal parts.

STEP 4:

flatten each dough quarter into a cake about 1/4" thick.

STEP 5:

Dust each side of cake with some flour.

STEP 6:

Heat a frying pan on medium heat with 1 tbsp. of butter. *This is all I need in my cast iron. It is a really reliable pan and nothing sticks to it, but if you don't have a pan as reliable as mine you might want to use some cooking spray on yours so the boxty doesn't stick. Still add the butter for flavor though.

Once the butter is melted and bubbling add your cakes to the pan.

(There are no pictures of this part because my kitchen is too dark to shoot in)

STEP 7:

Fry for 5 minutes on each side, until golden and crispy brown.

(The really dark crispy bits are THE BEST. Ideally you want your whole boxty to be that color, but the large burner on my stove is broken so my pans don't heat evenly)

You can serve boxty a variety of ways. Our favorite way to eat it is with smoked salmon and a little bit of sour cream, but it is also good hot with just a little butter melted on it, or along side bacon and eggs like hash browns. 

In these pictures I served the boxty topped with some of my husband's Coronation Turkey Salad made from our left over turkey.

What is Coronation Turkey? I'll leave that recipe to my husband -

Coronation Chicken is my go-to option for handling leftover chicken. As far as I know, it gets it's name from being created for Elizabeth II's Coronation banquet (wiki it if you're seriously interested).

The proportions of the ingredients are really to taste, but here's my basic recipe:

Cooked, cold chicken or turkey

Jar of Mayo (I use the light stuff, you can't tell the difference in the end)

Your favorite curry powder (right now I use McDonnells)

Sliced almonds

Stick of celery, chopped

Onion, finely chopped

Sultanas (golden raisins)

STEP 1:

Take a handful of the sultanas and add to a small bowl. Pour some hot, not boiling, water over them and let sit as long as possible to plump.

STEP 2:

Scoop a generous helping of the mayo into a big mixing bowl. Blend in the curry to taste. Bear in mind that the curry will "wake up" as time goes by, so go by color rather then taste at this point- you're looking for a mocha color. This is the one point where your personal preference counts.

STEP 3:

Slowly add the meat to the mayo/curry. I like a moist mix, so tend to make a lot of step two.

STEP 4:

Drain the Sultanas and add everything left to the mix.

STEP 5:

Add to a sealable container or cover with foil and leave it in the fridge preferably overnight.

THANKS BABE! 

Hope you all enjoy.