Traditional Irish potato cakes known as Boxty, made using a mixture of cooked, mashed potatoes and raw, grated potato, fried in a hot skillet in small (or one large) rounds until golden brown.
Preheat oven to 300F. (regular bake/not fan assisted) and have a baking sheet handy (for popping cooked boxty into the oven while you cook a second batch).
Start a medium saucepan of salted water to boil. Peel your potatoes.
Take 9 oz. of the potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add these potatoes to your saucepan of water. Bring to a boil, then cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and return the potatoes to the pan and mash. Measure out 1 cup of mashed potatoes and set aside. Discard any bit of extra mashed potatoes.
Take another 9 oz. potato and shred with a box grater. *Note! Potatoes may permanently stain the tea towel, so either don't use one you care about staining or use an alternate method ie: squeezing by hand. Place shredded potato onto a clean tea towel, coffee filter or doubled up cheesecloth and squeeze out all the moisture in the potatoes. Measure out your potatoes. You should have about 1 1/4 cups.
Add the shredded potatoes to a medium bowl. Sprinkle with flour, baking soda and salt and stir well to combine and coat the shredded potato well with flour. Stir in the reserved mashed potatoes until combined. Add as much buttermilk as is needed to form the texture of firm mashed potatoes (I generally need to use about all of it).
Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Brush with cooking oil. Drop a heaping spoonful of the potato mixture into the skillet. Using the back of a spoon, spread and flatten out the mixture into a roughly 2 - 2 1/2-inch round. Repeat adding 2 or 3 more rounds to the skillet, depending on the size of your pan. Lower heat under the skillet to somewhere around medium-low. Cook until the underside is very golden, then flip and cook the other side. Don't rush it. Keep the skillet hot enough, but not too hot, so that the inside has a chance to cook. Figure on 3-4 minutes per side, depending on how thick they are. Remember that you have raw potato inside that needs time to cook. I like to flip the potato cakes 4 times total, just to be sure they are well cooked through.
Remove cooked boxty to baking sheet and pop into the warm oven while you cook another batch.
Will make 6-8 boxty, depending on the size. Serve on their own, as part of a breakfast plate with bacon and eggs, topped with sour cream and green onion, Creme Fraiche and chives or topped with a fried egg.
Notes
*Note 1: Make your own buttermilk substitute by combining 1/2 cup regular milk with 1 1//2 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar. Stir and let stand 10 minutes before using.Your grated potatoes may turn pink once they are exposed to the air. It's a normal reaction of the potato enzymes reacting to oxygen. They are odd looking but perfectly safe to eat.Instead of small rounds, you can use the batter to make one large potato cake. A couple of extra notes for the large version - 1) Don't spread the batter to the edge of the pan, so you have room to flip it. 2) Allow the underside to cook/set well before trying to flip it.Nutritional information does not include any toppings.Be sure to read the Ingredient and Cook's Notes above the recipe card for more tips for making this recipe.