All content copyright Katrina Hall 2008 through 2025

Monday, March 16, 2009

St. Patrick's Day breakfast: pratie oaten





For much of my early life, I was not aware of the strands of Irish in our family. English and Welsh, yes, but very little mention of Irish. That all changed when my father began exploring our genealogy; suddenly we heard of O'Hanlon, Hughes, Fitzgerald, Leary, Butler, Merwin, and Sullivan in our family tree. And I discovered traditional Irish music in the car one day, listening to the radio. The pounding of the bodhran drum, the whistles and fiddles, the rising up in joy, and the depth of the sorrow. I was so overcome, I had to pull off the highway. I guess that Irish gene was announcing itself.
So to celebrate all things Irish, I made a traditional potato dish called Pratie Oaten, from a small book I found called From Celtic Hearths . It's really more like a hash brown with mashed potatoes and oats - I divided the soft dough and added some chopped scallions and bacon crumbles for a little interest. You fry them up in a skillet with bacon fat ( or oil) and serve with a smile and a twinkle in your eye.

To make:
3 large potatoes, scrubbed
1 cup rolled oats ( not the instant one)
1 stick melted, unsalted butter
salt to taste
chopped scallions (optional)
crumbled bacon (optional)
a few tablespoons bacon fat, oil, or butter.
Boil the potatoes in their skins until done - about 25 minutes.
Drain and mash, or whip in mixer bowl.
Add the melted butter, salt, and oats to the potatoes and mix to make a soft dough. If adding the scallions and bacon, mix them in now.
Sprinkle a little flour on the board and gently roll or pat the dough to a thickness of 1/2". Cut out rounds with a glass or cookie cutter.
Heat oil, bacon fat, or butter in a skillet and fry until golden brown.
Enjoy!

6 comments:

Martha said...

What a great dish for a St. Pat's breakfast. I love celtic music although I don't have an Irish bone in my body but tomorrow I'll be as Irish as anyone!

Anonymous said...

Hi Martha! And a Happy St. Patrick's Day to you....LOVED these little potato cakes and can't wait to make more - in a few days. Dental surgery has me on soup and eggs for a few days.

Anonymous said...

Hi Katrina ~ Bummer on the dental surgery :( . Here's to a speedy recovery.

I've been busy playing catch up on your blog (and, as usual, everything looks so good!) I can't decide what to try first. I thought those cornmeal cookies looked particularly interesting and all the photos - gorgeous! I can see why you're in Tastespotting - your photos are beautiful!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, too
!

Anonymous said...

Hi Barb - hope you had a grand vacation!
The good thing about doctor's orders for today (lying low and horizontal) is watching Anthony Bourdain reruns in the daytime. Nice to have a little downtime.
Glad you enjoyed those cornmeal cookies - I just loved them, too. Happy St. Patrick's to you, too!

Michelle said...

It's amazing what "pops" up with family research! Much to my surprise and everyone else's, we're part Swedish...do you believe it.

Now my entire family is hooked on Lingonberry Jam!

Anonymous said...

Ummmm, lingonberry jam is AWESOME! Even if I have not one drop of Swedish blood, it's a fine, fine jam. That must be cool to find out your roots like that - we've always known we're almost all Celtic on both sides - with that kind of temperment, we could use some Swedish to calm things down a bit!