Perfect Potato Farl Recipe from County Armagh
It’s no surprise that the potato is a bit of a favourite on the island of Ireland.
The classic Ulster Fry
We’ve been munching on the humble spud in all its guises for centuries. We love potatoes so much in fact, that we’ve managed, with a bit of culinary wizardry and out-of-the -box thinking, to incorporate the potato into our breakfast.
Readers, meet the potato farl.
The potato farl is essentially a potato cake and visitors to in particular will have noticed this tasty little treat making a show-stealing appearance in their Ulster Fry. Now, for those of you as yet unaware of what an Ulster Fry involves, let us take out our knife and fork and break it down.
Say for example, you’ve just woken up in the sumptuous surrounds of Newforge House in the County Armagh and the next thing you feel after rubbing your eyes is hungry.
Newforge House in County Armagh
You pop downstairs, take your seat at the table and, without blinking, order an Ulster Fry. Minutes later a plate is subtly slipped under your nose featuring the following ‘Ah, sure I’m on holiday!’ breakfast treats – 2 sausages, 2 strips of Fermanagh black bacon, one slice of white and one black pudding, a poached egg and one or two golden, butter-dripping potato farls.
With mouthwatering thanks to those foodie wizards at Newforge House, we can now bring you this delightfully simple potato farl recipe, which goes some way to supporting the claim that breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day.
Or at least the most important meal of your holiday in Northern Ireland…
Potato Farl Recipe
Ingredients:
450gr/16oz warm, cooked potato (the more floury the better – Maris Piper or King Edward are good)
1 tsp salt
50g/2oz melted butter
100g/4oz plain flour (more for dusting)
A griddle-ready potato farl from Newforge House
Method:
- Make sure the cooked potatoes are well “dried out” by putting them back on a gentle heat for a couple of minutes after draining.
- Mash them thoroughly, preferably with a ricer, and place in a bowl.
- Mix in the salt and melted butter, then work in the flour to make a pliable dough.
- Divide in two and roll out on a floured surface to form two circles around 1/2cm thick.
- Cut each circle into quarters and bake on a hot griddle dusted with flour for about 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned.
- Place on a warm plate with a tea towel on top to keep them beautifully soft.
To serve, spread some butter on top and enjoy!
Northern Ireland is quite the spot for some good munching, as we found in our post about Northern Ireland’s foodie heritage.
If you want to keep cooking, we have the recipes. How about a starter of winter vegetable soup with freshly baked Guinness Bread for dunking? Followed by a main course of traditional Irish Stew recipe, or fish Pie.
In the spirit of a St Patrick’s Day party, we’ve gathered recipes for special green Irish dishes and recipes for St Patrick’s Party drinks, from cocktails to milkshakes.
delicious, but i ‘d rather eat it then fix it!!! 8-))
I tryed your Patato Farl it is soooooooooo good, that I got to tell my sister in Oregon U.S.A . thank you Greg
i have eaten those for 50 years, in the south we just call them ‘potato pancakes’!!!!!!
Ah, it’s where you eat them that makes the difference Laura! They’re just that bit extra tasty in Northern Ireland!
That is’nt even close to a ‘classic Ulster Fry’ ! … Black and white pudding….no! poached egg!… it is a fry… and where is the soda bread? This is more like a fry you would get in the south of Ireland. The farl recipe seems fine though…
Sorry about that Paul. Hope we haven’t offended your tastebuds with the pic. That’s actually scrambled egg on the plate and the soad bread is out of shot as we couldn’t fit everything in. But still, you seem to know your stuff so we’d love to hear EXACTLY what should go into a Northern Fry. We thought this looked pretty spot on and we’re informed that the contents of the dish vary greatly.
Thanks,
David
Just made these. They were so good! Best served with black pudding, bacon, soda farl, and a runny fried egg. If you must add a vegetable, fried mushrooms are the ticket!
@David – An Ulster Fry ( not a “Northern Fry” ) does indeed vary from place to place and even family to family. I’ve eaten them for many a breakfast all my life.
It can contain: Potato Farls, Soda Farl, Wheaten Farl, Pancakes, Fried Bread (usually plain sliced white bread), Mushrooms,Onions, Sausages, Bacon, Eggs, Fried Potato, Baked Beans, Tomato, Black and White Pudding.
Some places/families will have variations from the list – for examle I grew up will an Ulster Fry containing ALL of the above with orange juice and cornflakes being eaten first while that all cooks.
It is NOT for those that are a little lacking in the exercise department.
Cheers for the heads-up, John.
Yes, it is indeed an Ulster Fry and I certainly don’t think a single soul should miss out, exercised or otherwise.
Cornflakes as an appetiser sounds interesting but might just be a stretch of my imagination (and stomach).
Cheers.
It used to be that I did not feel truly back home (for visits) until I had a ‘Fry’! Now that I am vegetarian, the nostalgia does not get satisfied!!!!!
I can’t thank the author (and Newforge House!) enough for this recipe. I’ve been doing a lot of comfort cooking lately, trying to fill the mournful post-Olympic void with tasty stuff in lieu of ogling perfect bods in skintight lycra. The smell of baking bread in the kitchen is balm to a Bolt-less soul.
I’ve been addicted to spud farls (or ‘slims’ as we call them here in norn iron) since I was old enough to demolish an Ulster fry in all its glory. Can never quite decide if the fried soda farl or the fried slim is godlier… it’s a question for the ages. But I’d never tried to make my own potato farls. The shame. I had no idea it was so easy, and the results are perfect! I will never buy another additive-laden Rankin or Ormo or Sunblest slim again!!
P.S. Serious kudos the recipe giver for recommending the two best spuds in the world (in my humble opinion). Maris is a great all-rounder, but King Eds may be even more flourily spudilicious – the problem is that I can never find them to buy up here… only ever managed to grab a festive sack of them in M&S at Christmas. Anyone know where I can source them? I’d giftwrap my own granny for details… (sry nan).
Delighted we could offer some happiness in the void left by the Olympics.
Two things:
The Paralympics are about to begin and promise to be as if not more exciting than the show we have just seen.
If you take a look at what Michael Phelps eats for training, a few butter-smothered potato farls will look like a broccoli salad in calorie comparison.
Happy eating, Isla, and I do hope your Grandmother hasn’t been swapped for a bag of Morris Pipers just yet.
Regards,
David