Boxty Pancakes

This traditional recipe comes from Ireland. The Irish people used to make these pancakes at Halloween. Traditionally a silver sixpence was placed in one of the pancakes to bring good luck for the following year.

Ingredients
8oz/250g plain flour
8oz/250g cold mashed potatoes (with no butter or milk in them
8oz/250g peeled raw potatoes
salt to taste
lard
buttermilk

Method
1 Place the mashed potatoes into a large mixing bowl.
2 Grate the raw potatoes into a sterilized linen cloth.
3 Gather up the linen cloth.
4 Wring the potatoes over a basin of water as tight as you can.
5 Reserve the water to one side.
6 Remove the grated raw potatoes from the cloth and place in the mixing bowl with the mashed potatoes.
7 Mix together thoroughly
8 The reserved water in the bowl should have settled, so that there is clear liquid at the top and sediment in the bottom. Pour the water from the top of the potato liquid, reserving the sediment.
9 Pour 2 tablespoons of the remaining sediment onto the potato mixture.
10 Add salt to taste.
11 Place a sieve over the bowl.
12 Spoon the flour into the sieve.
13 Shake the sieve of flour into the mixing bowl.
14 Mix thoroughly.
15 Make a well in the middle of the mixture.
16 Add sufficient buttermilk to give the batter a soft dropping consistency similar to sponge cake mixture.
17 Beat the mixture thoroughly.
18 Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave for a few minutes.
19 Heat a griddle on the hob.
20 Grease with lard.
21 Drop tablespoonfuls of the batter onto the warmed griddle.
22 Quickly spread the mixture.
23 Allow the mixture to cook on the underside then turn over with a fish slice.
24 Cook the other side as before.

Serve while still warm, with a generous sprinkling of sugar.

Notes
If you do not own a griddle use a heavy based frying pan.

Lard can be substituted for oil.

Hide a coin wrapped in greaseproof paper into 1 of the pancakes to keep the tradition up, but do warn the diners!