Chicken & Mushroom Boxty

St Patty’s day is almost here.  Last week I made the Shamrock Shake Cupcakes, because I was getting the Irish itch.  This weekend, while visiting my best friend in Michigan, we decided to make an Irish meal and invited some of her friends over to share it with us.

After contemplating a few options, we decided on Boxty with a chicken and mushroom filling.  For sides, we didn’t want to do anything complicated, so we served Spiced Apples and Parmesan Roasted Asparagus.  And, dessert?  Oh boy… we did individual Chocolate Stout Cakes (for which I’ll post the recipe tomorrow).  DE-licious!!

The Boxties were awesome.  They weren’t as filling and heavy as we thought they would be…which was good and bad.  Bad, because we only made enough for one per person.  Good, because everyone didn’t end up with full stomach-aches and had room for their yummy dessert!

Boxty can be served flat like a pancake with the filling stacked on top, or they can have a filled effect by just folding it over.  We chose the filled option.

6-8 servings

For the Filling:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour for coating
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6-8  skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cubed
4 tbsp butter
4 olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 cups Marsala wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
extra flour as needed

In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.

In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Add onions and cook until tender. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in Marsala. Cover skillet; simmer 10 minutes.  Add in cream and bring to a boil until reduced to desired thickness and chicken is no longer pink.  (If sauce is not thick enough, add flour as desired.)

For the Boxty:
2 9-ounce russet potato, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups grated peeled russet potato (about two 9-ounce potato), squeezed dry in kitchen towel
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (about) buttermilk

Preheat oven to 300°F. Cook cut potato in saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain. Return to saucepan and mash. Transfer 1 cup mashed potato to large bowl; reserve any remaining mashed potato for another use. Mix grated potato, flour, baking soda, and salt into 1 cup mashed potatoes. Gradually mix in enough buttermilk to form texture of firm mashed potatoes.

Heat heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Brush with oil (not too much or you’ll have a greasy boxty). Drop 1 heaping tablespoonful potato mixture into skillet. Using back of spoon, flatten mixture into 2-inch round. Repeat, forming 4 more rounds. Cook over medium-low heat until boxty is golden brown on bottom and slightly puffed, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook until second side is brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet; keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining potato mixture in batches, brushing skillet with more oil as necessary.

Boxty recipe adapted from Epicurious.  Filling inspired from AllRecipes.