Irish Potato Bread and Cottage Life
For the past month I have been enjoying a very idyllic and traditional Irish setting out in the green countryside living in a little cottage. It is a long way away from my apartment dwelling in Washington, DC, on the busy Connecticut Avenue and next door to a fire station. Whilst it was always charming to be woken up in the mornings by the sound of firemen playing basketball in the back and the outside speaker at the rear of the station reporting every 911 call in the District (and sadly, there were many), I much prefer the sound of silence with intermittent sounds of birds tweeting that greets me in the mornings here.
Exterior of the cottage
With winter fully in tow now though, it is hard to get out of bed in the mornings as unlike my overheated apartment in the U.S., stone cottages out in the country get kinda cold overnight. That’s where blow heaters and snooze buttons come in very handy!
Seating area at the rear
I mostly work from home, so the first thing to do in the mornings is to clean out the stove fire from the night before and get a new fire going asap! I have become quite the expert fire-starter now (The Prodigy’s “Firestarter” certainly comes devilishly to mind as I say that word) although I can’t say that I am comfortable with the fact that many of my clothes kind of stink of smoke now…
View from the main house next to the cottage
So, speaking of wood burning stoves brings me to my experiment that I have been wanting to try out since I moved in, and that is an attempt to make Irish potato bread farls. In the olden days, traditional Irish bread farls were made over the fire on a griddle. Soda bread is the most well know variety with my favorite, potato bread, a close second. The variety cooked on a griddle were flattened down and are referred to as farls. You can learn more about Irish bread-making here.
Obsessed with this stove
So, everything went well until I tried to flip the bread around on the pan and it got a little ugly, but not too ugly. Finished off with a few dollops of Irish butter, I gobbled it up nicely.
The mashing part
The when things turned a little ugly part
I used this recipe that I found online and only amended it slightly to include some milk into the mix before adding the flour.
Irish Potato Bread Farl
Irish Potato Bread Farl
Ingredients:
- 4 potatoes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
Directions:
- Please note the above ingredients are approximate. Potato Bread is best made while potatoes are still hot.
- Peel and boil potatoes until tender.
- While hot, mash potatoes well with salt and butter.
- Gradually work in flour in smaller increments until a soft dough forms. Dough should be a little tacky but workable.
- Turn out onto floured surface and knead for about 1 minute.
- Divide and roll into a circular shape about 9″ and 1/4″ thick.
- Cut into 6 or 8 ‘farls’ (wedges).
- Grill in a hot, greased griddle or pan until well browned on both sides.
The finished product before it was devoured
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Category: Europe, Featured Articles: Travel & Culture, Northern Ireland, Recipe Vault, Sides, Sauces, and Breads, Travel & Culture
I’m coming and living with you!!! Especially with Irish butter.
What a glorious little cottage and such a lovely place to live, for a little while, at least. The potato bread looks delicious, too.
I am so jealous. I have just finished reading a book my Maeve Binchy and so Ireland is high on my mind. This looks perfect.
This is a must try! My mother-in-law is Irish, straight from Dublin. She’ll love this one!
Oh my! That looks so comforting – both the cottage and the bread. What a wonderful way to bake.
Love your cottage life Kat!
wow beautiful place and that bread looks great
What a serene setting. Can I come visit? And will you serve me bread???
I can’t decide if this is baking or cooking. I definitely want to try this, and soon! Looks so yummy. Especially with the extra butter on top.
this looks to die for! i love it.
I could VERY easily delve right into all that delicious, gorgeous, yellow-y butter pool – and fried up mashed potatoes? Seriously?! This is jut waiting for me to make it this weekend. Yum! And so jealous about your cottage life….what a very special opportunity, Kat!
I love the seating area, and the stove is awesome..perfect bread for your stay there…so jealous
sweetlife
oh what a gorgeous place to spend time!
I love potato farls but I’ve never made them before, we always buy them. Thanks for sharing the recipe
You have a stunning view there but I’m guessing the view of the firemen can’t have been too bad either
hehe
Oh what a lovely cottage and lovely surroundings!! One of my dream getaways is to live like that for at least a few weeks.. BLISS!
Ahhhhh….I dream of even temporary Irish cottage living…so dreamy. This bread sounds FANTASTIC, too
So glad you shared it w/ the hearth and soul hop this week 
Your photos are beautiful, I’d love to be there. The Potato bread is gorgeous! I am saving this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
I live in a cottage as well. Your fire looks so inviting. I am going to try your recipe it looks really good. Thank you for sharing.
Miz Helen
That looks delicious and filling….perfect for a cold day. I’m inviting an Irish friend over for dinner tomorrow. She’ll have to learn to eat Malaysian food
Hope she likes it. But I’ll have some baked potatoes on hand just in case 
I’m green with envy. I truly want to move to Ireland.
…Sigh
I want your cottage and I want your bread!!
So wonderful place relaxing and charming …the potato bread so yummy!
Cheers,
Gera
Oh so enchanting, and that bread is icing on the delightful cake.
LL
mmmmm…..butter….sorry, just had to inject a bit of Homer Simpson in there. That just looks so delicious, my stomach’s rumbling.
Thank you all for your kind comments. If you ever make it to the Emerald Isle, do give me a shout.
This sounds delicious and so easy to make.
What a beautiful place…I would love to stay in a cottage like that. I can imagine it does get pretty cold. This bread is wonderful and I am dying over the melted butter there
Kat…take me with you … this is idyllic and the bread looks so GOOOD!!!!
I’ve had potato bread before and it was amazing. I’ve always wanted a recipe, thanks for sharing!
Very beautiful, we have something similar, called” bazlamaç” in Türkiye.