Hearty and flavorful potato pancakes served with smoky eggplant bacon, vegan breakfast sausage, fried eggs and a broiled tomato, cure your St. Patrick's Day hangover like a trust Irishman.
Ingredients
Potato Pancakes
4 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 head garlic, roasted (cut the top off the garlic, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper, bake wrapped in foil at 400 degrees for 30 minutes)
Start by making the ingredients for the potato pancakes. Now, if we were in Ireland, you would have already made Colcannon the night before and you'd be using those leftovers for the pancakes. Do as you will, I can tell you it's worth it to make the colcannon ahead both for ease and the deliciousness of eating it by itself. Boil your potatoes for the mashed potatoes until fork tender.
While the potatoes are cooking, preheat your over to 400 degrees. Place the sliced leeks and cabbage on a baking sheet and toss in the olive oil and 1 tsp each of salt and pepper. Bake the leeks and cabbage for 15 minutes on the top rack until they start to brown. Bake the coconut baconduring this time. You will also want to bake the roasted garlic as well. I placed it in with the cabbage, then swapped the cabbage out for the coconut bacon, leaving the garlic in. By the time they're both done, the garlic will be just about done as well.
After the potatoes are tender, remove from the water and transfer to a large bowl or stand mixer. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of it's shell and transfer to the bowl with the potatoes. Add in the sour cream, almond milk, butter, and the remaining tsp of salt. Mix with the stand mixer, a hand mixed, or a potato smashed and spatula until smooth and the garlic has been mixed evenly.
When the potatoes are finished and fully prepared, add in the cabbage and bacon and stir with a spatula until fully incorporated. Separate two cups of the mashed potato mixture into a separate bowl to make the pancakes an enjoy anything you have left alone! Trust me, it's delicious.
Prepare the eggplant bacon by spraying a wire rack with non-stick spray and placing it on a baking sheet. Cut the ends off the eggplant and slice it longways into thin pieces, about ¼ inch. Place the pieces onto a cutting board, sprinkle with salt and let sit for 10 minutes. When the 10 minutes is up, wipe the excess moisture off the eggplant and place on the wire rack.
In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients for the eggplant bacon until combined. Then brush the top side of the eggplant with the marinade. Bake for 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven then flip and brush the other side with marinade and bake for an additional 15 minutes. You can use any other veggie bacon for this part, but please keep in mind if you're using eggplant bacon, only actually bake what you're going to eat because it doesn't reheat well, save the rest of the sliced eggplant and save the marinade.
To make the potato pancakes, take 2 cups of the mashed potato/cabbage mixture into a large bowl and add the flour and egg. Mix until it thickens up, it should be a slightly thicker texture than pancake mix and you should be able to scoop it. Melt butter in a large cast iron skillet. Scooping about 2 tablespoons at a time, scoop the potato mixture into the skillet and flatten slightly with a spatula. Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side per pancake until they are golden brown on each side.
Finish up preparing your total Irish breakfast by frying or otherwise preparing your eggs and frying your breakfast sausage if using. If you're broiling the tomatoes, simply cut them in half, place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, broil for 3-5 minutes cut side up until they start to brown on the edges.
Assemble a plate with two eggs, one tomato, one sausage, strips of bacon, and two potato pancakes. Enjoy with an early morning beer, bloody or Irish coffee!
Notes
Timing: The prep time here includes the time you need to roast the garlic and make the mashed potatoes. You can make the "colcannon" entirely ahead of time and just make sure you have 2 cups of it for when you go to make the breakfast.
Vegan: If you're looking to make this vegan, you'll have to eliminate the eggs altogether unless you have a great substitute, I have not been able to find one I think that isn't a huge pain. Second, substitute the butter in every recipe for vegan butter. For the mashed potatoes I would recommend buying a vegan sour cream or a vegan cream cheese rather than just cutting it out entirely. I have tried to make these without adding in one of the two and they just do not come out like mashed potatoes. I will say, Kite Hill almond cream cheese works great in them!
Recipe by Almost Like Mom's at https://www.almostlikemoms.com/semi-traditional-irish-breakfast/