Colcannon

Mashed Potatoes with chopped cabbage

Sides

My Thoughts

Since St. Patrick's Day is rapidly approaching I thought I should add several "Irish" dishes to the site. The Sous Chef was named after one of Gaelic Storm's lead singers (Patrick Murphy) after all, so it only seemed right that there be several "Irish" recipes. I am pretty sure some of the ones on the site for St. Patrick's Day aren't actually eaten in Ireland as traditional dishes (anyone from Erin's Green Shamrock shores can correct me on that if I'm wrong). Colcannon though, is a traditional Irish dish that is basically scallions, cabbage, and mashed potatoes. You can add bacon (and use bacon grease instead of some of the butter), kale, and other herbs and spices not listed here. I personally prefer this simpler version. It's a great way to take limited ingredients and stretch them on a dime, while enjoying a hardy, creamy, and very tasty dish. Despite the number of steps, it's really no harder than making mashed potatoes, but feels much richer and has a nice little crunch from the cabbage.

The How To Do It

  1. Scrub/wash your potatoes and make sure they are clean (you don't want bits of dirt in your fluffy-white potato mash do you?) and chop them into 1-in to 1.5-in cubes (it helps them cook faster).
  2. Put the potatoes into a pot filled with cold water that covers them by about 2 inches and bring to boil over high heat (most people salt the potatoes here, but I don't. I tend to wait until I am mixing everything together. If you like, you can salt here, just make sure not to over do it later). You should be able to easily tear the cubes apart by sliding a fork through them. It should take between 20 and 30 minutes.
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, slice the cabbage into then strips, roughly 1/4-in wide and then chop the resulting cabbage into smaller strips. You don't have to be precise, you're just trying to not have spaghetti-like shreds.
  4. In a saute pan (I actually use a cast iron skillet), add the butter and let it melt and start to bubble.
  5. Now add the scallions (white parts only) and saute until the scallions just start to brown around the edges.
  6. Next add half the cabbage and saute it with the scallions until it starts to wilt. It should take about 5 minutes, but if it starts to look and feel soft you're there (and not worries if you over do it, just don't burn it).
  7. Add the cream and milk (or use half-and-half for the whole thing if you've got it in the fridge) and let cook and until the liquid has reduced a bit (it will just start looking/feeling a bit thinker and creamy).
  8. Add the rest of the cabbage and cook it in the mixture for an additional 5 minutes or until it starts to soften.
  9. Drain the potatoes, add them back into the pot you boiled them in, and add the cream/cabbage mixture with the garlic powder, salt (be careful if you've already salted the them earlier), and pepper.
  10. Now with an old fashioned hand masher give everything a quick mash. This is supposed to be a rustic dish, so don't worry about them being to lumpy. I usually try to land somewhere between mashed potatoes and potato salad (but that's just me, you do what you like).
  11. Transfer them to a serving bowl, sprinkle them with the chopped scallions (green parts only this time) and enjoy!

Ingredients

Colcannon
2 meds
russet potato
½ sml
green cabbage
3 onions
scallions
*green and white parts
2 cloves
garlic
1 tbsp
unsalted butter
¼ cup
heavy cream
¼ cup
milk
1 tsp
granulated garlic
1 tsp
onion powder
1 tsp
kosher salt
½ tsp
black pepper
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