Colcannon
Colcannon is a rich mashed potato dish with cabbage, butter, and other ingredients. It's very easy to make and is a nice change from ordinary mashed potatoes. Its sloppiness is balanced by the crunch of the cabbage, and it should taste a little peppery.
Ingredients
- 450 g potatoes (floury Maris Piper or Golden Wonders are best; leave skin on if you want)
- 150 ml single cream
- Mace
- Ground paprika
- 450 g white or savoy shredded cabbage
- 2 small leeks or 1 bunch of spring onion tops, chopped
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 200 g mature Gouda cheese, grated
- Salt
- Pepper
Method
- Boil or steam the potatoes until soft, then shake the drained spuds in a deep pot with the lid on, until they crumble.
- Mash the crumbled potatoes up with a fork and season with the salt, pepper, and mace/paprika, before stirring in the cream.
- Add 100 g of the butter in pieces and put the lid back on, leaving the butter to melt, then stir. Transfer the mix to a clean bowl.
- Blanch the cabbage in boiling water for 2 minutes and drain.
- Fry the leeks in the remaining butter for a few minutes, then add the cabbage and toss around for a few more minutes.
- Spoon the cabbage into the bowl and mix with the mashed potatoes.
- Stir the gouda into the mix, leaving a little to coat the top. Put the bowl in an oven on 2/3 heat for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Notes
- The mixture may be turned into a greased pie dish, sprinkled with grated cheese, dotted with butter or margarine, and browned in a hot oven.
- Is especially good with dark greens such as savoy cabbage or kale.
- The Gouda is an innovation—leave it out, if you don't want the dish too rich.
- The oven heating is ideally done along with the final stage of your roast meat.
- Seasoning is very important: bear in mind that the cheese has plenty of salt.
- The perfect colcannon has a butter sogginess at the bottom of the bowl when removed from the oven.