In Case You Needed More Cabbage: A Colcannon Recipe
Colcannon came onto my scene a little unexpectedly. We were at Corey’s one night (was it a party? St. Patrick’s Day? A hootenanny? The exact details escape me.)
What I do know is K’s great at surprising you with food. She’ll disappear into the kitchen, do some wizard magic, and come out with her usual amazingness, like spaghetti squash spring rolls. Or homemade seitan buffalo “wings.” Or like that night at Corey’s, when she showed up fresh from a cold, cross ‘hood bike ride with a big pot of warm colcannon hidden in her bag.
So I know, mashed potatoes and cabbage doesn’t SOUND like a winner of a party food. But you couldn’t tell that to the 10 or so of us that cleaned out the entire durn pot of it. (OK, so maybe we’re just a weird bunch.)
I finally got around to making it for myself a few weeks back. I was working from home, and wasn’t into a whole big dinner production. And I really only had potatoes and cabbage in the fridge. So it was fate, pretty much.
Save this one for a cold winter night or your next party – it’ll warm you right up, I promise.
Oh, and because you must be wondering (you are, right?) — our 6th annual Thanksgiving extravaganza is shaping up nicely. We’re aiming for about 16 awesome people, and a great line up of veggie food. And yes, a turkey.
Hoping to post at least one more recipe by Wednesday to give you a preview, but you can get a sneak peek at one of the dishes I’m making, right here.
Easy Colcannon
Adapted from Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables
There’s a couple of ways to make colcannon. Some involve the oven, and cooking the cabbage and potatoes separately. I wasn’t feeling that fussy, so I came up with this lightspeed version.
Using organic potatoes also cut down the prep time, since all they needed was a good scrub, and the peeler got to sit untouched. The one step you absolutely can’t skip is cooking the scallions separately in milk, which brings out their full flavor.
The result? Awesomeness intact, and no leftovers.
1 ½ pounds medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tsp salt, and extra to taste
½ one large head of cabbage, (or about 1 ½ pounds. You can also use kale.), chopped
1 cup chopped scallions
1 cup milk
½ cup butter
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Toss the potatoes and cabbage into a large pot, cover with water and 2 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are very tender, about 15 – 20 minutes.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, put the scallions in a small pot with the milk. Cook over very low heat until they get really soft, about 15 minutes or so. Basically, when your potatoes are done, so will your scallions.
3. Drain the potatoes and cabbage well, and return them to the pot. Pour in the milk and scallion mixture, add the butter, more salt to taste, and a few good grinds of black pepper. Mash it all together until the liquid and butter are mixed in and the potatoes are fluffy. Be careful not to over do it – too much mashing and you’ll end up with a gluey consistency.
4. That’s it, really.
Serves up 6 as a side dish
In Burlington we call this rumble de thump and we smother it with any cheese we can get our dirty little hands on!
— StiffyOooh, that sounds great. I’m going to have to try that next time!
— ErinSounds good to me but I think I like the added cheese idea better. Some day I’ll have to show up for the Thanksgiving Feast.
— Indigo Slimwe also use celeriac almost exclusively instead of cabbage. I think i like celery root more than i like actual celery. good stuff.
— StiffyYes Indigo. You should make it a point to come out here one year. That would make it very special!
— ErinLove colcannon. We were totally poor when I was a kid, and my mom often used to make bubble and squeak, which is very similar - I think it’s supposed to have corned beef in it too, but my mom always just made it with cabbage and potatoes, boiled then cooked in a skillet so it was like a crispy cake.
Gotta love peasant food.
— MeaghanI just returned home from Orlando and sat down to catch up on my e-mails. I was so pleased and surprised to see a recipe for Colcannon. This is one of my favorite Irish dishes. I usually only get it at Irish pubs in Portland, ME and St. John N.B. I’ve been looking for a good recipe and this is it!! Thanks so much.
— Aunt BonnieAunt Bonnie