colcannon

It might seem odd to start this post off by saying I won't be making these too often. Odd, perhaps. But, in the interest of preserving my figure - it's the only way. I cannot hold myself back with this recipe. Really. We're not big potato eaters in this house actually. Usually it's sweet potatoes, if any. But I wanted to make something Irish in theme with St. Patrick's Day coming up. Something fairly traditional, simple and easy to make. I was making two other recipes a friend shared with me (those ones are coming up soon!) that use cabbage and so along the cabbage road I went! I would make this exactly the same again - but also plan on another version with kale, and another with green onion. Different textures, a bit of bite with the green/spring onion - all good - but keeping with the simplicity.  

I know there are many versions of this out there - so of course feel free to take the recipe below and run with it - more milk, more butter, more cabbage, more parsley. This will recipe will just get your started. I'm sure you'll love it. 

The quantities below worked out roughly to four to six servings. It's pretty easy to basically 'eyeball' it so adjust according to your needs and taste. 

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 medium red or other potatoes, cubed (I only partially peeled mine as I love the colour, texture and added nutritional value of the skin)
• 2 cups (500 ml) chopped cabbage
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) butter
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped onion
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped parsley (optional)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk (or more if you like)

Method:

Cube potatoes. Place in saucepan, just covered with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until tender when pierced. 

While the potatoes are cooking, sauté the onions in a portion of the butter measurement (about a teaspoon is enough), until soft.

Chop the parsley, set aside.

Chop the cabbage, set aside.

Transfer potatoes to a colander to drain, retaining the water if possible (saves time and energy). 

Bring the water to a simmer again and add the chopped cabbage. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until soft. Drain. 

While the cabbage is cooking, place the potatoes in a large bowl. Mash the potatoes or use your hand blender (this works exceptionally well for this task). Add the butter, milk, parsley (if using), onion and cabbage and using a large spoon (I find wooden works best for this) combine all ingredients thoroughly. You may also choose to add a bit of salt and pepper at this stage but I left that for us to add ourselves at the table. Tada! You're done! Easy peezy! 

Do you have a favourite version of this dish? I'd love to hear about it! Send me an email or comment and I'll try it out. 

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Comments

[The Taste Traveller]

Thanks for your comments! It really is a great way to get some extra veg - and the cabbage and potato combo is just so good. The hand blender really makes it s breeze to get a smooth, whipped texture.

I also found that when I looked at other recipes they were often yielding amounts much too big for what I was after. Even this recipe gave us some leftovers!

[Suzy]

I love cabbage! I can't wait to try some of these :)

[Memoria]

I really want to make this, but the other recipe I was going to use yielded too large of a quantity. I could easily half this recipe, though. Thank you!! It looks great.