colcannon
Colcannon is a staple in Irish fare. Similar to mashed potatoes, this side dish builds on widely used ingredients including potatoes, kale or cabbage, cream and butter.
It is served alongside pork or Irish rashers, but is also delicious with corned beef. The nice thing with this recipe is that you can substitute or add ingredients like collard greens, bacon and sharp cheddar cheese.
Irish tradition is to serve it on Oíche Shamhna (Halloween). Items are hidden in the colcannon to predict the future for the coming year for those finding each trinket: a button meant a man would remain a bachelor, a thimble meant a woman would remain unwed, a ring meant marriage was in sight, and a coin meant that you would become wealthy.
The Recipe
Colcannon
- 6 Russet Potatoes, large
- 8 ounces unsalted butter (if you use salted butter, just cut back on the amount of salt you add at the end)
- 1/2 white onion, finely diced or 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 6 cups kale or savoy cabbage, destemmed and finely chopped
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp prepared horseradish
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- Peel and dice potatoes into medium sized pieces. Put the diced potatoes into a stock pot, cover with water, and cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain and set aside.
- In the same stock pot, melt the butter saute the onion until translucent.
- Add the kale and saute until wilted.
- Turn the heat to low and add the heavy cream to heat it throughout.
- Add the boiled potatoes. Using a masher or large fork, mash the potatoes into the kale mixture. (I like to leave these a little lumpy for texture)
- Add horseradish, salt and pepper and stir together. Add more seasoning as needed.
- Place warm colcannon in a bowl and top with a few pats of butter to serve.