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.
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
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.
2 minutes
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.
20 minutes
- â˘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.
- â˘Is especially good with dark greens such as savoy cabbage or kale.
- â˘The Gouda is an innovationâleave it out, if you don't want the dish too rich.
- â˘The oven heating is ideally done along with the final stage of your roast meat.
- â˘Seasoning is very important: bear in mind that the cheese has plenty of salt.
- â˘The perfect colcannon has a butter sogginess at the bottom of the bowl when removed from the oven.