Colcannon was such a foreign Irish dish for me that I wound up having to Google it to find out what it meant and what the origins were. That's where I found out that it's actually more of a dish made around Halloween time, because that's when kale (which seems to be the original green used) was in season. Who knew. Oh well, enough of the history lesson.
I got home somewhat early last night and proceeded to get to work (I knew I wouldn't have enough time tonight to make it if I waited). Oh, how I worked. The recipe called to steam the potatoes, instead of boiling them. That should have been my first red flag. Does anyone know how hard it is to mash steamed potatoes? I really thought I'd lose an arm. I mashed. and mashed and mashed and mashed and mashed. It took forever. It took so long and went nowhere so fast that I decided to just add the melted butter and hot milk because I was so irritated and I just wanted this to finally mash up. Thank goodness that tactic finally worked, but not for awhile. I finished the potato mashing and got to work on the rest of it: boiling and dicing the cabbage and sauteeing the ham. The original recipe calls for a pound of ham, boiled, but I took a shortcut and bought a pound of deli sliced ham, diced it and pan fried it. I don't know I'll really know the difference. I'd say if you are vegetarian, leave it out. If you want to try bacon, do that instead. And if you're really bold feel free to use the original recipe's suggestion of a whole pound of ham, boil it, and dice it up.
The cabbage and the ham weren't so hard. It was getting it to be done that was the problem. I didn't use a big enough pot for boiling the cabbage so water popped all over my stove, and then it was too hot to touch for about 25 minutes. The ham just wouldn't get hot enough to brown. It was starting to get to be too much. Finally, I shocked the cabbage under cold water so I could touch it, cut and diced it up, and threw it in the bowl. Then I put the ham in and combined everything together. Overall, it wasn't a complicated meal, ingredient wise. I should have known-Irish food is typically known for being on the milder side, with not as many spices and stuff.
After all that work, I was so sure I'd hate this dish. I had this post all planned out, telling you how much I hated it, how bland it was, that the cabbage was all wrong.
I didn't hate it. I actually liked it much more than I thought I would. The little bits that I had (because I had to have at least a little bit!) were more flavorful than I expected. I'll blame that on the salty ham and the extra pepper I put in it. The cabbage though, the cabbage added some weird element that I couldn't put my finger on, but it definitely helped the dish come together. I liked all of the textures that went along with this and I'm glad I found this particular Irish recipe to try something different.
Next year, though-next year, I'm bribing someone else to make it for me.
Colcannon (from www.foodnetwork.com)
* 3 lbs russet potatoes (this wound up being about 4 potatoes for me)
* 2 sticks butter (I only used 1)
* 1 1/4 c hot milk
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 head cabbage, cored and finely shredded (I shredded this after it had been boiled-I put it in the pot in pieces and cored it before I cooked it, though)
* 1 (1 lb.) piece ham or bacon, cooked the day before (I instead used deli ham, about 1 lb.)
* 4 scallions, finely chopped (I ran out of scallions, so I skipped this)
* Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish (skipped this too-didn't feel the need-but it does make the dish pretty!)
Steam the potatoes whole for 30 minutes. Slice in half and peel them using a knife and fork. (Next time, I'd suggest boiling them like you do regular mashed potatoes). Chop with a knife before mashing-I swear you'll be glad you did that. Mash thoroughly until mixture is smooth. Add 1 stick of butter-if it's frozen, melt it. Otherwise, if at room temperature, add in pieces. Add hot milk in stages, stirring constantly. Season with black pepper.
Boil the cabbage in unsalted water until it's darker, about ten minutes or so. You can add 2 tablespoons butter to make it tender (as the recipe directs) but I skipped that step too. Drain completely, then dice into small pieces.
(Put the ham in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes until tender. Drain. Remove any fat and chop into small pieces.) -This is from the original recipe. If you opt to use my short cut, dice up one point of deli ham and put it in a skillet to pan fry until just browned.
Add cabbage, scallions (if using), and ham to mashed potatoes, stirring them in completely.
Sprinkle parsley on top (if you're using) and put another pat of butter in the center of each portion (again, optional). Serve.
No comments:
Post a Comment