Colcannon

Saint Patrick’s Day is a fun day to celebrate by wearing green and eating delicious food.  If you’re like most people, you probably go out and buy a cut of corned beef, some cabbage, and parsnips.  If you have children, you probably add green food coloring to their milk or their pancakes or maybe even have them build a leprechaun trap to see if you can catch them or at least some of their coins!  We have fun traditions in our family with our children in this way too.

Over the past couple of years we decided to kick it up a notch with our Irish food.  Yes, we still buy a cut of corned beef with a side of cabbage and parsnips, but we’ve added additional Irish dishes that perhaps you may not have heard of.  One such dish is known by the name of Colcannon.  Colcannon is simply a mix of cheesy mashed potatoes, vegetables and butter.  It goes really well as a side dish with corned beef.  Below are the ingredients and directions to make it.  It’s not super difficult, so give it a try!  You’ll likely enjoy it like we do.

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Ingredients

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2.5 pounds of potatoes, peeled and largely chopped

5 cups of kale chopped

5 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled

2 cups Dubliner cheese shredded

1 cup Irish Cheddar cheese shredded

1/2 cup whole milk

Salt to taste

6 Tbsp Irish Butter

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Directions

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Preheat oven to 350 F

Set a large pot of water to boil

Peel potatoes and chop into large 1 inch slices

Boil potatoes for at least 20 minutes or until soft

While potatoes are boiling, chop the kale into small slices

Fry the bacon slices on both sides until slightly overcooked (so they crumble well)

Remove bacon and add the chopped kale to cook in bacon grease until shrunk down (about 5 minutes)

Crumble bacon and set aside

Shred Irish cheddar and Dubliner cheeses

When potatoes are soft, strain out water and mash potatoes.  Add milk as needed, add salt to taste

Fold into the mashed potatoes the cooked kale, bacon bits and both shredded cheeses, combine well

Add potatoes to a glass 9 x 13 inch baking dish and smooth out evenly.

Create a crater in the middle of the potatoes and add in the butter cube

Place in oven for 10 minutes or until butter is melted

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Butter will naturally permeate through the majority of the potatoes when it melts creating a very buttery rich and tasty potato dish.  Enjoy!