Colcannon
This dish isn't exactly a recipe. It's an old Irish favourite and it gets it's name from The Lake Colcannon in Ireland. We'll see how that fits in at the end.

Make a boiled dinner consisting of potatoes, cabbage, carrots and ham and eat it the day you make it. Save all leftovers making sure to save some whole potatoes and carrots and at least 2 large cabbage wedges.

The next day take your leftovers and cut them into chunks. Cut the cabbage into big chunks. Cut the ham into bite sized pieces.

In a dutch oven melt 1½ sticks of butter. Margarine just isn't the same. This isn't supposed to be a diet meal. Add ham and saute for a few minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

In a small saucepan warm 1/2 C milk, a pat of butter, 1 tbsp salt and a few grinds of pepper.

Add potatoes and carrots to dutch oven, saute for a few minutes so they get coated with the butter then mash lightly right in the pan over medium low heat. (You don't want to mash too much, use a fork or a spoon.) Add warm milk mixture slowly until desired consistancy. Thicker is a bit better. Lumps are your friends in this dish!

Add cabbage and ham, stir gently to combine. Adding more butter (melted) if necessary. Cover and warm slowly over medium low heat, stirring gently from time to time.

Once the mixture is hot, place a big heaping mound in a bowl or on a plate. With the back of a spoon, make a large hole/dent in the middle of the mound and place a large pat (1 tbsp) of butter in the hole.

To eat, start by taking a forkful from the outside of the mound and dip it into the buttery *Lake Colcannon*

When my sister and I were small, we'd make a game of not being the first one to "break the dam." I still love this stuff...it's a huge comfort food for us Irish girls.

NOTE: The kind of potatoes you use make all the difference in this dish. While hard to find, blue potatoes are absolutely the best. Next try yukon gold or red potatoes.
Posted by Donna on Sunday, March 07, 2004 at 02:29 PM
Filed in: Ethnic • ◊ Permalink


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