This being St. Patrick’s Day and all, I trust you’re ready to pull your corned beef(s) out of their briny soak today and cook up a couple for your feast, corned beef hash for weekend breakfasts and some corned beef sandwich heaven too (a grilled fontina-corned beef on Texas Toast is on schedule here for one of the weekend lunches).
Ed pestered me this week for a “damned good recipe for colcannon”, what we’ve heard some call Irish peasant fare, though it’s a treat you don’t see much these days outside of genuine Irish families and neighborhoods around the country.
(Speaking of Irish neighborhoods, I see Butte has opened up some additional jail space ahead of the weekend’s debauchery upcoming over there – tread thoughtfully if you’re Butte bound this weekend…)
This is the best colcannon recipe we’ve ever run across, featuring a healthy ration of sautéed leeks and garlic along with the requisite cabbage (kale works is that’s your thing), pushed over the top with a sprinkle of good bacon (though Ed argues that boiled ham is much more traditional).
Chef Libby in Austin even serves something very similar to this Colcannon recipe shaped into potato cake form and browned up nice and crispy in more butter.
Hot damn.
4-6 slices thick-cut, nice bacon
7-8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2.5 pounds)
Kosher salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
3 leeks, pale and white parts only, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 cups (packed) shredded savoy cabbage
1 and 3/4 cups milk (maybe a touch more)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Fresh ground black pepper
2-3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
Start with the bacon. Fry the bacon to a crisp finish, drain and set aside. Crumble when cool.
Cook those spuds. Cover the washed and trimmed potatoes with water in a medium pot, add a bit of salt, and bring water to a boil. Reduced the heat and simmer (30-40 minutes) until you can easily pierce the spuds with a paring knife.
Drain, cool for 15 minutes, and then peel.
Meanwhile, sauté. While the spuds are cooking, melt 6 tbsp. of the butter in a large saucepan; add the leeks sauté, stirring pretty often, until soft (10 minutes or so). Add the garlic slices and cook, stirring often, until the leeks are beginning to caramelize a bit.
Now add half the cabbage and stir constantly until wilted. Finally add the milk and cream and bring to a gentle simmer.
Finish it off. Now add the spuds and the remaining cabbage; mash the spuds with a potato masher. Stir in the bacon. Season to taste with good salt and pepper.
Get it on the table. Now transfer to a preheated serving bowl, top with the remaining butter in several large pats and sprinkle with the sliced scallions. Serve hot.
Enjoy.
