This is my new favorite way to eat mashed potatoes. Since I am a wee bit Irish, why not embrace this traditional dish of Ireland. Colcannon is a very hearty mash that goes perfectly with a nice ham, corned beef, lamb roast/chops, and pork. Colcannon is very adaptable and very frugal. It is now the only way I want my mashed potatoes!! The key to this dish are dry boiled potatoes, butter added first, then the milk mixture. Greens have to be sautéed, add a wee bit of mustard powder, and a bay leaf. Following these pointers will make your mash creamy and irresistible. You have to try!!!
Ingredients:
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
3 cups curly kale – stem and chop – coarsely chop the leaves
8 tablespoons butter
4 green onions thinly sliced
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons salt
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Peel and cut potatoes. Place in a good size pot and fill with cold water until the water covers the potatoes. Season with 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until they are fork tender and break apart when pierced. Strain and leave in a colander and set aside.
2. Stem the kale and chop the stems. Coarsely chop the leaves. In a nice size sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the kale, stems, white parts of the green onions, and the bay leaf. Stir occasionally and cook till kale is tender. About 5 minutes.
3. Add the milk and mustard powder. Bring the milk to a simmer and then reduce the heat to keep warm.
4. Return the potatoes to the pot, add 6 tablespoons of butter and the green parts of the green onion. Mash until nearly smooth.
5. Add the kale-milk mixture to the mashed potatoes. Discard the bay leaf. Mix well. Do not worry if it looks like there is too much liquid. The potato starch will absorb the liquid. Season with salt and pepper and a dab of butter in each serving.
*NOTE: You can swap out kale with swiss chard, spinach, cabbage, broccoli leaves, sorrel, and/or watercress. Add some cooked bacon and replace about 3 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons of bacon fat. If you use Russets, you will have to reduce the amount of milk. Just poor slowly and stop when you have a loose mash. Make it Vegan by swapping out the milk with unsweetened oat milk and non-dairy butter.
You definitely are going to love this awesome Irish Colcannon recipe!!! Cheers, Drew Frederic.