St. Patrick's Day Irish Food Recipe

While most American's view corned beef and cabbage as the be all and end all of St. Patrick's Day foods, I actually dislike it. I am just not a fan of corned beef. So, I decided to find other traditional Irish foods to serve on St. Patrick's Day. In Ireland, corned beef and cabbage is actually rarely, if ever, eaten. This is an Irish-American food more than a truly Irish food. In Ireland, they would eat pork with their cabbage. Every year I cook a large pork roast and as a side dish I serve Colcannon. Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish that combines potatoes and cabbage. My recipe is fairly close to traditional recipes, but I have changed some of the seasonings to suit our tastes. This goes well with pork and can be served at any time, not just St. Patrick's Day.

Colcannon my style

Ingredients

1 small head of cabbage (approximately 1 pound), cored, quartered and shredded *

2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces

2 small leeks (white and pale green parts only), washed and sliced **

1 cup of milk

kosher salt

black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) plus 2 Tablespoons of butter

* You can purchase shredded cabbage for this recipe. Just make sure that it is all cabbage and not a mix of cabbage and carrot for Cole slaw.

** If you cannot find leeks or do not wish to use them, you can use yellow onions. The taste is a little harsher but still pretty good. Leeks are better, though.

Place the cabbage in boiling, salted water to cook. In a separate pot, place the potatoes in boiling, salted water to cook. Cook until both are tender, approximately 10 - 12 minutes. Drain the cabbage and chop it finely. Drain the potatoes and mash them. Keep each separate.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the leeks (or onions) with the milk and cook over medium heat until tender. This will take about 8 - 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes and spices to the milk mixture and stir over low heat until well mixed. Add the cooked, chopped cabbage and 8 Tablespoons of butter to the potato mixture. Stir until the mix returns to mashed potato consistency. Transfer the potato mix to a serving dish or bowl. Place the remaining butter on the top of the potatoes, cut into small pieces. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper to taste and serve at once.

There are recipes for potato and cabbage where the potatoes are not mashed. I prefer this recipe and feel that it is a great dish to serve to company or your family. The tastes of the potato, leek and cabbage combine for a mellow and delicious dish. I prefer to use real butter and whole milk for this dish as the richness is wonderful, however, you can make it using skim milk and margarine for a healthier dish.