Colcannon Recipe

“Well did you ever make colcannon,
Made with lovely pickled cream,
With the greens and scallions mingled
Like a picture in a dream?
Did you ever make a hole on top
To hold the meltin’ flake
Of the creamy flavoured butter
That our mothers used to make?

Oh you did, so you did,
So did he and so did I.
And the more I think about it,
Sure, the nearer I’m to cry.
Oh weren’t them the happy days
When troubles we knew not,
And our mothers made colcannon
In the little skillet pot?” ~~The Black Family

The Colcannon Recipe 

Ingredients:
1 pound cabbage
2 pounds russet or yukon gold potatoes
2 small leeks, green onions or scallions
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons butter
dash of nutmeg or mace

Core, quarter and shred the cabbage and place in a pan, covering with boiled salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Peel and cut the potatoes into two inch pieces and cook those in another pan, insalted water for about 15 minutes. Drain the cabbage and chop into very small pieces. Drain the potatoes and mash by hand. Do not use a processor or mixer! Meanwhile, wash and chop the onion - using the middle parts - not the root end or rough ends of the green part. In a pan large enough to hold the cooked potatoes and cabbage, combine the onions and milk and cook over medium heat until they are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. 

Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, and mace to the onions and milk and stir over low heat until well-blended. Add the cabbage and 1/2 cup of butter and stir again to the consistency of mashed potatoes. Mound the mixture in the middle of a platter and make an indentation. Add the remainder of the butter. Serves 4 to 6.

(This was first published on 1 August 2011, by Edna Barney at "Neddy's Kitchen.")