Colcannon Mash

On this very festive day, March 17th, AKA St. Patrick’s Day, my husband gets his annual meal of corned beef.  It’s not that I don’t like corned beef- I love corned beef- some of my favorite sandwiches are made with corned beef.  It’s just that the corning process makes it something I can only enjoy every once in very great while.  Typically I give him corned beef and cabbage, and I was going to do that, but then I had a better idea for the cabbage, which is cabbage rolls (mmmm…). Which is just as well, because the Irish don’t actually eat corned beef and cabbage.  Corned beef and cabbage is an Irish American thing.  The other name for corned beef and cabbage is New England Boiled Dinner, and if you don’t believe me, Google it.

According to the very Irish priest at the last parish I attended, the Irish are more inclined to eat a Guiness-braised stew, and he made a great big batch of it every year for the St. Patrick’s Day Party my church circle would throw to raise money for the church for projects like fixing the roof and what not.  I cannot for the life of me remember what his name was; I remember there was a Father Sullivan, but he was the American guy.  Then at St. Joseph’s there was Father Walsh, who was also Irish, but that was a different parish. The best time to go to mass at St. Joseph’s was at noon on Sunday which was Father Walsh’s gig, and if you were lucky and there was a football game on at one, he would blast through the service in forty-five minutes so he could get back to the rectory in time for kick off. He earned himself the nickname Father Whoosh for that. But I digress.

What I really wanted to tell you about was what I served with this year’s corned beef, because I’d forgotten about it and it’s so good, I don’t want to forget again.  Ever heard of Colcannon mash?

Colcannon mash is one of those dishes whose main ingredients don’t sound like they should go together at all, but whose sum winds up tasting better than its two parts: potatoes and cabbage.  Except I like it better with other greens than cabbage.  One time I substituted a half bag of arugula that was threatening to go off- delish- tonight it was some mixed greens I have in the fridge.  I also tend to fry it up after mashing it, because that is the way I had it the first time.  But if you haven’t tried it, you owe yourself, because it’s really good.  If you can’t justify it that way, think of it as a slightly lower calorie way of getting your mashed potatoes, or a sneaky but acceptable way of getting those deep greens you know you should be eating.  (By the way, I haven’t tried gravy on Colcannon mash, but I bet it would be wonderful, if not entirely traditional. It would not be less fattening, however.)

And this is more just how to get it made rather than a recipe; I’m assuming that you know how to boil potatoes for mashing- just don’t over boil them and get them water-logged.

Colcannon Mash

Potatoes (mealy ones for mashing)
greens (arugula, chard, young collards, kale spinach, or the original, cabbage)
green onions
buttermilk or sour cream or yogurt
butter
salt and pepper

Boil your normal quantity of potatoes (by which I mean whatever quantity is normal for you) in salted water until they’re almost cooked.  A few minutes before they’re done, throw in several handfuls of greens, and some chopped green onions.  Cook the greens until they are wilted and cooked, but still bright green.  Turn off the heat and drain the spuds and greens in a colander until they are pretty thorough drained. If you can press out some of the water from the greens, so much the better, but take care you don’t mash the spuds through the colander holes.

Return the whole thing back to the pan and turn the heat back on.  Mash the whole thing with a potato masher and add a little buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt and a pat or two of butter. Season with salt and pepper, and either serve as is or, fry up in a hot skillet in a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil and butter.  Turn when browned and add a little more fat if you have to.   Serve it instead of the straight potatoes and cabbage with your corned beef.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.