Happy 2015. We celebrated with a special colcannon. I made it into a one dish meal of deliciousness. I used kale instead of cabbage, because I like it better, and I threw a few broccoli leaves in with it. If you haven’t read anything about broccoli leaves yet, they are the new superfood, twice as nutritious as kale (whatever). And I have broccoli growing in the greenhouse, so I figured, why not? Now, you don’t usually put meat in colcannon, but pork is a magical ingredient, so I used bacon AND ham. The only thing that could make this dish any better is a farm fresh egg on top.
We decided to start the day with Beeler sausage patties, topped with Kerrygold cheese, and sandwiched between layers of Immaculate buttermilk biscuits (find them near the canned biscuits, in large grocery stores). I like to think of my kitchen as an ethnically diversified zone, where anything can happen. The Irish won today!
Ingredients
- 6 or more strips of thick cut bacon
- 2 lbs of yukon gold potatoes, diced*
- 1 cup diced ham
- 3 or more cups wilted (pre-cooked) kale or cabbage
- 1-2 cups cream
- Frankly delicious all purpose seasoning (or any seasoning you like)
- 1-2 tsp smoked paprika
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Dice bacon, and fry until crisp. Remove from pan, and set aside.
- Add potatoes to pan and toss to coat in bacon grease. Cook until slightly brown. Note: We usually have bacon, that I have pre-cooked, in our fridge. I dice it and let it cook through, in extra virgin olive oil, then add my other ingredients.
- Add ham and continue to cook slightly. Stir in reserved bacon.
- Stir in greens. I had about 1/2 cup beef broth that I had cooked them in, and I added it too. Stir in 1 cup of cream. Add all purpose seasoning and smoked paprika. I had an ounce of cream cheese left in the fridge, so it went in too!
- Cover and cook until potatoes are very tender. Add more broth or cream, if it dries out too much. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes before serving.
- Add fried egg to the top of each serving, when you want to make it even more special.
- *Use any potatoes you like. They can even be pre-cooked and rough mashed.