Saturday
Dublin parsnip colcannon (recipe in the comments)
Bangers
Pickled beet salad with scallions
Hot tea
Winter peach pie (yep, homemade!)
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Michael and I have begun our annual celebration of our non-Irish heritage! M and I together represent many geographical areas, but Ireland is, sadly for us, not among them. Our annual exploration of Irish fare was prompted by my mom (L) unexpectedly purchasing an Irish cookbook for us several years ago. We were initially surprised by this gift, but both ended up reading the cookbook as a pleasure book (yes, we are that nerdy) and were fascinated by the variety of foods and the wonderful prose accompanying the recipes. We found ourselves wanting to try more Irish recipes. So each year (and it seems to start earlier and earlier each year) as St. Patrick's Day approaches, we begin having Irish themed meals. It's a great tradition! The Dublin-style parsnip colcannon is a wonderful blend of mashed parsnips and potatoes with kale. It's a glorious green color and wonderfully tasty. We made it early this afternoon (along with the pie) and reheated it when we grilled the bangers (Irish style sausages). I looked forward to this dinner ALL day and it didn't disappoint!
Prep Notes
Difficulty: Moderate
Chopping: Potatoes, parsnips, kale, beets, scallions
Time: 45 minutes
Make ahead: I'd do the bangers last minute, but everything else saves well.
Reaction
J: "You don't have to be Irish to love this dinner!"
M: "Food even a leprechaun could love!"
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4 comments:
Dublin Parsnip Colcannon – Irish Traditional Cooking
Serves 8 as a side dish, 4 as a main dish
1 lb. parsnips, peeled and “chunked”
1 lb Yukon Gold (or similar) potatoes, peeled and “chunked”
1 lb curly kale (about 2 bunches), leaves stripped from center rib
1 – 1 ½ cups 2% milk (we used a mix of whole and skim as that’s what we had)
2 T chopped scallions
4 T butter (½ stick)
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Cider vinegar (optional)
Place potatoes and parsnips in a large saucepan and cover with water. Add a good pinch salt and bring to a boil. When the potatoes and parsnips are cooked, drain, replace the lid on the pan and return to gentle heat to steam for a few minutes. Remove from heat and mash well.
While the potatoes cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the kale and cook the kale until tender, but not mushy. Drain and coarsely chop.
When the potatoes are almost cooked, add the milk and scallions to a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the potato mixture is still warm, add the kale and mix well. Add enough of the milk to make a “fluffy puree”. Add the butter and taste for salt and pepper. Add a small amount of fresh nutmeg.
Serve immediately OR reheat at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
J likes to sprinkle on a drizzle or two of cider vinegar and M likes a small pat of extra butter!
I can't wait to try this! Scott's mom (originally from County Mayo) makes parsnips every Thanksgiving and Christmas. What kind of bangers do you use? Winston's are my favorite, although there's another readily available brand that's pretty good, too (the name escapes me at the moment).
I have to admit that this is our first banger foray and we used the one's from Trader Joe's - probably not the best. We liked them enough though that we'd be excited to try better ones. Winston's will probably grace our table before too long!
Sadly we're skipping an Irish meal this week, but we'll be back to them next week with Beggerman's stew a root vegetable stew made with beer. Yum.
Made this for dinner last night and it was great! It was my first experience with curly kale, and I'll definitely do it again. You can find Winston's Irish sausage at Hiller's Markets or some Irish import shops (Colleen's Gaelic Gifts in Livonia carries them). The leftover colcannon also made a nice Friday-during-Lent lunch...
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