To get our St. Patrick’s feast off on the right foot, Mary Ellen Mahan, local fitness motivator and library lover with deep Irish roots, opened her Irish family recipe box. She’s sharing a quick and simple recipe you may use over and over for holiday feasts.
Let’s talk about Colcannon, a potato and cabbage dish traditionally served with boiled ham or Irish bacon. Mary Ellen offers a healthier spin on her mother’s recipe. After losing 150 pounds and motivating others get fit, she knows what’s what!
Mary Ellen embraced the humble (yet stereotypical Irish mainstay) potato on a recent trip to Ireland, seeing firsthand how families farm. While most families were fortunate enough to have a garden “some family ‘farms’ were very small, perhaps 10x20,” she said. “It was not enough to sustain a family and if you were not the eldest son you would not inherit it so you had to leave to survive.”
In my youth we ate field to plate, and I was curious about Mary Ellen’s memories. She remembers her immigrant Irish grandparents “were always cooking from scratch. However, most households in America took advantage of the new food trends post WW2 and some boxed foods became staples. Heck, we used to think those TV dinners were a treat!”
“Few of my relatives in County Mayo still farm but if they do it on larger lots and produce much more diverse crops with farm animals. While they enjoy a more varied list of foodstuffs, it is still rather limited. They may not sustain themselves on potatoes anymore, but the meals were still simple, yet plentiful for their guests from America.”
Mary Ellen also shared her family Irish Soda Bread recipe, find it on PhoebesPureFood.com. Be sure to check out last year’s Irish Soda Bread recipe and a vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie Recipe at BerksCountyLiving.com. You are on your own for the Irish Potato candy!
Stay on top of wholesome recipes, local eats and my food and lifestyle podcast at Phoebe's website. Happy and healthy cooking!
Catherine Mahan's Colcannon Recipe
Yield: 6- 8 servings
“My grandmother's original version called for a head of cabbage, and all other ingredients were ‘to taste.’ That leaves a lot of room for variation! The traditional recipe calls for mashed potatoes and cabbage with cream, butter, salt, pepper and scallions. So of course, when scallions cost more than onions we had it with onions when I was younger. My version uses skim milk, kale and leeks. I have relatives who also add chives. Again, it is a matter of taste.” - Mary Ellen Mahan
Ingredients
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- 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
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- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds cabbage
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- 1 cup cream
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- 1/2 cup butter
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- 5 scallions, chopped and divided
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- Salt and pepper
Instructions
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- Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes until tender, about 20-30 minutes.
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- Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage, quarter, remove the core and slice the quarters into thin slices.
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- In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add the cabbage and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until tender and bright. Remove the cabbage, place in a strainer over a large bowl. Place a small plate over the cabbage and top with a few cans of soup, allowing the weight to remove excess water.
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- When the potatoes are soft, drain the water and return the potatoes to the pot. Add the cream (yogurt), milk, butter and all but 3 tablespoons scallions.
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- Mash the potatoes with a hand masher. Do not use a ricer or electronic hand mixer. (Mother Mahan is very clear on this!)
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- Add the strained cabbage to the potato mixture and mash to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
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- Garnish with a sprinkle of the remaining scallions.
Phoebe’s healthier substitutions
• 1 cup cream with 1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt and 1/2 cup non-fat milk• 1/2 cup butter with 3 tablespoons butter
Mary Ellen Mahan's Healthier Version
Follow the recipe above with the following substitutions:
• Substitute the cream with skim milk or buttermilk.
• Substitute cabbage with kale (stems cut out) and/or a head of Napa cabbage.
• Reduce 8 tablespoons of butter to 4 tablespoons.
• Cook 4 slices of turkey bacon, drain and chop into small pieces. Set them aside. Top the finished dish with fresh cut chives (instead of scallions) and sprinkle the turkey bacon on top.
• Optional caramelized onions topping: Chop and caramelize 1 large onion and add to the cooked potato mixture, reserving some for the topping. This makes it sweeter and more vegetable centric recipe.
