A friend of ours once described colcannon as ‘posh mash’ (mash being the common name in England for simple mashed potatoes). And her description was quite accurate, in that colcannon IS a step above regular mashed potatoes, steeped in rich Irish tradition!
We thought we’d post about colcannon today for two reasons – one, because we suggested a visitor to our site try it out on her little boy who refuses to eat anything green – and two, because October 31st is almost here and colcannon is historically a typical Halloween dish in Ireland.
Now, traditional colcannon is made with Savoy cabbage, but you can also use curly kale, a wonderfully nutritious veggie that’s almost dripping with anti-oxidants! We lightly steam it in preparation for this recipe, but you could – if you prefer – saute it briefly in olive oil instead.
The kale (or cabbage) is then mixed in with the other ingredients and – if you’re lucky – may be much more readily accepted by your baby than if you try to serve it on its own.
Another difference between the ‘real’ colcannon and our baby-friendly version is that colcannon is usually served with copious amounts of butter. Whilst we don’t mind using some butter in our recipes, we think this one tastes great with the addition of virgin olive oil instead – we hope your little one agrees!
To Make Colcannon for Your Baby You Will Need…
around 12 oz (1 1/2 cups) white potato (Yukon Gold or Russet are perfect)
4 oz (around 1 cup) curly kale (or Savoy cabbage), shredded and cooked
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 fl oz (1/4 cup) whole milk (or full cream milk)
2 scallions (spring onions/green onions), finely chopped
pinch of thyme
Peel the potatoes and boil them until tender. Mash until completely smooth.
In a small saucepan, heat the milk. Add the chopped scallions and simmer for a minute or two, then tip the milk/scallion mixture into the mashed potatoes.
Stir in the cooked kale/cabbage, olive oil and thyme.
Your colcannon is ready to serve (when sufficiently cool, of course). It can be used to accompany a main meal, but it’s also tasty served all by itself!
Although it’s not traditional, we like to pop a garlic clove in with the milk, simmer it for a few minutes before adding the scallions, then remove it when the milk is poured into the potatoes. It adds a nice little touch of extra flavour!
Need more tips to get your little one to eat his veggies?
Then please see…
Help – my baby won’t eat vegetables!
harry
Wednesday 2nd of November 2011
Actually it is the other way around, Colcannon is traditionally made with curly kale as it was widely available in Ireland centuries ago, not modern cabbage!! Once a upon a time it was in abundance and grew wild in Ireland. But as cabbage then became more widely sold in shops in modern times curly kale became less popular and harder to find so most use cabbage these days apart from halloween when kale becomes very much a fashionable thing to see in shops as colcannon is a traditional halloween dish. Mind you as Curly Kale is actually a member of the cabbage family I suppose it doesn't really matter much.
Christine
Wednesday 2nd of November 2011
Thank you for the clarification :)