Rustic Colcannon

As every cook, chef or homemaker knows coming up with new dishes can be a fun, creative and rewarding experience. With how long food has been around, after creating a dish you will inevitably find that someone had created the dish somewhere else a long time ago; at least a similar one. This week in our test kitchen we decided to “create” our very own rustic take on colcannon.

In an attempt to come up with a relatively healthy St. Patrick’s Day dish potatoes, kale and peas combine with salt, butter and milk to show off our own take on the traditional Irish potato dish named colcannon. While there seems to be some possible regional variances the traditional dish combines mashed potatoes with leeks, spring onions and kale with some salted butter.

Our Take:

1 cup destocked and chopped kale
2 large chopped, skin on potatoes
½ cup each peas and milk
2 Tbsp. salted butter

Boil chopped potatoes until fork tender
Drain potatoes and place back on heat with remaining ingredients.
When the kale becomes wilted, mash ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste.

To some it may appear as if a lack of research may be the culprit in this creation conundrum, but it stems from a part of the process. Rather than simply looking up a recipe and preparing it, we look to the ingredients themselves, and strive to creatively put together a plate for both our and your enjoyment. This is not to say if there is a particular dish we are preparing research is not part of the process however it is more an exception than a rule.

It has been an interesting reintroduction to Canadian Cook with a recipe idea that was not all that new. The health attributes of kale have been well documented as a superfood, and hopefully this dish is a little better for you than a corned beef sandwich on rye this St. Patrick’s Day. Tuesday March 17th we will be posting this early, and venturing out beyond the kitchen to stop off and a few local businesses to see what else may be available. Join us on twitter or instagram to see what we may uncover or what hijinks we may get into.