Colcannon

Time for another Carnival of the Campfires and Gathering of the Blogs cross post. I’ll be making these all week so I hope you all are ready for some good Scottish cooking!

In my post about Minced Callops I mentioned how I thought it was best with Colcannon. Well, so as to not be a tease, I decided I would post it next. Now this one takes more time to make, but trust me it is worth it. It’s easy to do and hard to burn on a campfire.

Colcannon

• 1 ½ - 2 pounds green cabbage
• 1 pound of potatoes
• Small bunch of spring onions.
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ teaspoon mace. (The seasoning, not the medieval melee weapon)
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons of butter

You will need 2 8+ quart Dutch ovens or cauldrons as well as a separate mixing bowl.

Cut the cabbage into quarters and cook in salted, boiling water until just tender. Drain and let cool. In a separate pot at the same time boil the potatoes until tender, drain and mash them. REMEMBER: if your pot is running low on water and the cabbage or potatoes are not done you may add more water, just make sure that the water is warm and not cool. Adding cool water may damage hot cast iron. Dice the spring onions, discarding the green. Simmer the white part in milk until tender. Add to the mashed potatoes, beat until smooth. Dice the cabbage and add to the potatoes along with mace. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately after making.

The word “Colcannon” comes from the Gaelic word cal ceannan literally meaning: white headed cabbage. Sorry, had to add the history bit in there.