Every Dinner's Irish With a Side of Colcannon
Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. But aside from March 17th, there are a couple other occasions each year when my family likes to throw back a pint in a grotty pub, listen to my dad affect a really bad Irish accent, and take down a plate or two of bangers and mash in an attempt to connect with 1/64th of our genes that could possibly lay a claim to the Emerald Isle.
Where do we engage in this ritual of assumed ancestry? At Murphy’s, an Irish bar in Sonoma, California, obviously.
Every town needs an Irish pub and the quaint town square in the heart of wine country is no exception. After a day of wine tasting, I don’t need to be Irish to think a frosty brew with a side of fish and chips sounds pretty great.
Like most Irish pubs not in Ireland, there are a few things on Murphy’s menu that heed more to local culture than Irish roots. The seafood on the menu, like California halibut and the Dungeness crab in the seafood pot pie, are thankfully local. But other elements, like the Guinness butter on the steak frites and the Irish whiskey sauce on the bread pudding, link the menu firmly back to the mother country.
With St. Paddy's Day around the corner, I got to thinking about that menu at Murphy’s, in particular a popular side they serve called colcannon. Even if you order the most American thing on Murphy’s menu, say a hamburger made with grass fed domestic beef, you can always make that American classic just a little bit Irish a hearty helping of colcannon on the side.
Colcannon is so Irish there is even a song about it. A blend of mashed potatoes, onions, and cabbage or kale, colcannon is an alternative to plain mashed potatoes, a way to get your starch and your greens all the same time, perhaps with a little melted butter pooled in an indentation on top.
Murphy’s makes theirs with sautéed onion and shredded cabbage. But my research shows there are about as many interpretations of colcannon as there are cousins in an Irish Catholic family.
For mine, I had some brown onions and winter kale lying around along with a bit of guanciale, an Italian smoked pig jowl that tastes like fancy, fatty bacon. And really, just like everyone is a little Irish one St. Patrick’s Day, lots of ingredients could claim to be a little bit of colcannon if you just let them in the pot. Spring onions can fill in for brown onions, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, or even some other winter green like collards could swap places with the kale, and if you don’t have fancy Italian bacon lying around, just leave it out, or try it with the cured belly of a good old American pig, otherwise known as bacon.
Once all the bits are cooked, mashed, sautéed, and mixed, all that’s left is carving out a little well on top of each mound, and filling it with some melted butter. Serve that alongside corned beef, steak, or maybe just a plain old American burger, and every dinner can be a little bit Irish this St. Patrick’s Day.
Oh, wasn't it the happy days when troubles we had not,
And our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot.
Made with butter, milk, black pepper, russet potatoes, salt, guanciale, onion, kale
Serves/Makes: 4
- 4 large russet potatoes
- salt
- 2 ounces guanciale, or other thick cut bacon
- 1/2 medium onion
- 3 cups kale, rib removed and shredded
- black pepper
- 1 cup milk
- butter
Peel potatoes and cut in quarters. Put cut potatoes into a large pot of cold salted water as you go. When all are peeled, bring the pot to a boil with a lid on it. Cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes until tender. Drain and return potatoes to the pot.
Meanwhile, cut guanciale or thick cut bacon into strips no wider than 1/2-inch. Place guanciale or bacon in a large saute pan over medium heat. Let sweat for 8-10 minutes until meat has released a lot of fat but is not brown. Drain off all but two tablespoons.
Mince onion while meat is sweating. Add onion to remaining guanciale fat and guanciale. Let sweat over medium heat until onions are soft, about five minutes.
Add shredded kale with a bit of salt (easy here, as the bacon or guanciale is quite salty already) and some black pepper. Saute for another 3-5 minutes until kale is wilted but still a bit crisp.
When potatoes are cooked, drained and returned to the warm pot. Heat milk in the microwave until warm. Add milk to the pot a bit at a time, mashing with potatoes until you achieve a smooth texture. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. When kale mixture is done, stir into potatoes.
Melt butter if desired and serve each portion of colcannon with a small well of melted butter in the middle.
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