Today we're heading to Ireland—a country of green hills, ancient castles, and surprisingly hearty cuisine. We're making two iconic dishes that have warmed the Irish for centuries and remain on tables to this day.
🥔 Colcannon
Traditional Irish mashed potatoes with cabbage, butter, and green onions. Tender, creamy, with a light texture from the cabbage—the perfect side dish that in Ireland is often served as a standalone meal.
Ingredients:
• Potatoes (starchy, such as Russet) — 1 kg
• Savoy or white cabbage — 400 g
• Green onions (tops) — 1 bunch (about 100 g)
• Milk — 150 ml
• Butter — 100 g
• Salt — to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper — to taste
Preparation:
1. Peel the potatoes, cut into 3-4 cm cubes. Place in a pot, cover with cold water so it rises 2 cm above the potatoes. Salt the water (1 teaspoon per liter). Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium and cook 15-20 minutes. Check doneness with a knife: it should enter the potato without effort, the potato should start falling apart at the edges.
2. While the potatoes cook, shred the cabbage into thin strips 3-5 mm wide, removing tough ribs. Cut the green onions into thin rings, including the light green part. Set aside the dark green tough ends.
3. In a sauté pan, melt 50 g of butter over medium heat. Add the cabbage, stir. Braise covered for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cabbage should become soft, slightly translucent, reduce in volume by half, but retain a light texture, not turn into mush.
4. In a small saucepan, heat the milk with the remaining 50 g of butter until hot (about 70°C), but don't boil. The butter should completely dissolve, the mixture should be smooth.
5. Drain the water from the cooked potatoes. Return the pot to the turned-off but still warm burner for 30-60 seconds to evaporate excess moisture. The potatoes should look dry.
6. Mash the potatoes with a masher or pass through a potato ricer until you get smooth purée without lumps. Gradually pour in the hot milk-butter mixture, stirring vigorously. The purée should become creamy, airy, hold its shape, but not be runny.
7. Add the braised cabbage and chopped green onions to the purée. Gently mix with a spatula from bottom to top so the cabbage and onions distribute evenly but retain their texture. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve hot, making a well in the center of each portion and placing a pat of butter there, which will melt, forming a golden pool.
💡 Fact: In old Irish tradition, a ring, coin, or thimble was hidden in colcannon on Halloween—whoever found them could predict their future: a ring meant a wedding soon, a coin—wealth, and a thimble—loneliness.
🐟 Dublin Coddle
No, this isn't cod! Despite the name, this is a hearty braised dish of sausages, bacon, potatoes, and onions—a true symbol of Dublin pubs. Thick, aromatic, with tender bacon and browned sausages in rich broth.
Ingredients:
• Pork sausages (quality, Irish or Cumberland type) — 8 pieces (about 600 g)
• Bacon (in strips, smoked or unsmoked) — 300 g
• Potatoes (large) — 800 g
• Yellow onions (large) — 3 pieces (about 400 g)
• Carrots (optional) — 2 pieces (200 g)
• Chicken or vegetable broth — 500 ml
• Fresh parsley — 1 small bunch
• Bay leaves — 2 pieces
• Fresh thyme — 4-5 sprigs
• Black peppercorns — 6-8 pieces
• Salt — to taste
• Butter — 30 g
Preparation:
1. Prick the sausages with a fork in several places so they don't burst during braising. In a large deep skillet or Dutch oven, heat the butter over medium heat. Brown the sausages on all sides until golden, 6-8 minutes. They should brown but not cook through completely. Transfer to a plate.
2. Cut the bacon into strips 2-3 cm wide. In the same skillet where the sausages cooked, fry the bacon over medium heat 4-5 minutes until lightly browned and fat renders. The bacon should become golden at the edges but remain soft, not crispy. Transfer to the sausages.
3. Peel the onions, cut into thick half-moons (1 cm wide). Peel the potatoes, cut into large rounds 1.5-2 cm thick. Cut the carrots (if using) into rounds 1 cm thick.
4. In the remaining bacon fat, sauté the onions over medium heat 5-7 minutes, stirring. The onions should become translucent, soft, slightly golden at the edges, caramelized, but not burnt.
5. In the Dutch oven or deep pot with a thick bottom, layer: half the onions on the bottom, then half the potatoes, half the bacon, all the sausages, remaining bacon, remaining potatoes, remaining onions on top. Between layers add thyme sprigs, bay leaves, peppercorns. Lightly salt each layer (careful: the bacon is already salty).
6. Pour in the broth so the liquid reaches the top layer of potatoes but doesn't cover it completely. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover, reduce heat to minimum. Braise 1.5 hours. During this time the potatoes should become very soft, almost falling apart, the broth should thicken and partially absorb, the top layer of potatoes should lightly brown.
7. 10 minutes before done, remove the lid, increase heat to medium. Let the liquid evaporate a bit so the broth becomes thicker, almost like gravy. The top potatoes should lightly brown. Check for salt. Before serving, sprinkle with finely chopped fresh parsley. Serve straight from the pot, scooping all the layers—sausages, bacon, potatoes—together with the thick aromatic broth. Perfect with dark soda bread.
💡 Fact: Dublin Coddle was traditionally made on Saturdays from leftover products before the Sunday fast. It was a favorite dish of writers Jonathan Swift and Sean O'Casey, as well as Dublin pub regulars after football matches.