Happy St. Patrick's Day: Corned Beef and Colcannon with Horseradish Mustard Sauce

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  St. Patrick is probably the most widely recognized saint from Ireland.   While March 17 originally started as a Catholic holiday it has evolved over time to a general celebration of Irish culture, shamrocks and all all things green (especially green beer in Toronto).  March 17 is also my cousin Ann's birthday.  I lost my cousin many years ago to cancer, so every St. Patrick's day I think of her specifically, miss her terribly and wish she was still in my life.

Interestingly, the original colour associated with St. Patrick was said to be blue, not green.  There is a story that he used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity to a bunch of pagans, and hence the association grew over time.

So in honour of St. Patrick and my cousin Ann (who was actually English and neither Irish nor Scottish like me) I have decided to make a St. Patrick's Day Feast based around the corned beef I made earlier this week.

I have turned to Tyler Florence for his turn on Colcannon as the basis for the below recipe.  I've modified the recipe because I cooked my brisket on Sunday (amazing how quickly 10 days elapsed (wink)), and Tyler serves his with ham.  Also I could not bring myself to put 2 sticks of butter in anything that was not a baked good.  The whole potato-cabbage culture with the Irish came about as a result of famine and poorness, so while I am fine with modernizing classics, I don't know any Irish who would put that much butter in potatoes!  My parents (who are Scottish) would never consider steaming anything, especially potatoes, so I went back to boiling the spuds instead of using a steamer.

Serve with:
Corned Beef Brisket, thinly sliced
Horseradish Mustard Sauce

Colcannon:

6 medium sized mashing potatoes, scrubbed
2 leeks
2 cups chopped green cabbage
4 scallions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup butter
1 cup hot milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish, if desired

Directions:

Peel and quarter the potatoes and put them into a large saucepan with enough cold water to cover them. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until they are fork tender.

Cook's Note: I actually kept my boiling water from the corned beef the other day, refrigerated it, skimmed off and fat and cooked my potatoes in it for extra flavour. Sounds a bit odd maybe, but it really is good.

While potatoes are cooking, heat olive oil in a skillet and add the leek and cabbage and grinding of salt and pepper to taste. Sauté leek and cabbage until they are wilted, about 5 minutes.

Heat the milk in a glass measuring cup in the microwave or in a small saucepan. Add to the potatoes and mash thoroughly. Stir in 2 tablepsoons of butter. Mix in the sautéed greens and serve immediately

Plate and serve with corned beef. Traditionally, this dish is served with a knob of melting butter in the center, but this is optional.

Sláinte!