Irish Colcannon with Green Kale and Bacon
Ingredients
- 2 pounds yellow potatoes into 1/2” cubes
- 5 slices bacon, diced (optional, I guess)
- 1 large red shallot, diced
- 1 bunch of green kale with stems removed and coarsely chopped
- 4-6 mini peppers, chopped up with stems removed
- 2 carrots, grated
- 1 stick of butter (use cultured Irish butter if possible)
- 3⁄4 cup half and half
- Salt, to taste
- Ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the potatoes. Cook until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid and drain the potatoes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, heat a pan over medium heat and cook the bacon, stirring often, until it is nicely crisped. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft and translucent. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the peppers, grated carrots & garlic. Cook until fragrant, but not browned.
- Add the kale to the onion/pepper/carrot/garlic mixture and cook until wilted but still bright green, 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Mash the potatoes so that they are lightly mashed with lots of chunks. Add the butter and half and half to the potatoes and continue to mash until the large lumps are gone.
- Mix in the bacon and the kale onion mixture.
- Taste the colcannon and season with salt and pepper as needed. Add some of the reserved potato water to loosen the texture if needed.
