Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time there were three sisters, two kiddles and a really good tv show that aired on Sunday nights. Being rather skilled in the kitchen, these three sisters would gather on Sunday nights to watch said tv program and make very tasty dinners together. This was one of those nights. But not just any night. This was the second season premier of ABC's "Once Upon a Time" which had been eagerly awaited. The weather that week had started to turn a bit towards the cooler side and so we decided the best thing to have was...A Bowl of Comfort!

What is a bowl of comfort you might be asking yourself? Well it is this rather tasty take on a traditional Irish dish called Colcannon, which is boiled and mashed potatoes and cabbage. With my sister Tara's recipe however, we usually add sauteed onions and diced ham or prosciutto. This particular evening however, my other sister, Kelly was joining us and has a gluten intolerance so we had to skip that particular part. With or without the meat in it, its still amazing.

To make A Bowl of Comfort you will need:

Peeled, chopped, Yukon gold potatoes (pounds according how many people you are feeding. Usually calculating about two good sized potatoes per person)
Shredded cabbage (Or, you can use store bought packaged cole slaw mix, then you get a bit of carrot and red cabbage too!)
Chopped onion
Diced prosciutto or ham (Optional and omitted this time but typically included)
Season Salt to taste
Butter (Yeah we don't measure, we practice the glop and splash method. This would be the glop)
Milk (And here is the splash!)

 

 

Cover the chopped potatoes with water and boil, just like you would in making mashed potatoes.

 



In a skillet, saute the onions in a bit of oil, and then add the cabbage. (At this point in the actual making of this dish, we were treated to a phenomenal Broadway-esque performance of Kelly singing a song about making dessert, which will be a featured blog later this week....the dessert, not her performance!)

Once the potatoes are tender, drain and return to the pan. Season generously to taste with season salt. Now here is where the glop and splash method comes into play.

 Glop in that butter!

 

Splash in that milk!

 

Using a mixer, or a hand masher, blend his until its semi-lumpy mashed potatoes. Unless you don't like lumps, then keep on going until smooth or use a ricer. But be careful as Yukon's can get gluey.

Now add in the saute cabbage and onions and mix well.

Now usually we would add in some sauteed prosciutto like I said, but since we didn't this time around, we instead had some beautiful pork steaks that Tara pan seared. It made a well rounded, delicious dinner.

Once dinner was served, we all sat around the table had our usual dinner conversation that wandered from "What did you have for lunch?" to the latest celebrity gossip, and whatever had happened at school that week for the kids. There was also talk of the family, Kelly's job, Tara's job, my non job...and so forth. I love family dinners. We have so much fun! And there is still more fun to be had! Our show was about to start! And of course there was still...dessert!

To be continued....(Dun dun dun!)

 

Brightest Blessings!