Colcannon Mash

Now, when we did Scottish you might remember Rumbledethumps and Clapshot. Well, the Irish have plenty of variants on mashed potatoes as well of course. The key to the color in this recipe is boiling the cabbage separately. Once boiling, cabbage has a very specific cooking time of ~4 minutes. Too much and the color dims and a sour smell emerges, and in this recipe the color is key.

Colcannon Mash (based on this recipe)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 head green cabbage, cored and shredded

1 tbsp butter

salt and pepper to taste

Cooking:

In a large pot boil bring water to a boil, lightly salting it. Boil the potatoes until tender. n a seperate pot, bring water to a boil, drop the cabbage into the boiling water and when it returns to a boil set a timer for 4 minutes. When it's done, immediately remove from heat.

Strain the potatoes and mash them with the potatoes and butter, and mix in the shredded cabbage.

Adjust seasoning and serve.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

I'm going to be honest on this one: this famous Irish dish... is probably a product of Irish Americans and not actually Ireland. Ireland is not a major producer of beef, and the Irish diet tends to use ham more, and likely Irish immigrants to the US found they could replace ham with corned beef.

This recipe is entirely my own, and I have made it every St. Patrick's Day for at least six years running. The key is timing: you need to make sure everything is added at the right time so your meat, and various vegetables are cooked perfectly.

The other secret is Guiness. You only need one can, but it adds a wonderful flavor to the dish.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 4 1/2 hours

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

1 package corned beef brisket, with spice packet (if lacking this, add some freshly ground allspiceand black pepper)

1 head cabbage, cored of the tough flesh and cut into thin strips

2 onions, sliced

6 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

3 turnips, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 can guiness

Substituions:

Guiness - any beer, preferably darker

Cooking:

Place corned beef brisket in a large stock pot and cover with water. Add Guiness and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, skim foam off top of broth and simmer for 3-4 hours (or as the directions on the meat instruct you to.

Add the potatoes and turnips next, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Add the onions, and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Add the cabbage, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Salt to taste. Serve.

Scallop Pie

This recipe is absolutely fantastic, and may win over even people who don't care for scallops.

Scallop Pie

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

12 oz scallops

10 oz milk

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour

8 oz mushrooms

4 tbsp white wine

1 lb mashed potatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Clean the scallops, remove the tough muscle from the center of the scallop if it is still intact. Cut them in falh, and simmer in the milk for fifteen minutes. Remove from heat, set aside the scallops and reserve the cooking liquid.

Make a white roux:

Melt the butter in a pan over very low heat, and mix in the flour. Cook very slowly, stirring constantly. There's an art to this, and it takes patience. If you burn it, throw it out and try again. Cook for one minute, and mix into the reserved cooking liquid from the scallops.

Cooking:

Season wit salt and pepper to taste, add the sliced mushrooms, and simmer for ten minutes.Add the wine and scallops, heat, and then transfer to an overproof dish and top with the mashed potatoes, being sure they cover the scallops completely. Dot with remaining 1 tbsp butter and bake for 20-30 minutes.

Borscht

I have found literally no other preparation of beets that is enjoyable except Borscht, a thick, hardy stew made from potatoes, beats, and cabbage that fills you up and warms you.

Borscht's origins go back to the Ukrain, but it is made across Russia and Eastern Europe. Based

Borscht

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 4 hours

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

3 quarts water (or better yet, beef stock)

1 lb beef, cut into stew chunks

3 red beets, peeled and julienned

1/2 head of cabbage, cored and shredded

4 small potatoes, peeled and julienned

1 carrot, peeled and julienned

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

pasley and dill

sour cream

Cooking:

Cover beef with 3 quarts water or broth, and bring to a simmer. Skim foam from the broth thoroughly. Simmer for three hours.

In a separate pot, add beets, tomato paste, and vinegar, and remove enough stock from the other pan to cover them, and simmer gently for one hour.

In a frying pan, melt 1 tbsp butter, and add onions and carrots. Cover and sautee for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Heat the beef/broth mixture to a boil, and add the potatoes, return to a simmer, and cook for five minutes. Add the sautee mixture and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the simmered red beet mixture, and cabbage, and return to a simmer for another five minutes. Add parsley, dill, and scallions, ensure all ingredients are cooked (especially potatoes and cabbage, but don't overcook), and remove from heat.

Serve Borscht with sour cream on top.

Ukha

Uhka is a very simple, light Russian soup. Based on this recipe here, it takes few ingredients and little effort for a meal.

Ukha

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

4 cups water

2 potatoes, cubed

1 onion, chopped

9 ounces cod filets, cubed

juice of one lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Substitutions:

cod - pollock, haddock, orange roughy, tilapia, flounder, grouper, halibu, red snapper, or striped bass

Cooking:

Brin 4 cups water in a saucepan to a boil. Add the potatoes and onion, and boil for 15 minutes. Reduce to a simmer, add the fish and parsley, and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.

Aloo Tuk

Not the curry, look above it. Common to Sindhi cuisine is Aloo Tuk, deep fried potatoes sprinkled with chaat masala. You can mix your own chaat masala (although finding all the ingredients could be more difficult than finding pre-mixed chaat masala, though you could probably make something acceptable without all of them), so a recipe is included.

Aloo Tuk

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time:

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

6 big potatoes

oil for deep frying

chaat masala

Preparation:

Thoroughly wash potatoes and slice lengthwide into four pieces each. Heat oil in a small pot, and deep fry the pieces for about 5 minutes at 325. Then remove them from the oil, and lay them on a flat surface and beat them flat with the back of a spoon- if they break a little, that's ok.

Return the pieaces to the deep frying oil and deep fry again, until golden brown (about 3 minutes). Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with chaat masala.

Chaat Masala

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tbsp cumin seed

1/2 tbsp dried mint leaves

1/4 tsp caraway seeds

1/4 tsp asafoetida

1 tbsp rock salt

2 1/2 tbsp dried manga powder

5 cloves

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp black peppercorns

2 tsp salt

Preparation:

Put all ingredients into a spice grinder and mix thoroughly.

German Potato Salad

One essential compliment to German dishes is Potato Salad.

German Potato Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb potatoes, cubed

4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp German-style mustard

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp chopped parsley leaves

Cooking:

Boil potatoes in a pot, and boil for ten minutes in lightly salted water. Drain and set aside.

Place bacon in a large skillet and fry over medium heat until brown and crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside, leaving the bacon grease in the pan.

In the grease, fry the onion, and sautee until lightly browned. Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring up to heat, and then add the potatoes and parsley. Crumble in half of the bacon.

Remove from heat, and transfer to a serving pan, crumbling the other half of the bacon on top.

Kashmir Ki Kali

If one dish showcases the unique aromas of mustard oil and asafoetida, this peculiar dish is it. The original recipe called for peeling the potatoes prior to deep frying them. while probably traditional, I'd hardly call it necessary.

Dama Oluv

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 1/2 hours

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

2 lbs small red potatoes or fingerlings

1 cup mustard oil (possibly more for deep frying)

3 cloves

1 tsp cumin

1 pinch asafoetida

2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp aniseed powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup yogurt

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp mixed black pepper, cardamom, and cinnamon powders

Cooking:

Clean the potatoes thoroughly, with a potato brush if you have it. Then boil them, skin on, until they are soft. Drain them, and prick them all over with a fork.

Deep Frying:

Heat the mustard oil in a small pot, and then deep fry the potatoes in the mustard oil until they become light, and most of the moisture has been forced out of them. Be patient! This step will take a while.

And More Cooking:

When finished, let the oil cool, and then pour 1 cup of oil into a large pot. Heat the oil, and then add cloves, cumin, and asafoetida. Stir it, and then add the chilli powder, turmeric, and 1 tbsp of water. Keep stirring until the oil begins to separate.

Add the yogurt, aniseed, and ginger powders, and stir until the yogurt is mixed in. Add the fried potatoes, stirring them until they are covered in the spice mixture, and then add enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a simmer, and cook for at least an hour, until the oil separates.

Add the garam masala, and the mixture of pepper, cardamom, and cinnamon powders. Mix gently, and serve!

The recipe takes both time and patience, but it is very unique and delicious!

Black Horse and...

Clapshot. It sounds like something you might have gotten after taking a bargirl home and forgetting to use you-know-whats.

Now, it is something really rather simple. In fact, a couple of Thanksgivings ago I decided throwing turnips into a pot of potatoes and mashing the lot seemed innovative, but it seems the Scots got there long before I did, so I don't get naming rights by a couple hundred years.

Clapshot

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Servingf size 6-8 people

Ingredients:

1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 2" pieces

1 lb turnips, peeled and cut into 2" pieces

8 chives, chopped

2 tbsp butter

pepper and salt to taste

Cooking:

In a large pot, boil the potatoes and turnips until soft. Drain, and mash together with the butter and chives.

For additional flavor, you can add celeriac and parsnip to the boiling proces, and pureed onion and garlic to the mashing stage.

No You Girls

ontinuing the Scottish tradition of ridiculous food names, we have Rumbledethumps. Not, onions, cabbage, and potatoes in any dish warms the cockles of my heart, and melting cheese over it only makes the whole deal better.

Rumbledethumps

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Serving size: 2-4 people

Ingredients:

1 lb potatoes

4 tbsp butter

3/4 lb cabbage, shredded

1 large onion, thinly sliced

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Cooking:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel and boil potatoes until soft, then drain and mash the potatoes.

In a large frying pan, melt the butter, and add the cabbage and onion, turning until soft (do not carmelize).

Add half the cheese and all of the potatoes. Stir until cheese has melted, mixing in salt and pepper to taste.

Take off heat, place in a serving dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the serving dish, and place in oven and bake until cheese on top has melted. Enjoy.