a simple yarn

So, what do you do when you return from a trip, look in the frig, and the ever-increasing pile of vegetables-which-are-not-a-regular-part-of-our-diet is still there, staring you in the face? Yep, you experiment… And not expecting it to succeed, I took no pictures, so ‘Warning: The Following Post is Text-Heavy and Photo-Light’. But, if you hang in there, there’s a brand-new-never-been-published-recipe at the end.

I’m a believer. After a few weeks of I-don’t-have-to-hunt-for-organic-cuz-it’s-delivered-to-my-door, I’ve made the commitment to be a regular customer of Absolutely Organic. Love the quality!

Admittedly, the last couple of deliveries have included vegetables that I wouldn’t include as part of our normal eating routine. Didn’t have time to search out recipes before the Birmingham trip. But now that I’m back, I need to use them or lose them. ‘Them’ being a swede, cabbage, and fresh fennel. Right, off to do a recipe search…

Epicurious.com has never heard of a swede. Not a good sign. Give Google a try. Well, it’s no wonder…what I’m looking at is a rutabaga. THAT I’ve heard of! Never cooked with, mind you, but at least I’ve heard of it! I can forgive Epicurious for not knowing, but I have to thank the senior citizens in Canada who could explain it…

RUTABAGA [pronounced ROO-tuh-bay-guh] This cabbage-family root vegetable resembles a large (3 to 5 inches in diameter) turnip and, in fact, is thought to be a cross between cabbage and turnip. The name comes from the Swedish rotabagge, which is why this vegetable is also called a Swede or Swedish turnip. Rutabagas have a thin, pale yellow skin and a slightly sweet, firm flesh of the same color.

As much as I’d like to put all three into one dish, I have to admit that I’d like the family to actually eat it, so I reluctantly put the fennel back into the frig for another recipe. I’m left with a swede/rutabaga and cabbage. The easiest thing to put with it is the common-but-tasty potato. Hey, wait! Potatoes…cabbage. I’m looking at the basic ingredients for colcannon, what every Irish person remembers eating at Halloween.

But my kids don’t eat colcannon.

So, necessity being the mother of invention, simple colcannon is now transformed into Colcannon-Americana, a hybrid-recipe taking basic ingredients for colcannon and a separate root vegetable dish, blending them altogether into the ever-popular-American-casserole-format-with-cheese. I don’t have any aspirations that this new recipe will ever make it into Gourmet magazine, but ya know, everyone in my family (including the kids) took second helpings. So, I think it was a family success, and I’m chuffed about that! Sorry, it’s not vegetarian…

Colcannon-Americana
1 pound bacon (that’s streaky bacon in Ireland)
6-8 potatoes, washed and cut into cubes (no need to peel)
1 swede (which we now also know as a rutabaga), peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 head of cabbage, washed and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
cheddar cheese, shredded
butter
milk
salt and pepper

In a large pot, place the cut potatoes and swede into water. Cook until vegetables are soft.

In the meantime, in a frying pan, cook the bacon until it is crispy. Take out of pan and set aside. Sauté the onions and cabbage in bacon grease. You may need to add a little oil or butter so that it doesn’t burn. Sauté until onions and cabbage are cooked soft, but not brown.

When the potatoes/swede are cooked soft, drain in colander. Mash together well, adding butter, milk, a little salt and pepper to taste. You may want to add a little more milk than you normally would for mashed potatoes, so they don’t dry out. Go easy on the salt, remember you’ve got bacon in the recipe.

In a lightly greased baking dish, layer on the bottom the cooked cabbage/onion mixture. Next, spread the mashed potato/swede mixture carefully over the cabbage. Top with shredded cheddar and crisped bacon. Bake in a 180-190 degrees Celsius (that’s 350 in Farenheit) preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes.