The Brickyard Barn's Country
New Potato Colcannon

While there are a number of ways to make colcannon, it isn’t very colorful or tasty. We developed the one that follows because we wanted more flavor, more color, and primarily so that people would eat it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
   2-2 1/2 lbs of new, red-skin potatoes
   1 small head of green cabbage
   8 ounces frozen corn, thawed and warmed in a microwave
   6-8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
   1 cup milk, half & half, cream, or evaporated milk (about)
   2 or more tablespoons chopped green onions (optional)
   1/2 stick butter (about), plus some extra for the cabbage
   Salt and pepper to taste

Scrub potatoes and leave skins on. In a large pot, cover the potatoes with cold water, add a generous pinch of salt, cover and bring to a boil. When pot reaches boil, reduce heat to low.

Meanwhile, discard the dark outer leaves of the cabbage. Wash the rest and cut into quarters; remove the core and cut finely across the grain. Cook in a little boiling salted water until soft. Drain, then season with salt and pepper and a little of the butter.

When the potatoes are cooked, put the milk into saucepan with the green onions and bring to the boil. Add potatoes, mash quickly (leave the skins on!), and beat in enough of the hot milk to make a fluffy purée.

Fold in the cooked cabbage, corn, bacon bits, the butter, and then taste for the seasonings.

Serve in a heated dish; make a well in the center and add more butter.

Note: Today, many an Irish mother persuades her children to eat their colcannon by wrapping coins in heat-proof paper and hiding them in the dish; in the old days, the rural folk often placed a wedding ring in the colcannon; the first single person to get the ring would marry within the year. It was also customary, before going to bed on Hallowe'en, to put out a plateful of colcannon with a lump of butter in the center for the fairies and the ghosts.

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