Brown Butter Savoy Colcannon with Crispy Bacon and Kale
Skin-on boiled potatoes passed through a ricer, enriched with cream and bacon-fat savoy cabbage, finished with nutty brown butter and crisp kale.
Method
Scrub the potatoes and put them whole, skins on, in a 20 cm pot. Cover with cold water by 2 cm and add the salt. Bring to the boil over high heat, then simmer on medium heat for . Cooking them in their skins stops them soaking up water, so the mash is fluffier and more flavourful. A skewer should slide right to the centre.
Add in this stepFloury potatoes, skin on, similar size 550 gSalt (for the cooking water) 1½ tsp
high heat→medium heatWhile they cook, preheat the oven to 150 °C. Strip the kale leaves from the stalks, tear into bite-size pieces and dry them thoroughly, then toss with the oil and a little salt and spread in one layer on a baking tray. Bake for until papery and crisp. Watch the last 2 minutes; kale burns quickly.
Add in this stepKale (for the crispy topping) 30 gNeutral oil 1 tspSalt to taste
ovenCut the bacon into 1 cm strips and fry in a dry 24 cm pan over medium heat for until crisp; lift out and set aside. Add the savoy cabbage, shredded into 5 mm ribbons, to the bacon fat and cook for , until wilted and sweet, then turn off the heat.
Add in this stepThick-cut smoked bacon 80 gSavoy cabbage (or green cabbage) 160 g
medium heatPut the milk, cream, sliced spring onions and nutmeg in a small pan over medium-low heat for , until steaming at the edges. Turn off the heat, cover and leave to infuse. Don't let it boil.
Add in this stepWhole milk 80 mlDouble cream (heavy cream) 60 mlSpring onions 2Nutmeg 1 pinch
medium-low heatDrain the potatoes and, holding each in a clean tea towel, peel them while hot. Press them through a ricer or fine sieve back into the empty pot and stir over low heat for to drive off steam. Off the heat, beat in the cold butter a few cubes at a time, then the warm cream a splash at a time, until glossy and soft.
Add in this stepCold butter, cubed 36 g
low heatFold in the cabbage and half the bacon and season with salt and white pepper. Stop as soon as it is mixed: riced potato turns gluey if overworked.
Add in this stepSalt to tasteWhite pepper to taste
Put the remaining butter in a small pan over medium heat for . When the foam subsides, the specks at the bottom turn hazelnut brown and it smells nutty, take it off the heat at once. Spoon the colcannon into warm bowls, pour the brown butter into a well in the middle and scatter over the remaining bacon and the crispy kale.
Add in this stepCold butter, cubed 24 g
medium heat
Cook's tip
No ricer? Push the potatoes through a fine sieve with a spatula; it is far smoother than mashing. Brown butter goes from perfect to burnt in seconds, so pour it into a bowl as soon as it colours. For a vegetarian version, skip the bacon, cook the cabbage in butter and add a tiny pinch of smoked paprika.
Cooking it at camp
At a campsite, dry the kale in a dry pan over low heat, turning often, instead of baking it, and mash the potatoes thoroughly with a fork in place of a ricer. Keep the cream, butter and bacon in the cooler.