Colcannon & Corned Beef

This year's St. Patrick's Day meal was one of the best I've ever prepared, thanks to my blogging friends! I tried 3 new versions of old favorites & was very pleased with each one.

I'm singing the praises of all 3 blogs today & including each in bothFoodie Friday




at Michael Lee's site, Designs by Gollum

& in the Saturday Blog Showcase.
It is Ann's turn to host that fun meme this week on her blog,
Thibaults Table

We are to make something from another bloggers site & post our photos along with the recipe (if its not copyrighted) to give credit & links to the original blogger.

First off, I made Colcannon from the recipe shown on Cathy's delicious site,
Wives with Knives.
I've seen & made versions of this traditional Irish recipe for years but not all of them included bacon as the starter as well as the fat renderings for cooking the onions & cabbage. This lent a wonderful flavor to the mashed potato dish & I won't make it without bacon ever again.

The second change I made this year was to cook my corned beef in my crockpot but only in 1/2 Cup of water! I know...I was skeptical at first too, so I bought 2 packages of corned beef, just to test it out before company arrived.
This idea came from Sue at her fun blog Rue Mouffetard.

Her instructions were very simple. Put 1/2 cup of water into the bottom of your crockpot, place the rinsed corned beef brisket in with the fat cap facing upwards. Sprinkle in the seasoning packet that comes with it. Cut up 2 onions & scatter them over the top of the meat. Cover & cook on low for 8-12 hours. That's it!

I did one the day before the holiday just to see how I liked it. I didn't like it...I LOVED IT! The flavor was so intense & the meat came out incredibly tender. I placed it on a platter & removed as much fat as possible then chilled it so it would slice nicely the next day. I strained the wonderfully flavored juices & saved those to both reheat the meat in the next day as well as to cook the carrots & cabbage. I had to add a little water to cover the veggies but the flavor remained.

Now, here is where the 3rd blogger's idea came into play.
I read Linda's description of how she did her corned beef on her beautiful blog, How to Cook a Wolf.
(someday I have to ask her how she came up with that title???)

She used leeks & chopped Italian parsley in the broth & I really wanted to try it her way, too. The recipe she used is from the Silver Palate Cookbook.Corned Beef and Cabbage

From The New Basics Cookbook; Serves 4-6

1 corned beef (5-6 pounds)
2 onions, studded with 3 whole cloves (onions can be halved or quartered)
4 carrots, peeled and halved
2 ribs celery, halved
4 sprigs Italian parsley

1 green cabbage (about 3 pounds), cut into 6 wedges (See *Note below)
12 small red new potatoes
6 small leeks (white part and 2 inches of green), well rinsed (See *Note below)
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 1/2-inch lengths
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
4 T. chopped Italian parsley

Place corned beef in large kettle or dutch oven. Add the onions, halved carrots, celery, and parsley sprigs (use seasoning packet if provided with your corned beef). Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2 3/4 to 3 hours, turning beef over in broth every 30 minutes. DO NOT allow water to boil again; keeping at low simmer will ensure tenderness. When it is very tender, remove it from kettle and keep warm.

Strain the broth and return it to the kettle. Add the cabbage, potatoes, leeks, cut-up carrots, salt and pepper, and 2 T. of the chopped parsley. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, 30 minutes.

Arrange beef on warmed serving platter, and surround it with the cooked vegetables. Ladle broth over beef and vegetables, and sprinkle with remaining 2 T. chopped parsley. Optional - serve with Horseradish Cream Sauce (below).

*Note: Keeping the core in the cabbage wedges will help hold them together while cooking. Remove the core before serving. After thoroughly washing, leeks can be tied together with kitchen twine/string; remove for serving. GREAT TIPS!!

Horseradish Cream Sauce

This makes 2 cups of sauce. The recipe can easily be halved or quartered, as needed.

3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup prepared horseradish, drained
2 T. Dijon mustard
Pinch of sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Whip cream in bowl until it forms soft peaks. Combine mayonnaise, horseradish, and mustard in another bowl. Fold in whipped cream. Add sugar, salt and pepper. Stir well, and transfer to serving bowl.


I cleaned & cut & tied the leeks just as she suggested & added them plus the parsley to the diluted broth from the crockpot which I then I cooked the carrots & cabbages together in. Leaving the core on the cabbage slices was a helpful tip & it was easily removed, along with the leeks, right before serving.


The horseradish cream sauce is W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L!! I cut the recipe in half because I didn't think I could use up 2 whole cups of it. However, we ♥ horseradish so I put in the FULL amount of that one ingredient. It was not too hot at all & my company raved about it. I served it in a pretty little lead crystal pitcher & we're using up the rest of it on our leftover corned beef sandwiches.

Printable Recipe Here.

Note: I found the bolillo buns at our Super Wal-Mart. Who knew??

My thanks to Cathy at Wives with Knives for mentioning them.

They are the perfect sandwich bun!

Thanks for sharing all your wonderful recipes & tips, ladies & thank you to both Michael Lee & Ann for hosting these fun gatherings of foodie fanatics.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm have to go finish putting away all my GREEN stuff.