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Colcannon Casserole

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, my google reader seems to be spitting out hundreds of recipes for Colcannon.

And for good reason. This Irish dish is not only easy to make, it is also quite tasty. It’s composed of two of my most favorite foods: kale and mashed potatoes. Sometimes the kale is replaced with cabbage (or is it the other way around?). It makes no difference to me… I am still smitten. Really, any cruciferous veggie mixed with mashed potatoes is sure to win my heart.

This recipe is just an elaboration on the popular dish. It’s basically colcannon topped with a whiskey marinated tofu, fragrant toasted walnuts, and a decadent mushroom gravy. Altogether, it makes a killer main course.

I’ve always been fairly indifferent to St. Patrick’s Day as celebrated here in the USA. I’ve never been much of a bar-hopper, and now that I have children, even if I had the urge to do so, I’d have to hassle with a sitter, and then we’d have a curfew–and well, it’s just much more fun for me to snuggle up next to my hubby and sip green beer in our cozy living room. Maybe watch Leprechaun or something.

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Anyways, the whole time I was making this, I kept thinking how wonderful this casserole would be for a holiday dinner… like Thanksgiving. Or any holiday where there’s some sort of feast involved.

St. Patty’s Day? Yep, that’ll do.

So this year, I’m declaring Colcannon Casserole as our family’s official St. Patrick’s day celebration meal… complete with a few (gluten free) green beers. Now that’s a tradition I can get behind 100%.

It takes a bit of elbow grease* and a whole lotta ingredients to get this thing put together, but it’s well worth the effort if you’re a fan of the green stuff + mashed potatoes like I am.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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Irish-ish Soda Bread

There’s not much difference for me these days between ”quick” bread and yeasted bread.

All bread is relatively quick. Now that I’m baking gluten free, I no longer have to incorporate kneading and long rising times into my bread baking endeavors.  I find the change liberating, as I now enjoy making a quick bread much more than I did when I was baking with gluten. Banana Bread: Meh… better with yeast. Beer bread? Only in emergencies. I just wasn’t satisfied unless my arms were about to fall off while making a loaf of bread. Even after I discovered the dough hook, I would still knead my soul into those ingredients–relishing every nuance of my aching hands squishing into the pillowy relief of the dough.

If there is one thing I miss dearly about gluten, it’s simply the kneading of the bread dough. I’ve tried kneading with many a gluten free flour combo–and let me tell ya, it just doesn’t do it for me. With gluten free bread dough, the whole process becomes slightly more clinical. I like to refer to it as the “mix and plop” method. Though, I cannot deny the lazy side of me welcoming this new, less sensual, approach to bread-making.

This loaf is made in the same vein as traditional Irish Soda Bread; the disclaimer here is that the texture is a bit off… not bad, just not quite as I remember an Irish Soda Bread to taste (hence the “Irish-ish”). I should add, in the bread’s defense, that I am actually part Irish. Yeah, I’ll take it wherever I can get it.

The texture of the loaf lends itself more to cutting into chunks rather than thin slices, and is best served slightly warm from the oven. Topped with some margarine, or soft avocado, it’s quite an addictive little snacking bread… authentic or not.

Today is also International Women’s Day! All you ladies–and men who have ladies in your lives–let’s celebrate!

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