Recipe | Colcannon

A traditional Irish dish, Colcannon is a hearty side dish that embodies what I so love about the country. Colcannon has always been a year-round staple food, although it also makes special appearances at holidays including St. Patrick's Day and most especially, Halloween, where sneaky chefs conceal lucky charms or coins within its body.  It is a mashed potato dish that most traditionally incorporates cabbage or kale.

Colcannon has inspired a traditional Irish song by its own name or by the name, "The Skillet Pot," and has been recorded by many artists.

"Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?
With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream.
Did you ever make a hole on top to hold the melting flake
Of the creamy, flavoured butter that your mother used to make?"

The chorus:

"Yes you did, so you did, so did he and so did I.
And the more I think about it sure the nearer I'm to cry.
Oh, wasn't it the happy days when troubles we had not,
And our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot."

Colcannon

Ingredients to serve about 4:

4 russet potatoes (Yukon Gold potatoes work well too)
3 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup whole milk or fat free half and half
1/2 small green cabbage or small bunch kale, shredded
4 scallions, sliced diagonally
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks and place into a large saucepan. Cover with water and add salt. Bring the potatoes to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook about 15 or 20 minutes or until fork tender.

Remove potatoes from the simmering water and put into a bowl, and add the shredded cabbage and scallions to the simmering water. Allow to simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, or until tender.

Meanwhile, mash potatoes with a hand masher, add salt, pepper (to taste), butter and milk until desired consistency. Then add drained cabbage or kale and scallions. Stir well until light and fluffy. Serve immediately.

Library | The New Jewish Table: Modern Seasonal Recipes for Traditional Dishes

It's spring ... almost. And while that season brings the promise of renewal, it also urges us to clear out the old and usher in the new. For me ... that includes some just released titles to add to my burgeoning bookshelf of stories and memoirs that some call "cookbooks." And no ... I can't bear to clear out the "old," so they just have to get cozy with the new additions.

This season brings a slew of interesting and inspiring titles. Here are a couple that we're reading, gleaning from, and whose recipes we're adding to our spring menus.

The New  Jewish Table: Modern Seasonal Recipes for Traditional Dishes

The New Jewish Table explores the melding of two cooking cultures, American and Eastern-European Jewish, sharing the mouth-watering recipes that result from this flavorful union from authors, chef Todd Gray and his wife Ellen Kassoff Gray, owner of acclaimed restaurant Equinox Washington DC.

With more than 125 recipes including reinterpretations of traditional Jewish favorites made with fresh, seasonal ingredients, from Yukon Gold and Sweet Potato Latkes, Ellen's Falafel with Pickled Vegetables and Minted Lemon Yogurt, and Roasted Heirloom Beets with Capers and Pistachios, to Matzo-Stuffed Cornish Game Hens, Fig and Port Wine Blintzes, and Chocolate Hazelnut Rugelach, there are recipes for every occasion that the entire family will enjoy.

The Mighty Gastropolis: Portland: A Journey Through the Center of America's New Food Revolution

The Mighty Gastropolis: A Journey Through the Center of America's Food Revolution charts the rise of one of the country's most talked about food and dining destinations, Portland, Oregon, a place former Gourmet Editor and food icon Ruth Reichl calls "the crucible of New American cooking."


Among Portland chefs whose work, culinary output, and cooking pearls are profiled in this book are those whose rise-to-stardom stories, picture-perfect dishes, and iconoclastic innovations now slather the pages of Bon Appetit, Saveur, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Food and Wine, GQ and The Huffington Post.

In The Mighty Gastropolis, you will learn, ingredient by ingredient, experiment by experiment, dish by dish, how Portland's culinary cognoscenti have re-imagined and reconfigured restaurant culture for modern times.

For a list of additional titles that we're reading or have read, see the right column.

Enjoy your weekend ... and be inspired!

Recipe | Breakfast Granola

Homemade Granola is not only a wonderful and healthy choice for breakfast but also for those last-minute and on-the-go snacks at work, school, ... even those 3:00 in the afternoon cravings. This recipe is full of fruit and fiber, bound together with pure maple syrup and one of my favorite recipes I like to keep on hand.

Breakfast Granola

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup halved walnuts or pecans
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon coarse salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine ingredients in large bowl, tossing with olive oil and maple syrup. Spread granola in an even layer on rimmed baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes or so. When toasted and golden brown, remove from oven and cool completely.

This will keep in an air-tight container for 2 weeks. I extend the shelf life by freezing it in preportioned freezer bags. Then, there isn't an excuse for "unhealthy" snacks.