“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?

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.”

(traditional Irish folk song)

The #IrishButcher cookbook shoot has finally wrapped, our crew are nestled back in their homes across the pond and my kitchen is doing deep pranayama breathing exercises I would bet.

Since I have been preparing only 100% meat dishes for nearly a month, I have now instinctively gone herbivore, so I decided to finally write that much-requested and long overdue blog post on two classic Irish potato preparations: Colcannon and Champ.

While potatoes are a must in our farming family, these lovely mash-ups are not the norm, but from time to time I will mix it up and serve Colcannon or my own special blend of mashed potatoes with a Sunday roast. Since we planted kale in the garden this spring, I am hoping to work it in a little more.

Colcannon and Champ are both traditional Irish mashed potato dishes; Colcannon was traditionally made from mashed potatoes and kale (or cabbage), butter, salt, and pepper. It is often eaten with boiled ham or Irish bacon. You can also add scallions, leeks or chives to Colcannon which = delicious too.

According to friend and fellow Irish food writer, Aoife (pronounced Ee-fa) of the very popular Daily Spud blog, Champ is native to Northern Ireland. Champ looks similar to Colcannon and is made by blending scallions or green onions with creamy mashed potatoes. Champ is great on its own, served steaming hot with extra butter, which will melt through it. But I’ve also heard {on more than one occasion} that Champ is the perfect side dish for good quality sausages.

When I sent a poll out on Twitter yesterday to see which dish people preferred, Colcannon swept it…but there were some definite affaires de cœur for both styles.

First, I pulled some hearty kale from the garden (one of the few vegetables that are still growing strong despite the harsh weather over the past few weeks!) and washed it up along with several spring onions.

Then I peeled the potatoes. I use roosters  (similar to red russets in the USA) for their floury texture and golden hue.

After the potatoes are boiled, strain them and put back into the empty, steaming hot pan and bang around for a bit. Then, using a masher like this mash em’ up. Melt a little butter and whole milk together and gradually mix in until you’ve achieved your version of “just right” consistency . After that, add in your coarsely chopped kale, cabbage (blanch kale or cabbage for 1-2 minutes), scallions, green onions or….one of my favorites: horseradish, fresh basil and lemon zest. Top off with a little salt and pepper and you’re sorted!

Enjoy!
Slan Abhaile,

Imen

Photos and styling by Imen McDonnell

Top photo, left to right: Horseradish, Basil + Lemon Zest blend. Champ. Colcannon.

Bottom photo, top to bottom: Colcannon. Champ. Horseradish, Basil + Lemon Zest blend.

Tags: Champ, Colcannon, Daily Spud, food, foodie, I Married An Irish Farmer, ireland, mashed potatoes, Modern Farmette, OXO

The cookbook shoot has kept me very busy over the past two weeks, but I wanted to share a short, but sweet blog post with a quick recipe. One of the dishes that I prepared for a shoot day last week was a savoury cobbler. It made me feel nostalgic for a certain blueberry cobbler that my mother used to make which was also her own mother’s recipe and so on and so forth. My mother grew up on Cape Cod in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and swore that this blueberry cobbler was a staple in their house at all times. Until I made her cobbler over the weekend, I hadn’t eaten it since I was young girl!

Let’s just say it did not disappoint. The crusty cobbler is scone-like…not sugary, whereas the blueberry filling is like a sweet gooey glaze. A dollop of clotted cream, whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream on top and you have a little slice of heaven in a dish.

It will now be a staple in our house too.

Give it go!

Cape Cod Cobbler

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups/360 g fresh or frozen blueberries (fresh from Derryvilla Blueberry Farm in Aug & Sep would be ideal)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 cup/200 g white sugar, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 3/4 cups/75 g all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

6 tablespoons white sugar

5 tablespoons/70 g butter

1 cup/235 ml milk

2 teaspoons sugar

1 pinch ground cinnamon

Directions

Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking dish. Place the blueberries into the baking dish, and mix with vanilla and lemon juice. Sprinkle with 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of flour, then stir in the tablespoon of melted butter. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cups of flour, baking powder, and 6 tablespoons sugar. Rub in the 5 tablespoons butter using your fingers, or cut in with a pastry blender until it is in small pieces. Make a well in the center, and quickly stir in the milk. Mix just until moistened. You should have a very thick batter, or very wet dough. You may need to add a splash more milk. Cover, and let batter rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spoon the batter over the blueberries, leaving only a few small holes for the berries to peek through. Mix together the cinnamon and 2 teaspoons sugar; sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown. A knife inserted into the topping should come out clean (except for a bit of blueberry syrup). Let cool until just warm before serving. Stores in fridge for 2-3 days.

Hope you enjoy.

Slan Abhaile,

Imen

Photos and styling by Imen McDonnell

Tags: Blueberry Cobbler, Cape Cod, Derryvilla Farm, expat, food, foodie, Imen McDonnell, Married an Irish Farmer

Springtime brings new growth and here on the farm there are definitely some wonderful new things afoot, including baby calves by the day and soon we welcome new baby chicks and bid farewell to the last group {keep an eye out for our free range whole chickens in Dunnes Stores, labelled with R. McDonnell Farm}

On a personal + creative note, I will be taking the plunge on my first assignment as a food and prop stylist as we begin shooting an exciting new cookery book by master butcher, Pat Whelan, of James Whelan Butchers in Clonmel, County Tipperary.

If you are in Ireland, you are likely aware of Pat and his dynamic business model and ebullient personality.  If not, I think New Yorker turned Londoner and Jamie Oliver business partner, Adam Perry Lang, said it best when he visited Pat’s shop this week and exclaimed, “beyond inspired in Ireland, Pat Whelan Butcher shop has lit a fire. Shop is genius. Old School meets new school answer to industry. Star!!!”  Pat’s new book project is a follow-up to his first release which came out last year and was a great success. If all goes well, this book will be printed and distributed in the Autumn just in time for the holiday gift giving season.

Pat approached me in March at the Grow It Yourself Ireland, Butter Live event that I participating in with Ella McSweeney and Alan Kingston of Glenilen Farm He complimented this blog and asked if I would be interested in working on his book. Flattered and thrilled, I jumped at the opportunity and also put on my producer hat to assist him in sourcing the perfect photographer to be at the helm of shooting the gorgeous, meaty recipes that he put forward.

Ironically, I had been swapping emails with NYC-based photographer, Moya McAllister, about the prospect of coming over to work on a photo documentary on Irish rural living when I discovered that she also shoots beautiful food and had recently completed a stunning campaign for Bertolli in the USA.  When I asked if she would be interested, she didn’t miss a beat and said absolutely. Moya grew up in Long Island, NY, the daughter of Irish born and bred parents. Her talent with the camera and her passion for all things Irish make up the perfect ingredients for this cookery book shoot.

Our home has officially been transformed to a production kitchen & studio which we have affectionately coined “Farmhouse Productions”. We have put together a tiny production team including a tremendous talent (and one of my best girls), Sonia Mulford Chaverri, who has a great deal of experience working in studio production. Sonia just so happened to be on an extended Irish visit to lend a hand on our farmhouse restore project and will now be assisting me with styling.

Guess it was bound to happen, you can move the producer out of the city, but you can’t take the producer out of the producer…..even if you do live on a farm in the middle of the Irish countryside. And now, I add to my treasured production repertoire, a new adventure in food and prop styling……let the journey begin!

We will be shooting for nearly the entire month of May and I will be sharing brief blog posts about my experience {tweeting too}…hope you stay along for the ride.

Slan Abhaile,

Imen

Instagram photo taken by Moya McAllister at the Whelan Abbatoire, County Tipperary.

Tags: Dunnes, food, foodie, I Married An Irish Farmer, Imen McDonnell, James Whelan Butchers, May, Moya Mcallister, Pat Whelan

I woke up this morning feeling renewed and thankful for “the stuff of my life” Sure, Sundays can usually bring about this feeling…but when I woke up to yet  another gorgeous sunny day in Ireland, I felt especially lucky to be living so brazenly in these bucolic Irish hills that I now call home.

I couldn’t resist putting on some wellies

and walking out to our little meditation garden

encircled with cedars {the trees of life} and an enormous rock in the centre

which is perfect to perch on and have quiet words with my dearly departed father

After some quiet contemplation,

I breezed over to the “maternity pasture” filled with our cows-a-calving

and met one little girl nuzzling with her mommy….lookin’ for a little milk

And after bidding these gentle, kind creatures a good day

I walked around the garden to see what other new growth I might discover…

and there I found a happy Hydrangea bud

and some beautiful new cascading Wisteria petals

Then, feeling a grumble in my tummy

I tucked back into the kitchen to prepare a light breakfast

and decided on an all-time favorite: orange slices sprinkled with cinnamon

and a neat little stack of toasted almond + banana pancakes

which made this sunny morning

even sunnier…

Slan Abhaile,

Imen

Photos and styling by Imen McDonnell. Assisted by Sonia Mulford Chaverri.

Tags: calving, cows, hydrangea, I Married An Irish Farmer, Imen McDonnell, ireland, meditation, Sunday, wisteria