Irish Colcannon and Onion Gravy

Being St Patricks Day yesterday, and being half Irish, whilst listening to Irish music in the kitchen I made sure to have a hearty Irish dinner. There are so many to choose from but I fancied Colcannon.

Now Colcannon is from the South of Ireland and its mashed potatoes with cabbage - but there is also Champ from the North of Ireland which is mashed potatoes mixed with spring onions (scallions). I decided to do a mix of both. With lashings of home made onion gravy. And a couple of Irish sausages.

Here I have the recipe for the colcannon and the gravy. No doubt my next challenge will be buying a sausage casing machine so I can make my own sausages too. First - the colcannon:

Ingredients:  (Enough for 3-4)

3 large potatoes, cut into small pieces
1/2 small savoy cabbage, chopped
6 spring onions, chopped
butter
milk
salt & pepper

Method:

Boil the potatoes for 15 minutes until soft, drain. Boil or steam the cabbage for 10 minutes, drain & put into a bowl with the spring onions. Mash the potatoes with butter and a splash of milk and combine with the cabbage and spring onions. Cover and keep warm until serving.

For the Onion Gravy:

2 medium onions, peeled and cut into rings
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
25g butter
1 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. flour
400ml strong beef stock (2 stock cubes if using)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp dried thyme
splash white wine (optional)

Heat the oil and the butter and fry the onions on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Then add the sugar to the onions, cover and cook on a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until beginning to brown. Add the flour and mix in well with the butter. Let that cook on a low heat for 2 minutes then add a little of the hot stock, mixing well. Slowly add the rest of the stock, continually stirring, then turn up the heat to high and add the wine (if using), the bay leaves, thyme and Worcestershire sauce. Cook on high for 4-5 minutes. Then turn the heat to medium and cook until thickened.