Irish Potato and Cabbage Soufflé with Smoked Cheddar

Green, lovely green!  We can actually see a little grass outside our home and my husband said he heard a Robin while walking in the park today.  Spring is almost here!

I'd like to share a lovely Irish-inspired soufflé that I tried this past week in honor of St. Patrick's Day on March 17. This comes from Kevin Dundon's Full-On Irish cookbook, where I've found many good Irish recipes such as the Champ and Baileys Pots de Creme currently on my sidebar. His recipes are contemporary but still use traditional Irish ingredients. It's an older cookbook but available from a few second-party sellers. 

I love making soufflés.  It's so much fun to watch them puff up in the oven - light and airy.  As with all souffles, they will collapse a bit after they cool but fresh from the oven they are spectacular.

 

I used a delicious, Wisconsin-crafted, smoked cheddar which complimented the soufflé ingredients perfectly.  The other contemporary twist to this recipe was coating the ramekins with butter and then a ground walnut and bread crumb mixture.  What a great flavor when you dig in with your spoon and get some crumbs with each bite of soufflé!

Try these on the weekend for a special dinner instead of mashed or baked potatoes.  If you're like me and you enjoy potatoes and cabbage, you'll love them! 

I topped my soufflés with some broccoli sprouts that I found at my local store.  It not only added the 'pretty factor' but added a complimentary flavor as well.

Irish Potato and Cabbage Soufflé with Smoked Cheddar

Adapted from Full-On Irish by Kevin Dundon

Printable Recipe

Fills 6-7 (1/2 cup fluid measure/6 oz) ramekins

1/2 Stick (50g) of butter (softened)
2 oz (50g) dry breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)
2 oz (50g) ground walnuts
5 oz (142g) smoked cheddar cheese
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
4 oz (100g) Savoy cabbage, thick stalks removed and finely shredded or chopped
4 oz (100g) cooked and peeled potato such as Russet, cooled and grated (I used a potato ricer)
5 egg whites

For the Béchamel Sauce:

1 stick (100g) butter
1 cup (100g) all purpose flour
1-1/3 cups (300ml) milk

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Broccoli Sprouts for garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease 6 ramekins with enough of the softened butter to thoroughly coat the ramekins. Mix the breadcrumbs and ground walnuts together and lightly coat the buttered ramekins. Set aside. (Note: If you decide to grind your own walnuts, as I did, I advise putting the bread crumbs in the processor along with the walnuts to keep the walnuts from clumping together). 

To make the Béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Slowly add the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Stir the grated cheese into the sauce until melted, then remove from the heat and allow to cool about 5 minutes. Season to taste and then mix in the egg yolks while stirring quickly (you don't want the eggs to curdle), until fully incorporated.

Heat the remaining butter (1 tablespoon or so) in a frying pan. Add the shredded cabbage and potato and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, tossing occasionally. Fold into the the thickened Béchamel sauce and then transfer the mixture to a large metal bowl.

Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until they form soft peaks, then carefully fold the egg whites into the cabbage mixture. Divide among the prepared ramekins and gently tap each one on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for about 20-30 minutes or until well risen and golden. This will vary according to your oven so watch carefully.

Serve the souffles garnished with broccoli sprouts, if desired.

I reheated these the next day and they still tasted great, although without the grand puff that you get right out of the oven.

Cheddar-Herb Biscuits, Colcannon Soup and Gaelic Coffee

Shall we start with dessert first?  Or perhaps sip on it while we're making dinner? :)  

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! Whether you are Irish or not, no one cares because everyone loves to get in the Irish mood this time of year.

To get my Irish feast started, I chose Colcannon soup from Kevin Dundon, author of Full On Irish, along with some freshly baked Cheddar-Herb biscuits from Margaret Johnson, the author of five Irish cookbooks.  (You will find all of these recipes at the end).

Both the soup and the biscuits were wonderful! I decided to leave out the called-for cream and butter in the soup and I'm glad I did.  The soup needed neither and was delicious on its own.

The biscuits were flaky and flavorful and I could have eaten several. They are best right out of the oven. I found the following day they had already dried out. Rather than fresh herbs, which I did not have on hand, I used chopped scallions and they were perfect with the cheddar cheese.

For 'dessert' I chose Trish Archer's Gaelic Coffee. This was so good!  A perfect end to the meal and made with decaf coffee it didn't keep us awake all night.  

The hot whiskey-flavored coffee sipped through the cold, whipped cream is one of the best Irish traditions I can think of, warm and soothing like a fisherman's knit sweater.

Sláinte agus saol agaib!  Health and long life to you all!  And remember, half a loaf is better than no bread at all! 

Cheddar-Herb Biscuits

Adapted from Margaret Johnson, Irish Cookbook Author
Printable Recipe

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted Kerrygold Irish butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for serving
4 ounces Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar (1 cup), grated
2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs such as parsley, rosemary, and tarragon
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter the wells of a 12-cup (1/3-cup capacity) muffin pan.

Combine the dry ingredients in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse 2 to 3 times to blend. Add the butter and process for 10 to 15 seconds, or until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the cheese and herbs and pulse 2 to 3 times to blend. Add the egg and buttermilk, and process for 10 to 20 seconds, or until a soft dough forms. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly browned and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm with butter. Makes 1 dozen

Colcannon Soup 

Adapted from Full On Irish by Kevin Dundon
Printable Recipe

Serves: 4 - 6
2 oz rindless streaky bacon, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
8 oz potatoes, diced
1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
5 oz Savoy cabbage, thick stalks removed and shredded
1 1/4 pints vegetable stock (I used chicken stock)
1/4 pint cream (I did not use)
1 oz butter, diced and room temperature (I did not use)

Heat a large pan and sauté the bacon over a medium to high heat for a couple minutes until the fat comes out. Stir in the onion, potatoes, leek and cabbage, then cover with a lid and sweat over a medium heat for 10 minutes until well softened but not browned, stirring occasionally.

Pour the stock into the cabbage mixture and bring to a boil, then season to taste. Stir in the cream (if desired) and simmer for a few minutes until the soup has a creamy texture.

I omitted this next step:

To Serve, remove the soup from the heat and whisk in the butter. It is important not to reboil the soup once the butter has been added or you’ll find it will curdle. Ladle the colcannon soup into serving bowls.

Trish Archer's Gaelic Coffee 

Adapted from Irish Traditional Cooking by Darina Allen
Printable Recipe

Serves 1

1 measure of Irish whiskey
2 teaspoons soft brown sugar
Strong black coffee
Softly whipped cream

Warm a medium sized wine glass with hot water. Pour out the water and put the sugar and whiskey into the glass. Add the coffee and stir well. Pour the softly whipped cream out of a pitcher over the back of a spoon on to the top of the coffee. The cream should float on top of the coffee so don't attempt to stir.

Zuppe Ribollita - Classic Italian Soup

The heart of winter - what could be better than another hearty soup recipe? This one comes from one of my favorite Italian cookbooks - The Silver Spoon. This is a classic Italian 'thick soup' - the distinctive characteristic being the immersion of one or more slices of bread in the stock with no additional pasta or rice. Ribollita means 're-boiled' in Italian because it originally was made using the previous day's leftover vegetable soup.

Since the recipe called for putting a slice of country-style bread on the bottom of the bowl before putting finishing it in the oven, I decided to make a 'bread bowl' using some Artisan Bread in 5 dough that I had in the refrigerator. I flattened the dough as for pizza and shaped it to fit my soup bowls and then baked them in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

This would have been so perfect if only I would have sprayed the baking dish with some oil first and used more flour when shaping or rolling out the bread! The bread stuck to the dish and was a little hard to spoon out with the soup but it still tasted wonderful. A drizzle of olive oil, some freshly-grated parm on the top and a turn or two of freshly ground pepper - wonderful!

Ribollita
Recipe adapted from The Silver Spoon

The major changes I made were adding more vegetables and stock instead of plain water.

Serves 6-8

1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for drizling
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalk, chopped
5 canned tomatoes, chopped, juice reserved
1 fresh thyme sprig or 1 tsp dried thyme
4 potatoes, coarsely diced (about 2 cups)
7.5 cups cavolo nero (Tuscan cabbage), shredded Kale or Savoy cabbage are good substitutes
4 cups chicken stock + reserved tomato juices + additional water to = 8-3/4 cups total liquid
2 cups cannelini beans
or 1 cup dry white beans, soaked in cold water overnight and drained
Enough country-style bread slices for the number of people you are serving
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a pan, add the carrot, onion and celery and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes until softened. Add the tomatoes, thyme and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, then add the cavolo nero and beans. Pour in 8.75 cups water and season with salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the bread in the bottom of an oven-proof soup bowl or small casserole dish and ladle in the soup. Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper and drizzle with oil. Add freshly-grated parmesan, if desired.

My Notes: The amount of vegetables I used are doubled from the original recipe. Also, the original recipes called for using plain water. For the cabbage, I used Savoy but I think Kale would probably be closer in texture to cavalo nero.