Category: Dinner

tradititional irish colcannon recipe

Traditional Irish Colcannon Recipe

Traditional Irish Colcannon Recipe – Tradition Irish Comfort Food At Its Best

I love making this traditional Irish colcannon recipe for dinner for my family.  Made using potatoes, green cabbage, butter and milk this is a great meal in itself, this is traditional Irish food at its best.



Colcannon comes from the Irish word cál ceannann which mean “white-headed cabbage” and was traditional served on Halloween in Ireland.  Charms would often be hidden inside the potato and when found would signify your future, or so they say.  A plain gold ring would signify you were to wed within a year,  a sixpence or coin denotes wealth, a thimble a spinster and a button would mean you would be a bachelor.



This traditional Irish Colconannon Recipe is great on its own but also goes really well served with roast lamb or beef.

Serve with a melted butter in a hollow in the middle of the mash this was an extremely tasty and warming meal loved by many families throughout Ireland.  Why not try out my Irish Colcannon recipe and enjoy a taste of traditional Irish food for yourself.



4.67 from 3 votes
tradititional irish colcannon recipe
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Traditional Irish Colcannon Recipe
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Total Time
45 mins
 

Traditional Irish Colcannon Recipe made using potatoes, green cabbage, butter and milk.  This is a great tasting Irish comfort food.

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Irish
Keyword: how to make colcannon, potatoes and cabbage, traditional irish colcannon recipe
Servings: 4 People
Calories: 234 kcal
Author: J.J. Sheridan
Ingredients
  • 2 kg Floury Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1 Head of Green Cabbage, sliced thinly
  • 250 ml Whole Milk
  • 125 g Salted Butter
  • Salt and Pepper
Instructions

  1. Boil or steam the potatoes for 20 to 25 minutes until fully cooked.

  2. In a pot bring water to a boil and add some salt. Once boiled add the thinly sliced cabbage and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes until wilted and soft.

  3. Drain the cabbage well squeezing to remove as much water as possible. Return to the pot and add a third of the butter mix to coat.  Put a lid on the pot to keep the cabbage warm.

  4. Once the potatoes are cooked strain off the water and return to the pot and heat to remove as much moisture from the potatoes as possible.

  5. Warm the milk slightly then add to the potato and mix to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

  6. Add in the cabbage to the mash and mix well. Test again for seasoning.

  7. Serve heaped on a plate with a hollow in the middle.  Melt the remaining butter and pour into the hollow of each portion of colcannon.

Easy Meatball Sauce Recipe

Easy Meatball Sauce Recipe

Delicious and Easy Meatball Sauce Recipe

In this easy meatball sauce recipe I will show you how to cook meatballs in sauce to create a very delicious and easy meal that will make become one of your go to recipes.  This each meatball sauce recipe cooks the meatballs in a very tasty tomato sauce but you can substitute it for a range of other sauces.



Regularly in my house we set our meals based on the day of the week to make it easier to shop for ingredients and cut down on the annoying question of, what will we have for dinner today.

Meatball Monday is when I regularly get to come up and test out various recipes using meatballs that the family will love and enjoy.  From meatballs in tomato sauce to Indian meatballs in a rich curry the choice is endless and you can be as adventurous as you want.



My secret to cooking this perfect easy meatball sauce recipes is to brown the meatballs and finish cooking them in the sauce.  By browning the meatballs on a high heat and transferring into a sauce you not only create a moist meatball you add extra flavour to your sauce.  It also has the added advantage of cutting down on washing by using just one pot to cook the meatballs and sauce.

This easy meatball sauce recipe is a base recipe for meatballs that can be combined with various sauces to make a delicious family meal time and time again. Why not try it in a sub or a nice Swedish meatball recipe.  Be adventurous and turn this nutritious meal into something you will love and enjoy.

I hope you enjoy my easy meatballs sauce recipe and don’t forget to check out my other recipes in my blog.

If you like this post don’t forget to share it on social media or Pin it to Pinterest.

Easy Meatball Sauce Recipe

5 from 1 vote
Easy Meatball Sauce Recipe
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Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 

Meatballs cooked in a easy but delicious tomato sauce.  This recipe creates a very tasty and moist meatball with a rich and flavoursome tomato sauce.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: great meatball recipe, how to make meatballs, meatballs in sauce, meatballs in sauce recipe, meatballs in tomato sauce, meatballs recipe, tomato sauce recipe
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 271 kcal
Author: J.J. Sheridan
Ingredients
Meatball Recipe
  • 250 grams Beef Mince
  • 250 grams Pork Mince
  • 1/2 Large Onion Finely Chopped
  • 80 grams Bread Crumbs
  • 1 Medium Egg
  • 1 tbsp Dry Mixed Herbs
  • 2 Cloves Garlic Minced
  • Salt & Black Pepper to season
  • 2 tbsp Oil Olive/Sunflower/Rapeseed
Tomato Sauce Recipe
  • 2 x 400 gram Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp Tomato Puree
  • 1/2 Large Onion Diced
  • 1 Red Pepper Diced
  • 1 Clove Garlic Minced
  • 1 tbsp Dry Oregano
  • 200 ml Beef Stock
  • Salt & Black Pepper to Season
Instructions

  1. Heat a deep sided pan on medium to low heat and add 1 tbsp of oil then add the finely diced onions and sweat until translucent.  Sweating the onions brings out the sugar in them adding a rich dept of flavour.

  2. While the onions are sweating in a large bowl add all the ingredients for the meatballs, seasoning generously then add in the sweated onions when done. Mix and fold all ingredient until everything is combined taking care that the onions are still hot.

  3. What I normally do before shaping the meatballs is to place a sheet of baking parchment, cling wrap or tin foil out on the counter surface and lightly oil it.  I then lightly oil my hands and pinch a bit of meat off and shape by rolling around between my hands until they are the required shape and place them on the sheet.  I aim to get them to a rough golf ball or ping pong ball size. You can make them as big or small as you like you will just have to adjust the cooking time.

  4. Once all the meatballs are shaped, wash your hands and clean up your area before reheating your deep sided pan/wok with a table spoon of oil on high heat.

  5. Once the pan is hot lift all the sheet up with all the meatballs and transfer them in one go into the hot pan. This saves you having to transfer them by hand and having to wash your hands all over again.

  6. Brown all the meatballs in the hot oil then transfer onto a plate with a bit of kitchen paper to remove excess oil. You are not cooking the meatballs through just looking to get a really nice brown color so hot oil and turn them when browned.

  7. Reduce the heat and if you need to remove some of the oil from the pan leaving roughly a tbsp behind. Excess fat will have come out of the meatballs into the pan so you don't want too much oil left over.

  8. Add in the chopped onions and sweat until translucent. Then add in your diced peppers and cook for a couple of minutes.

  9. Add in the tomato puree, minced garlic and herbs and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes to cook the garlic but also cook out the bitter taste of the tomato puree.

  10. Add in the tinned tomatoes and stock,season, mix to combine and bring to a boil. Add the meatballs into your sauce and simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

  11. Reduce the sauce to correct consistency and taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Serve with a thick pasta that will hold the sauce such has tagliatelle or with spaghetti for a more traditional spaghetti and meatballs.

  12. Top the meatballs with a nice mature grated cheddar or freshly grated parmesan cheese for a more authentic flavour.

Recipe Notes

Allergens: Contains Gluten, Egg

Irish Pork Recipes Brined Pork Loin Chop Recipe

Irish Pork Recipes -Brined Pork Loin Chop

A Very Easy But Very Tasty Pork Chop Recipe

You just can’t beat Irish Pork Recipes and you certainly won’t beat this Irish brined Pork Loin Chop Recipe.

I’ll be honest with you, I love Irish pork Recipes.  Be it a nice succulent Irish Superquinn sausage on a weekend morning or a juicy roasted rolled and stuffed loin of pork for Sunday lunch.  Irish pork recipes just gives you an amazing choice of mouth watering meals to create that you, your family and friends will love and enjoy.




This Irish brined pork loin chop recipe of mine is great.  It can be made with the minimum amount of effort but will give back maximum gain; which is a winning combination in my book.  The subtle flavours will compliment the pork and create an even juicier pork chop that will have your mouth watering like Homer Simpson, Ummmm, Pork Chops.

The brine works by helping the protein to break down in the meat and allows for the salt solution to penetrate into it.  This will help the meat to contain more liquid so when it’s cooked the extra liquid creates a juicier bit of meat; and who doesn’t love a juicy bit of meat.  By adding flavours to the brine you are allowing the salt solution to carry these flavours into the meat creating a more flavoursome meat.

This brine can be used for various types of meat such as chicken and beef.  You will just have to adjust the flavours to suit the meat and add longer soaking times for tougher meat.  The longer soaking for tougher meats will help the meat to tenderise too which is an added bonus.  For red meats I would tend to soak them overnight.



Chef Tips: You should always, when possible, purchase all your meats from your local butcher, preferably an Irish Craft Butcher from your local town.  Talk to them when purchasing meat and ask them about flavours that go best with the meat you are buying.  They will always be too happy to give you tips and tricks.

Here is my easy Irish Brined Pork Loin Chop Recipe that I hope you enjoy.  Serve your pork chops with some creamy mashed potato, steamed vegetables and maybe a bit of apple sauce. You will be glad you did.

Enjoy.

5 from 2 votes
Irish Pork Recipes Brined Pork Loin Chop Recipe
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Irish Pork Recipe - Brined Irish Pork Chops
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
13 mins
Total Time
23 mins
 

This is a great recipe to add more flavour into your pork chops.  This brine not only allows for more flavour to be added into the pork chop but also make the pork chop moist and less prone to drying out.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Irish
Keyword: easy brine, easy pork brine, easy pork chop brine, easy pork chop recipe, how to brine pork, how to brine pork chops, how to cook pork chops, irish pork chop recipe
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 409 kcal
Ingredients
  • 4 Irish Pork Loin Chops
  • 800 ml Water
  • 1 tbsp Salt
  • 1 tbsp Sugar
  • 5 or 6 Black pepper corn
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 3 Whole cloves of garlic
  • 1 tbsp Dried rosemerry or 1 sprig fresh
Instructions

  1. Bring 200ml of the water to a boil and add in all the ingredient except the pork.  Stir everything until it is combined.

  2. Mix in the rest of the cold water to the brine solution and allow to cool down.

  3. Once the brine is cold place the pork chops into a non-metal container and cover with the brine solution.  Cover the container and place in the refrigerator for 5 to 6 hours.

  4. After 5 or 6 hours heat a heavy based frying pan and when it is very hot turn the heat down to medium.  Add the oil to the pan and fry the pork chops for 4 minutes on each side.  Ensure that the pork chops are fully cooked then set aside to rest for 4 to 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy.

Recipe Notes

This is a basic brine recipe and add a nice flavour as well as moisture to your pork chops. 

You can add other flavours like juniper berries or various herbs. Play about making your own recipe once you have tried this one of course.

Serve with some buttery mash potatoes with steamed vegetables with a nice apple sauce. You won't get better than that.

Irish Pork Recipes – Brined Pork Chop Recipe

brined pork chop recipe