Potatoes and cabbage don’t sound the most exciting ingredients, so I decided to jazz it up by making the Irish classic Colcannon! This is an excellent way of making these basic food stuffs into something absolutely delicious! I used pretty much a 70/30 split of potatoes and cabbage.

First I cooked the cabbage “al dente” and immediately put it into cold water to stop the cooking process. Don’t worry abut the cabbage being cold, as you can make it in advance or even use cooked leftover cabbage.

Next I lightly fried the shallots until soft and had a little colour, I know that leek or spring onion is more traditional but as I mentioned I was using up things that were in the kitchen.

Then the potatoes were boiled up and when cooked strained and mashed. A good hit of salt and pepper to taste, some butter or good quality rapeseed oil (I find this an excellent and healthier replacement to butter) and milk. After mashing I whipped it with a fork. The mash was now smooth, creamy and rich. The well drained cabbage and the shallots were then stirred in. I added a little fresh chopped parsley as well, but don’t worry if you don’t have it, it can be left out but the fresh flavour does add depth to the dish.

There you have it, Colcannon, and there was more than enough for two. Just warm it up on the hob on a low heat and stir it enough so that it doesn’t “catch” on the bottom of the pan. Although it doesn’t matter if it does a little, because the next day I made some fantastic bubble and squeak with it!

So to the pork fillet

This was just for my dinner so my small piece was approximately 250g or ½ lb, greedy I know ;). First I seasoned the pork with salt and pepper, and heated some good rapeseed oil in a hot pan. Then I seared the meat for a minute or two on each side to seal it, hold in the moisture and give it some colour. Then I added a good knob of butter and 5 big sage leaves from the garden, then transferred it straight into an oven at 180C. 15 minutes later I took it out to rest as I warmed the Colcannon.

Serve with some of the sage butter drizzled over the meat

Dinner is ready, simple! It doesn’t take much inspiration to make a fantastic, delicious meal from leftovers. Just by adding something new like the pork, it makes for a dinner which will impress and yet be cheap and easy. You could for example use a chicken breast in place of the pork using exactly the same technique.

With meat always remember to follow recommended cooking times from the packet or your butcher.

Do you have any leftover cooking tips?

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The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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