If you follow this site, you know that I seem to make a variation of Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes) most St. Patrick’s Day — varying the potatoes (sometimes sweet potatoes) and the greens (cabbage, kale, even spinach), but this year, I stuck with transitional russett potatoes and cabbage, but make “cakes”, sort of like potato pancakes. Fried up, they are a great side dish to Irish-style sausages, or even for breakfast with bacon and eggs. Very filling!
Dinner
As I have mentioned before, I am a big fan of “wild game” whether it be venison, boar, elk, etc. This recipe takes my Vension Ragout, adds a whole lot more mushrooms to make it very thick, and then fill into delicious, buttery puff pastry. totally decadent. Very earthy, savory, comfort food.
Hand pies freeze well! Wrap in foil, then pop each one in a ziplock baggie. To reheat bake in the tin foil for 12-12 minutes, then unwrap and bake an additional 5 minutes without the foil to crisp up. Great for a lunch or dinner with a salad.
I am a huge fan of “wild game”, even if most of the stuff that is available is farm raised around here. I pound a few pounds of venison mince the other day and made two recipes (this and the next one). They are delicious. And I am guessing that they are pretty healthy because venison is very lean. Amazingly flavorful for something that is that lean too. While this recipe is a bit time consuming, it is one of the best “cooked” (vs “baked”) things that I have made in recent memory.
It’s not much of a secret that two of my favorite foods are cheese and …. spinach. Yes, spinach. That statement is almost as ridiculous as stating that I love (gasp!) brussels sprouts (which I do), but spinach is something that I could eat every day, every meal. Anything that combines spinach AND cheese is high of the list of favorites, which this does. As we get close to the end of cheese week in the ingredient game, I present this amazing 3-Cheese Manicotti in Creamed Spinach Sauce. It’s vegetarian. It’s filling. It’s delicious and I will be making it over and over again.
These are Maple Bacon Cheddar Biscuits… a little sweet, a little savory, cheesy, bacon-y… which is to say that they are perfect for a breakfast sandwich or as an accompaniment to savory things like soups and chowders too. I like that neither the bacon nor the maple syrup are too overwhelming. The sharp cheddar is just right too.