Pan-fried Cod with Colcannon Sauce

This pan-fried cod with colcannon sauce is the perfect meal to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The creamy sauce is super rich, perfect with the tender cod.

I came across a version of this recipe on the (formerly BBC) Good Food website while searching for Irish recipes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. They were serving the colcannon sauce with steamed back bacon cut in thick steaks, something I cannot get here in Houston.

But that sauce immediately struck me as something that would be delightful spooned over cooked cod which is a rather bland white fish and could use a little bump in flavor. It was a great decision! 

Pan-fried Cod with Colcannon Sauce

Ideally, use the darker green outer leaves of the cabbage for color and contrast. Sadly, mine were rather pale. This is going to make more sauce than you need for the four servings of cod. Leftovers can be warmed gently over a low heat. 

Ingredients

For the colcannon sauce:

1/4 cup or 56g butter

3-4 cabbages leaves (mine weighed 4 oz or 115g whole)

2-3 green onions, plus extra for garnish

1 potato (my russet weighed 8.5 oz or 240g after peeling)

1/3 cup or 80ml white wine

1 cup or 240ml heavy cream

Fine sea salt

Ground white pepper

For the cod:

1 lb or 450g cod loin 

Fine sea salt

Ground white pepper

1 tablespoon butter

Optional for garnish:

Crispy bacon bits

Method

Cut the hard spines out of your cabbage leaves then roll them up tightly. With a sharp knife, slice them as thinly as possible. Then cut the spirals a couple of times across to shorten the strands. 

Peel and dice your potato. Slice the green onions.

Season the cod with the sea salt and white pepper and cut it into four reasonably even pieces. Set aside.

Melt half the butter in a pan and add the cabbage, potato and green onions. 

Cook over a medium low heat for 10 mins, covered, stirring often.

Pour in the white wine and cook till the white wine has all but evaporated and the potatoes start breaking down. 

You can speed this process along with a potato masher or fork. 

Add the cream and cook for just a few minutes until it is warmed through and starts to thicken. 

Season to taste with salt and pepper then remove from the heat. 

Stir the rest of the butter into the sauce and keep it warm until ready to serve.

To cook the cod, heat the butter in the pan until it just about starts browning, then put the cod in. 

Cook on one side until browned, then turn gently and cook the other side. Depending on the thickness of your cod, this could take from just a couple of minutes to as many as seven minutes. 

As you can see, one of my pieces from the end of the loin was much thinner than the others. I took it out first then left the rest until just cooked through. If you have an instant read thermometer, you are looking for an internal temperature of 145°F or 63°C.

Plate up the cod with a generous helping of colcannon sauce on top then garnish with green onions and some crispy bacon bits, if desired.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below. 

• Colcannon, Ham Soup With Dumplings by Sneha's Recipe
• Easy Pretzel Ring with Beer Cheese Dip by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Irish Beef Guinness Stew by Culinary Cam
• Pan-fried Cod with Colcannon Sauce by Food Lust People Love
• St. Patrick’s Day Brownie Bites Amy's Cooking Adventures

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Smothered Potatoes with Sausage

Take some flavorful smoked sausage, a bunch of potatoes, a generous helping of thinly sliced onions and cook them all down till the potatoes are on the verge of crumbling and the onions practically disappear.  Add a few peas for color and you’ve got smothered potatoes with sausage, one of the easiest one pan meals your whole family will love. 

When I was growing up, this dish made an appearance on our family dinner table with great regularity. It was so easy that my sister and I could even make it on our own. When our mother went back to work, the two of us took turns cooking dinner each night.  I’m not talking gourmet meals. We ate a lot of Hamburger Helper. And Tuna Helper. We were pretty good at spaghetti sauce too and even learned how to smother round steak with onions. But smothered potatoes with sausage was my personal favorite. 

We used either red potatoes, which didn’t need peeling or larger potatoes that did. Either way, the best part was smashing the potatoes into flavorful juices at the bottom of the pan and trying to make sure the bites of sausage came out even with the bites of potato in my bowl. So good! 

Of course, once I had a family of my own, I continued making this great dish but I started adding the peas for color. And because we love peas. Did you know that the average British person only eats about 9,000 peas per year? No idea how many the average American eats but we figure it’s far below the British average. We have made it a personal family goal to try and up the numbers, throwing peas in everything from pasta carbonara to beef stew. I suggest you do the same. 

Smothered Potatoes with Sausage

A little less sausage or a couple more potatoes really won't make a difference in this tasty dish. I give my amounts as a guideline only. 

Ingredients

1 lb 8 oz or 675g smoked sausage

Olive oil

2.2 lbs or 1 kg potatoes, whole small ones or peeled, quartered

larger ones

2 medium onions, peeled and finely sliced

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

2⁄3 cup or 100g frozen garden peas, thawed (We like the little ones called petits pois.)

To serve, optional: crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes

Method

Cut your sausage into pieces. 

Put the sausage and a good drizzle of olive oil in a skillet large enough to eventually hold all of your ingredients. You will need a skillet with a good fitting lid.

Heat over a medium flame and cook for a few minutes until the sausage starts to brown and caramelize.

Add in the potatoes with a cup or 240ml water. Stir to mix any tasty sticky bits from the pot into the water.

Pile the sliced onions on the top and close the lid. 

Turn the flame down to medium low and cook for about 40­-45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the onions have practically melted into an oniony gravy. 

Check from time to time and add more water, if necessary. If you are using peeled cut potatoes, they will probably take a shorter time to cook and will need more water, as they soak up what's in there.

When the potatoes are tender, add in the peas. Cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper but keep in mind that smoked sausage can be salty so do check before just adding both. Serve, if desired, with crushed red pepper to sprinkle on.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with potatoes. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha's Recipe. Check out the potato dishes below. 

• Cheesy Crockpot Tater Tots by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Flying Saucer - Toaster Sandwich /Jaffle by Sneha's Recipe
• Gnocchi and Team Gorgonzola Cream by Culinary Cam
• Matar Bateta Nu Shaak by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Potato Smiles |by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Smothered Potatoes and Sausage by Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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My Ideal Birthday “Cake” (is Meatloaf!)

A savory dish made with ground meat, my ideal birthday cake is meatloaf! This one is filled with curried carrots and covered with buttery cream potatoes. Happy Easter to all who celebrate and an early Happy April Fool's Day to all!

We all love a good prank for April Fool’s Day but I can’t remember the last time I actually pulled one. Probably when our girls still lived at home and that’s was a very long time ago – COVID days excepted. 

If you’ve been reading my posts for a while, you probably know that I’m not much of a sweet eater so when our Sunday FunDay host for this week challenged us to make a dish that looked like something else for April Fool’s Day, I knew I’d make a savory dish. 

I also wanted to make a fun recipe that we could actually enjoy for a main course. I created this meatloaf recipe to fit the bill. Doesn’t it look like cake?!!!

My Ideal Birthday Cake is Meatloaf

I used two 6-in or 15cm round “smash” cake pans to bake the meatloaf layers. A tradition that started well after my two girls had turned one, smash cakes are little cakes baked so the birthday baby can put her whole face in. I presume there’s another cake for the rest of the guests at the birthday party.

Ingredients

For the “cake” layers:

2 slices sandwich bread (brown or white)

1/4 cup or 60ml milk

1 small onion or 1/2 medium onion

1 lb or 450g ground beef

1/2 lb or 225g ground pork

2 eggs

1/4 cup or 60ml ketchup

2 teaspoons dry mustard powder (like Colman’s)

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the cream potato “frosting”:

4 medium Russet potatoes (weight peeled: about 1 lb 6 oz or 625g)

1 teaspoon fine sea salt to boil, plus extra after mashing, if needed

1/2 cup or 120ml whipping or heavy cream

1/4 cup or 57g butter

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

For the savory carrot filling: 

3 medium carrots (weight peeled: about 7 3/4 oz or 215g)

1/4 medium onion

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon salt  

For decorating:

1 teaspoon paprika

Large piping tip

Piping bag

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Cut the bread into small squares and pour the milk over it in a small bowl, pushing the pieces down into the milk. Soak until all the milk is absorbed.

Mince your onion finely. I usually use a small food processor for this to make sure there are no big bits because no one wants to bite into a big bit of onion.

In a large bowl, add your onion, ground beef, ground pork, eggs, ketchup, mustard powder and salt. Mash the soggy bread with a fork till it falls apart and then add it to the large bowl with all of the other ingredients.  Mix well.

Divide the mixture in half and press it into the smash cake pans. My whole mixture weighed 1062g so each pan holds 531g.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the meatloaf is browned nicely and cooked through to a safe internal temperature of 160°F or 71°C.

While your layers are baking, make the filling and "frosting." Peel your potatoes and cut them into chunks. Boil them until tender with the teaspoon of salt. 

Warm the cream and butter together till the butter is just melted. I do this in a microwaveable vessel, with quick zaps, watching carefully so it doesn’t boil over. 

Drain the potatoes and mash them right away. I find they mash with fewer lumps while still hot. Add in the melted butter/cream and the white pepper. 

Stir well till combined. Taste and add more salt if needed. 

Peel and cut the carrots into chunks. Finely mince the onion (or use a processor) for the filling. 

Boil the carrots until very tender then drain and mash them right away. 

Transfer the carrots to a heat -proof bowl and melt the butter in the pot you used to boil them. Sauté the curry powder and chopped onions in the butter until the onions are translucent and very soft. 

Add the carrots back into the pot with the 1/4 teaspoon of salt and mix well. Set aside.

When they are done, remove the meatloaf layers from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Run a silicone spatula around the edge to loosen. Carefully remove them to plates.

Top one meatloaf layer with the carrot filling. 

Carefully put the second meatloaf layer on top. 

Cover the “cake” with the cream potatoes. 

You should have plenty left over so don't be shy.

Add the paprika to 3/4 cup or 170g of the cream potatoes and mix well.

Fit a large tip on your piping bag and use a spatula to add the paprika potato down the insides of the bag in stripes. Spoon the rest of the cream potatoes in the middle of the piping bag. Decorate the “cake” by piping on little rosettes or stars.

I did a row around the bottom, then a row around the top. And because more is more, I piped rosettes to cover the top. You do you. 

(You will probably have potato leftover at the end unless you choose to cover the whole cake with rosettes. Eat it as is or follow these instructions to make baked Marquis potatoes with the rest. 

I must confess that by the time I finished assembling the “cake” it was closer to room temperature than hot so we sliced it up and warmed it by the slice in the microwave. Delicious! 

If you make one to trick your family, I’d love to hear about it!

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and, as mentioned above, we are sharing April Fool’s Day recipes. Many thanks to our host, Camilla from Culinary Cam. Check out all the illusion recipes below:

• April Fools Calzone Donut by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• April Fools' Day Chicken Nuggets & French Fries by Sneha's Recipe
• Big Ice Cream Taco by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Grogu's Frog Egg Dessert by Palatable Pastime
• Hot Beef Sundae by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• My Ideal Birthday "Cake" by Food Lust People Love
• Potted Plant Cremeux by Culinary Cam

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini) Potato Salad

This tenderstem broccoli (broccolini) potato salad is made with Jersey Royal potatoes and a tangy, light, creamy dressing. It’s pretty much the perfect side for your next barbecue or brunch buffet. 

Like quite a few of you, I imagine, I belong to a bunch of Facebook groups. One I get a particular kick out of is affiliated with the great food magazine, delicious. published in the UK. Members share their recent dish photos, many from the magazine, and if we are lucky, they include a link to the magazine’s website with the recipe. 

I saw the inspiration for this salad there. Full disclosure, I’m one of the volunteer moderators so I can tell you that we’d love to have you join our happy band of delicious. food lovers. And if you haven’t perused their website yet, you are in for a treat. So many gorgeous recipes. 

A note about the name of the green vegetable. A cross between gai lan and broccoli, in the UK it’s called tenderstem broccoli but in the US, the name broccolini was trademarked in a cooperative agreement between the Japanese developer and Mann Packing Company, its first US distributor. In one of my past lives, I interviewed Gina Nucci, one of the then owners at Mann’s (twitter handle @ginabroccolini🤣) and learned all about it. She was an absolute delight. 

Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini) Potato Salad 

This salad can be made a day ahead and refrigerated overnight so it’s great for bringing to a potluck. As mentioned above, mine is an adaptation of this one from delicious. magazine. It was published in the May 2023 issue. 

Ingredients

1 lb  or 450g Jersey Royals or new potatoes, smaller ones left whole, larger ones halved

2 teaspoons fine sea salt, plus more for seasoning the salad at the end

7 oz or 200g tenderstem broccoli

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 green onions aka spring onions

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon crème fraiche, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Scrub your new potatoes clean (usually the skins rub right off so there’s no need to peel them) and pop them in a pot with water to cover by a couple of inches. Add the salt and bring the pan to the boil. 

Cook the potatoes for about 12-15 minutes or until just tender.

Trim and discard any dry ends off of your tenderstem broccoli and split any thick stems in half.  

Finely mince the white part of the green onions, then slice the green part. Set aside some of the green parts for garnish.

In a mixing bowl, measure in the vinegar, then add the whites of the spring onions to marinate. This takes some of the sharp bite out of the onion and flavors the vinegar. 

When the potatoes are just tender, add the tenderstem broccoli to the pot and continue cooking for 3 minutes more. Drain in a colander and set aside to cool. (If you leave them in the hot pot, the broccoli may overcook.)

Arrange the broccoli on a serving plate.

Whisk the mayonnaise, crème fraiche (or substitute) and mustard into the onion/vinegar bowl. 

Add the green parts of the green onions and the slightly warm potatoes. 

Mix together until the potatoes are well coated with the dressing. Season with a sprinkle of fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir again. 

Spoon the dressed potatoes on top and around the broccoli. The dressing will drip down and dress the broccoli too, in a most delightful manner. Sprinkle on the reserved green onion for garnish. And perhaps just a few more grinds of black pepper. 

Serve warm or allow to cool, then chill. 

If you are serving it cold, bring it out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving so it’s not too cold. 

Enjoy! 

Love broccolini in salads? You might also enjoy my Broccolini Chicken Pear Blue Cheese Salad. It serves two as a main and four as a starter. We love it. 

It’s Sunday FunDay so that means I’m joining my fellow bloggers and sharing recipes we hope your family will enjoy. This week’s theme is Salads Galore! Many thanks to our host, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the lovely salads below: 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: BYO Chef Salad Bar 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Fennel, Red Cabbage, Goat Cheese, & Citrus Salad
• Sneha's Recipe: Keto Coleslaw with Keto Thousand Island Dressing 
• Culinary Cam: Lahpet Thoke (Fermented Tea Leaf Salad) 
• Cook with Renu: Marinated Fig and Mozzarella Salad
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Pasta & Sweet Potato Salad 
• The Mad Scientist's Kitchen: Pasta Salad 
•  Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Spicy Mojito Cucumber Salad 
• Food Lust People Love: Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini) Potato Salad 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Vegetarian Greek Salad with Chickpeas

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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