A delicious side served with Vrghr's St Paddy's day celebration at a friend's house today.

The original version was very much a 'budget stretcher" of a meal. When you had no meat in the house, but the cow was still offering dairy, you could create something from potatoes, cabbage, and butter to get you through the day. Sometimes this was augmented with a bit of leeks, or other savory veggies found 'round the homestead. But the original dish is a relatively bland, simple, and cheap repast.

Vrghr's version sought to bring more flavors to this comfort food, to match up with the hearty and delectable Mustard-Brown Sugar Glazed Pressure Cooker Corned Beef (found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16026268/ ) that wuff served with it. Since wuffy already had the pressure cooker in use for the beef, the potatoes and cabbage were cooked in it as well.

It cuts the prep time, but MUCH more importantly, it infuses the potatoes with the fabulous flavors that the cooking liquids have picked up from the Corned Beef, which was prepared first. Really, that corned beef broth is a key component to the delicious, complex flavors exploding from this simple dish. Wuff not only cooked the potatoes and cabbage in it, he added it directly to the dish during the mashing process.

Vrghr also left the skins on his potatoes, hoping that they would add more "potato-y" depth to the dish. They absolutely did! HOWEVER, pealing those skins off after removing them from the cookpot takes a LOT of patience and some pretty tough paws (HOT Potato!). Wuff thought the flavor was worth the work, especially since this meal was to be shared with several friend. But removing the skins prior to cooking wouldn't change the flavors too much, and would be a lot faster and easier for the cook! You could also just leave the peels on, for a more 'rustic' version (and added vitamins).

Note: You could also prepare this without doing the corned beef first. In that case, wuffy strongly recommends flavoring the water with a bit of Better Than Bullion Ham Base ( ), onion powder, garlic powder, cider vinegar, thyme, bay leaves, and a moderate amount of salt and pepper. You can find those spices in the corned beef recipe (except for the salt which was provided by the corning process on the beef). This will help infuse the dish with the same lovely depth of flavors, without the need for the meat.

Wuff also used actual Irish Butter in the prep. Any "European Style" butter will work too. Try to use it if you can. It is richer with more milk solids that US Butter, but the USA version of "real" butter will work as well. Just - no margarine this time, okay?

Finally, Vrgrh sauteed the white portion of the scallions (green onions) in some of the butter, to get even more flavor into the dish. AND wuffy browned the rest of the butter in a hot skillet. DON'T skip the "browned butter" steps, or you'll lose out on that amazing, nutty, rich buttery flavor that only comes from the browned milk solids. Be Advised - Browned butter doesn't work worth beans on Margarine!

Vrghr recommends browning your butter in a light colored (stainless steel) pan. It makes it FAR easier to judge when the butter is starting to turn brown. Beware! The butter can go from browned to burnt VERY quickly, so the visual cue can be very important!

Ingredients:
1 qt reserved Corned Beef stock from Vrghr's Pressure Cooker Corned Beef ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16026268/ )
1 C reserved Corned Beef stock
~5lbs Russet Potatoes, Quartered (Pealed is up to the cook. See above!)
1 Med head Cabbage
1 lb Irish Butter (Salted)
8-10 Scallions (green onions)
1/2 C Heavy Cream
1/4 tsp ground Black Pepper (to taste)

Special Tool: Pressure Cooker

Directions:
Dip out about 1 C of the Corned Beef broth from the Pressure Cooker corned beef. Allow the remained to stay in the cooker. If necessary, remove any leftover veggies and spices from the broth with a slotted spoon.
Slice the Russet Potatoes into large chunks, approximately 2.5" square. Peel if desired.
Remove the stem of the cabbage and slice it in quarters, end to end. Cut out the thick core, and mince that up fine. SLice the rest of the cabbage into ~3/8" shreds
Remove the roots from the scallions. Slice into ~1/4" segments. Separate the white parts from the green

Add the potatoes shredded cabbage, and minced cabbage core to the pressure cooker. Cover, and cook at high pressure for ~6 minutes. Do a rapid (water bath if you are using a stove-top cooker) release (see your cooker's instructions if using electric cooker)

While the potatoes are cooking, in a small skillet over medium high heat, melt about 1 TBS of the butter. When it starts to foam, add the white parts of the scallions. Fry until a bit of brown appears around the edges, then stir them up and reduce heat. Continue cooking until tender and translucent. Remove from heat and reserve

Add the remaining butter to a large, light colored (stainless steel) skillet. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter begins to brown to a golden, honey color and smells nutty. Be careful! It can burn quickly at this stage! Remove from heat and reserve.

When the pressure has dropped, remove the lid from the cooker and using a strainer, dip out all the potatoes and cabbage and place in a LARGE, sturdy (preferably glass) bowl (Metal will quickly get hot and burn your paws while you work, then will wick away that heat and cool your dish). If necessary, remove the potato peels (Hot hot hot!)
Add the sauteed white portion of the scallions and about 1/2 of the green portions to the potato-cabbage mixture. Add the heavy cream. Add ~ 1/3 C of the browned butter
Mash with a potato masher until mostly smooth. This is a "rustic" dish, so lumps are okay and expected!
Add portions of the reserved Cup of Corned Beef broth as needed until the potato mixture achieves the desired consistency. They should stand up on a plate, and not run about

To Serve:
Mound into a pile beside your sliced corned beef. Make a "well" in the middle of the mound and add a tablespoon or so of the Browned Butter. Sprinkle some of the remaining green portion of the scallions over the top as a garnish.

!!DEVOUR!!