Potatoes Colcannon
Each fall, the Phoenix Mill House is open for hearth cooking days when visitors can sample foods that Mrs. Prescott prepares over the open fire. Historic cookbooks are the source for all of our recipes including this one for Potatoes Colcannon. Since cooking measurements were not standardized until the 1890s, preparing these historic dishes can be challenging. We often have to experiment to get the proportions and cooking times right.
This week’s recipe is just as it appears in Cooks Own Book published in 1810.
Potatoes Colcannon
“Boil potatoes and greens, or spinage, separately. Mash the potatoes; squeeze the greens dry; chop them quite fine and mix them with the potatoes, with a little butter, pepper, and salt. Put it into a mould, buttering it well first. Let it stand in a hot oven for ten minutes.”
The Phoenix Mill House is a 19th century millworker’s home on the grounds of the Monadnock Center. Each autumn, the center presents a series of living history demonstrations that share the story of the Samuel and Nancy Prescott family who lived in the house in the 1830s.
