Bubble and Squeak...

This delicious-looking (sarcasm intended) concoction to the right (and trust me, the color of the plates didn't matter with this one) is a play off a dish called "bubble and squeak" - or colcannon. It's basically a mash of potatoes, root vegetables, maybe cabbage, and well, pretty much whatever is on hand.

Given the vegetables I used, it is probably closer to colcannon (the Irish version) than "bubble" - from Wikipedia: "...it is similar to the modern version of the English dish, bubble and squeak. In Atlantic Canada (especially Nova Scotia and Newfoundland), a local version of the dish is popular among those raised in rural communities. Brought to the provinces by Irish and Scottish settlers, the recipe consists of potatoes, milk, butter, diced carrots and turnip mashed together. This gives it a distinct orange and white color (as opposed to the green of the Irish version).

I used the 4 medium potatoes and one carrot, and boiled them until soft enough to mash. In a separate pot, I boiled the cabbage (sliced thin) in salted water with a splash of vinegar. I drained them both, and then mashed up the root vegetables with a roux made with a little over a half cup of half & half and seasoned with some garlic, salt and nutmeg. I then stirred in the cabbage, adjusted the seasoning, and added some minced parsley... It tastes pretty darned good, but I understand now why green cabbage is generally used - it looks like a bag of confetti got sick and threw up.