Pan-fried kassler with colcannon

A bit of cross-cultural liberty has been taken with the cured smoked loin. I love the flavour of potato with kale or cabbage, known in Ireland as colcannon, and a little browning in the pan adds a gorgeous crunchy take on the original. It goes so well with the kassler you feel like you’ve met the love child of a German butcher and an Irish market gardener.

• serves

  1

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 large potato, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp lard
• 50 g baby kale
• 1 in-slice kassler (see Note)
• 4–5 boiled baby carrots, to serve
• mustard, to serve

Instructions

Boil the potato in a saucepan until just tender.

Meanwhile, melt half of the lard in a large, heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the kale and sauté to soften.

In a separate pan over high heat, melt the remaining lard and add the kassler. The kassler is already cooked; you just want to create a golden crust and warm it through.

When the potato is cooked, drain and add to kale. Crush potato and turn up heat to create a crust.

Pour any excess kassler fat over potatoes and kale.

Serve potatoes and kassler with boiled baby carrots and a generous spoon of mustard. 

Note

• Good kassler is available from some butchers. At a pinch you can substitute a fat-cut piece of loin bacon from a quality pig.

Also try Matthew Evans' choucroute.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.