Champ

The Irish may be known as THE world's potato-eating population, but champ is THE Irish potato dish.  A delumptious, creamy buttery mash, more of a puree really, with the added bite and interest of fried spring onions and fresh herbs. 

Serves

Ingredients:

Method:

Steam or boil the potatoes as usual until well cooked.  Drain and put into a big mixing bowl, break into smaller, rougher chunks and cover with a folded tea towel.  This is a good trick - it absorbs the steam coming off the potatoes so they become fluffier rather than soggy and watery. 

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the spring onions.  Cook on a low heat for 5 minutes or so, allowing the spring onions to take on a little colour and crispiness around the edges - but not to much and don't let them burn.  Stir in the chopped fresh herbs, then take the pan off the heat and pour into a jug or bowl so the mixture doesn't continue cooking in the pan's reserved heat.

Put the milk into a Pyrex jug or similar, and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high.  Add the extra butter to the milk in small bits and stir around - the butter will start to melt around the edges.  Now, take the tea-towel off the bowl of potatoes and pour in a little of the milk and butter mixture.  Using a fork (I prefer using just a fork to mash/cream potatoes, as opposed to a "proper" potato masher as they tend to give a gluggy texture and often don't get all the lumps out; memories of grandma's mash, anyone?) mash the potatoes and whisk the milk through, adding a little more milk as you go until you have a really creamy almost fluffy puree - no stodge here. 

Now ... stir in half the spring onion/herb butter until well combined and there are lots of lovely bits of green and crisp golden bits all through the potato.  Dish out, either onto individual plates or into a big communal bowl, and make an indent into each pile of mash.  Into this indentation pour a little of the remaining spring onion/herb butter so there's a little pool of melted butter, just starting to overflow and trickle down the sides.

Mashed potatoes will never be the same again.  Great by itself even, champ also goes beautifully with grilled meats and chicken, hearty stews and daubes, and with fish.  When serving with fish fillets or chicken or steak I like to make a pile of champ in the middle of the plate, with the fillet placed on top and the extra melted butter and spring onions drizzled around.

As I said - YUM!!!!!