Hump-Day Quickie for Those who Feel No Shame: Cabbage, Spuds, and Bacon

We at A Book of Cookrye, being in college, know people who get to study abroad or otherwise go across the national borders. When not wondering what it's like to get through airport security without getting "randomly" flagged, we ask everyone we know leaving the country to send recipes for something they ate there and really liked. It's a nice present that costs nothing and which is greatly appreciated, right? We have gotten exactly one recipe back, and this is it.

Cabbage, Spuds, and Bacon 3 large baking potatoes 10-11 slices bacon Salt Pepper, dry mustard (be generous with each) about 1½ pounds cabbage (half of a large head), chopped Boil the potatoes tender (cutting them in half lengthwise will save time). While the potatoes are boiling, cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp enough to crumble, but not thoroughly crunchy. Remove it and cook the cabbage in the drippings over medium heat until it has just a slight amount of crunch left in it, about 15-20 minutes. Mash together the potatoes, crumbled bacon, salt, pepper, and mustard, breaking up the skins as you go. (Go easy on the salt because there's already a lot in the bacon.) Add the cabbage and mix well.

Spuds!

A long time ago, a friend of mine who's pretty much family went to England. She brought me back a recipe from Ireland because why stick to recipes from the country you're actually in? I thought it was really sweet of her- rather than waiting until served something worth asking the recipe for, she asked everyone in the hostel for a recipe. I dearly wish it was possible to in text show you how she sounded as she quoted for me (also duplicating gestures) what someone from Ireland told her:

"You cook the spuds, you cook the cabbage, you cook the bacon, you mix it up, you add a some mustard, it's cabbage spuds and bacon!"

Spuds!

I suspect that you're meant to boil the cabbage, but we at A Book of Cookrye skipped that in favor of using the frying pan we already had out. Otherwise, we'd have to come up with two pots. Besides, it's always amusing in its own little way when you have a massive skillet radiating bacon smell through the kitchen, and at about the moment a swarm people have finished gravitating toward the kitchen, you drop a cabbage bomb in the skillet.

Like a siren's call, it draws everyone.

My friend reported that this is "the ultimate Irish meal" (again quoting him whom she got the recipe from).

Bombs away!

At any rate, this is really easy to make. We at A Book of Cookrye would eat it a lot more often if we didn't live somewhere where you get run over or randomly pulled over for suspicious behavior when not driving places. If you've never made this, you have no idea how delicious this is.

It's cabbage spuds and bacon!