Cabbage and Potato (Gluten Free)

This recipe is similar if not identical to the Irish dish, colcannon. It is a hearty side dish, just the thing for a cold early spring/late winter night. It is also fairly fast. It takes about 20 minutes to boil and mash the potatoes and boil the cabbage. Then you just make the gravy and eat. It goes well with roast chicken, or pork. We had it with some mini steaks from Omaha Steak House.
 I made it about 20 minutes before we actually ate because Bob's arrival at night depends on the vagaries of Metrobus. Although the buses are supposed to run every half hour, in reality sometimes it's more like every 50 minutes. Grrr. The result was a little runny because the gravy seeped down into the potatoes, so I would hold back the gravy if you aren't planning to eat it right away.
The recipe says boil the potatoes in their jackets. Frankly, I see no reason to do that. Peel the potatoes, cut them into chunks and boil them. Trying to peel hot, boiled potatoes is not a lot of fun. "Riced" means mashed with a standard potato masher. If you don't have one, you could use a fork.
As I type up the recipe, I notice that I was supposed to scald the cream. I confess, I did not even see that direction. If you don't want to scald the cream, I don't think the dish will suffer much. It does call for flour. If you want the recipe to be gluten free, you can use gluten free flour, or rice flour, or potato starch.

Cabbage and Potato

1/2 head cabbage, roughly shredded
salt
1/2 cup boiling water
5 medium size potatoes, boiled in their jackets, peeled and riced
1/4 cup butter, melted
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup heavy cream, scalded
1/2 pound bacon diced and cooked until crisp
3 tablespoons flour (I used rice flour.)
2 cups milk

1. Place the cabbage, one teaspoon salt and the boiling water in a saucepan. Cover and cook ten minutes, or until the cabbage is tender. Drain well.
2. Beat the hot riced potatoes with the butter, salt and pepper to taste and enough cream to give a smooth consistency that still holds its shape. Stir in the cabbage.
3. Remove the bacon bits from skillet in which they cooked and reserve. Discard all but three tablespoons of the bacon drippings. (fat). Add the flour to the drippings and cook, stirring until the mixture browns slightly.
4. Stir in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pile the cabbage potato mixture in a serving dish. Make a depression in the middle and pour in the gravy.
5 sprinkle the reserved bacon bits around the edge.
Makes six to eight servings.