Skip the green beer this St. Patrick's Day. We asked three wine professionals to recommend wines to pair with traditional Irish dishes. They range from Oregon Pinots to French Syrahs and even Champagne. More
With St. Patrick's Day around the corner, this week's Mixed Review, is on the official Guinness Bread Mix. Beer bread mixes are usually pretty simple to throw together, but this one was a bit more involved. It required additions of butter, milk, beer, molasses, and (optional) raisins. But if you aren't feeling the mix, try this from-scratch recipe for Plum Biercake instead. More
You may notice the seasonal McDonald's menu addition popping up at select locations again this year: the almighty Shamrock Shake. The St. Patrick's Day promotion is just a green, minty shake, but has inspired a cultish following. This year's version has so far been a big disappointment: less minty and topped with a mound of whipped cream and cherry. More
There's nothing like green pasta to brighten up a meal. Nancy, of Dishing Up, offers a spinach-basil pesto pasta in honor of St. Patrick's Day. OK, so it might not taste very Irish, but that doesn't mean it won't taste good. Plus, substituting spinach for some of the basil is an easy fix when you don't have enough basil on hand.... More
When Serious Eaters gathered around to examine the See's Candies catalog last week, one thing popped out: a St. Patrick's Day Potato. More
If you really, really need help making green beer (hint: It involves green food coloring), here's a video for you. You can use blue curaçao to put a twist on your St. Patty's Day beer, but don't think you're avoiding the dyes that way. The liqueur is artificially colored—nothing drinkable in nature is that blue. The video appears after the jump. Cheers!... More
At times like this, I hope our frat boy readership is really strong. Apparently there is more to green beer than just food coloring and beer. Oh wait, there's not at all. But this step-by-step guide says six drops of dye, when dealing with a vaguely yellow beer, is the magic number. Otherwise you get a more olive tone. Complicated stuff! [via UniqueDaily.com] Related What are your favorite St. Paddy's Day eats? [Talk] My McDonald's Shamrock Shake Journey: An Emotional Roller Coaster Time for a Drink: Green Devil... More
Jesse Oleson of Cakespy made six different variations of Irish soda bread in her attempt to find the most delicious combination of additions: raisins, green dye, raisins, green frosting, melty mints, and green jelly beans. The winner? All of the above. (As for what the green food coloring does, it makes it cuter. Don't deny the power of cute!) Previously: Irish soda bread recipes Move Over, Rice Krispies: Cereal Treats Smackdown... More
Are you sick of celebrating St. Patrick's Day by coloring all your food in various shades of green? Check out Gourmet's collection of nontraditional St. Patrick's Day recipes accompanied by beautiful photographs of each dish. For traditional dishes, look through European Cuisine's archive of St. Patrick's Day recipes. [via Rebecca Blood]... More
Deb of Smitten Kitchen on blasphemous bread, after Melissa Clark's recent inauthentic Irish soda bread recipe in the NYT: I’ve never made Irish soda bread before and eaten it almost as rarely, so I can’t offer a review with any authority, but what I loved about this article is neither could Clark. She was told by a friend married to an Irishman and living in his country that though her version was rich and lovely, it neither looked nor tasted like the real deal. Apparently, nobody in Ireland serves real soda bread anymore, she said, and even if they did, it would have no raisins, eggs, butter or caraway seeds. After trying a version faithful to the original and finding... More
