According to surveys, 50-60% of Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s Day every year. Chances are, you’re one of them. And chances are, you could use some inspiration to entertain your guests, impress a party, and/or warm up a parade.
Preparing These Recipes The Irish Way
All of the following recipes call for grass-fed dairy. It’s about taste and tradition. Irish food requires grass-fed dairy, as Ireland is over 80% grasslands. Cows are native to the Emerald Isle - and many of these cows naturally produce A2 milk. A2 milk is free from the A1 protein found in industrially farmed cattle. A1 protein has been linked to heart disease, inflammation, and indigestion. Zeal Creamery makes milk the Irish way: natural, grass-fed, and from healthy A2 cattle.
Irish Mashed Potatoes (Colcannon)
Mashed potatoes have been called Irish guacamole - because they’re known to eat them with everything! This particular recipe of creamy Irish mashed potatoes, known as colcannon, has been in existence for over 200 years. Once you try it, you’ll understand why.
Ingredients:
4 russet potatoes (2 to 2 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into large chunks
Salt
5 to 6 tablespoons Zeal grass-fed unsalted butter, plus more for serving
3 lightly packed cups chopped kale, cabbage, chard, or other leafy green
3 green onions, minced (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup Zeal grass-fed whole milk
Directions:
Boil the potatoes. Put the potatoes in a medium pot, cover with cold water at least 1 inch. Add 2 tablespoons of salt, and bring to a boil. Boil until the potatoes are fork tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain in a colander.
Cook the greens and the green onions with Zeal grass-fed unsalted butter:
Return the pot to the stove and set over medium-high heat. Melt the butter in the pot and once it's hot, add the greens. Cook the greens for 3-4 minutes, or until they are wilted and have given off some of their water. Add the green onions and cook for 1 minute more.
Mash the potatoes with Zeal grass-fed whole milk and greens. Pour in the Zeal grass-fed whole milk, mix well, and add the potatoes. Reduce the heat to medium. Use a fork or potato masher and mash the potatoes, mixing them up with the greens. Add salt to taste and serve hot, with a knob of Zeal grass-fed unsalted butter in the center.
Creamed Cabbage
Cabbage is a staple food of the Irish. It’s in-season year-round in Ireland, and played a significant role in helping the Irish survive the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s.
This creamed cabbage is sure to put a soulful, tasty, and authentic touch on your St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Plus, with only 2 steps, it couldn't be easier to prepare.
Ingredients:
4 slices of bacon (optional)
¼ cup Zeal grass-fed unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 large head of cabbage, cored and shredded
½ cup of grass-fed sour cream
Recipe via All Recipes
Directions:
Place the bacon slices in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat. Turn occasionally until evenly browned - around 10 minutes. Remove the bacon slices to cool.
Whisk the Zeal grass-fed unsalted butter, flour, and salt into the drippings in the same pan. Stir in the cabbage, and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until cabbage is tender, about 15 minutes. Crumble the bacon; stir the bacon pieces and grass-fed sour cream into the cabbage mixture.
Shamrock Sugar Cookies
Shamrock derives from the Gaelic word seamróg, and means young clover. The shamrock has been used as an Irish symbol since as early as the 16th century, and has been linked to St. Patrick himself since the 17th century. These shamrock sugar cookies are a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth while enjoying the beautiful symbol of the Irish.
Shamrock derives from the Gaelic word seamróg, and means young clover. The shamrock has been used as an Irish symbol since as early as the 16th century, and has been linked to St. Patrick himself since the 17th century. These shamrock sugar cookies are a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth while enjoying the beautiful symbol of the Irish.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup Zeal grass-fed unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange peel, grated
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
4 teaspoons Zeal grass-fed whole milk
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Royal Icing:
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons meringue powder
3 tablespoons Zeal grass-fed whole milk
Green food coloring, optional
Yellow food coloring, optional
White food coloring, optional
Edible pearls, optional, for decoration
Sprinkles, optional
Gather the ingredients.
Add the softened Zeal grass-fed unsalted butter, sugar, orange peel, and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer. You can also use a regular medium-sized bowl and a hand mixer. Blend until the ingredients are creamed together.
Add the egg and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the Zeal-grass fed milk to the mixture and blend again. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Sift together the dry ingredients and gradually add them to the creamed mixture. After the dough is combined, divide it in half, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to about 1/8-inch thick.
Cut out the dough using the shamrock cookie cutter. If you are making the coins, we recommend using a small round cookie cutter. Add the cookies to a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Bake for about 6 to 8 minutes or until set. Keep a careful eye on them while baking so they do not get over-baked. You don't want them to brown.
Roll out dough scraps into another sheet and repeat cutting out the shapes.
Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the cookie sheets and then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
While the cookies are cooling, prepare the royal icing. Beat together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and milk until completely combined. Separate the icing into three bowls.
In one bowl, add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. This will be the icing for edging the cookies. Place the icing in a piping bag with a small hole attachment.
In the second bowl add the green food coloring and mix until completely combined. Place the icing in a piping bag with a larger hole opening attachment.
In the third bowl add yellow food coloring. Add the icing to a third piping bag with a smaller opening.
Edge all of the cookies with the white icing. Flood each cookie with the green icing, using a toothpick to help spread the icing to the edges. Flood the coins with the yellow icing.
Allow the cookies to completely dry -- it should take 1 to 2 hours. Use the edging icing to add designs to the tops of the cookies and to attach edible pearls and sprinkles to the cookies.
You can also thicken the rest of the green and yellow food coloring with more powdered sugar and use that icing to decorate the cookies as well. Allow them to dry and then serve!
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mint chocolate cookies may have first been introduced by Girl Scouts many years ago, but we can forgive it for its decidedly non-Irish roots. These cookies are green. And they're delicious. Who will complain?
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter , softened slightly
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon pure peppermint extract
1 ½ cups mint chips, chocolate chips and/or chopped Andes candies
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat Zeal grass-fed unsalted butter and both sugars for 1-2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Add egg and peppermint extract and beat until combined.
Slowly add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add 1 cup of mint chips/Andes/chocolate chips (the rest will be reserved for topping the cookies).
Scoop golf ball sized portions of dough (approximately 2 tablespoons) and place them a couple inches apart on the cookie sheets. Using the remaining ½ cup mix-ins, top each ball of dough with a few chips/candies (this makes for a prettier cookie).
Bake the cookies for 7-10 minutes until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown and the very center is still slightly underdone. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through cooking time, if necessary.
Place the baking sheets on wire racks and allow the cookies to cool completely.
Irish Coffee
Caffeine and alcohol. This is a well-suited pair on St. Patrick's Day. The Irish coffee gets it right. And it's authentically Irish, having been invented in the 1940s at an airport in Limerick, Ireland.
Ingredients
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 jigger Irish whiskey (1 1/2 ounces or 3 tablespoons)
¼ cup Zeal grass-fed whole milk
Directions
Fill a mug with hot water to preheat it, then empty.
Pour piping hot coffee into warmed glass until it is about 3/4 full.
Add the brown sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Blend in Irish whiskey.
Add ¼ cup of Zeal grass-fed whole milk by pouring gently over back of spoon. Serve hot.
Shamrock Shakes
Shamrock shakes are not an Irish classic, but they’ve quickly become an icon of America’s St. Patrick's festivities. The most popular version has been nationwide at McDonalds since 2012. But you can make your own, even more delicious Shamrock Shake at home for St. Patrick's Day.
Ingredients:
2 cups vanilla grass-fed ice cream
1 ¼ cups Zeal grass-fed whole milk
¼ teaspoon mint extract, or more to taste
9 drops green food coloring
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup, or to taste (Optional)
2 tablespoons grass-fed whipped cream, or to taste (Optional)
½ teaspoon green decorator sugar, or to taste (Optional)
Directions
Blend ice cream, Zeal grass-fed whole milk, mint extract, and food coloring together in a blender until smooth.
Drizzle chocolate syrup around the inside walls of 2 tall glasses; pour shake glass into glass. Top with whipped cream and green decorator sugar.
Zeal Creamery
