Shamrock Mint Cupcakes

Here is a fun and easy recipe for Shamrock Cupcakes in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

 

Shamrock Mint Cupcakes
Recipe Source: Pillsbury

Ingredients:

• 1 box (1 lb 2.25 oz) chocolate fudge cake mix with pudding
• Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
• 1 cup creme de menthe or mint baking chips (from 10-oz bag)
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 container (12 oz) fluffy white whipped frosting
• 24 large green gumdrops

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds; beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in baking chips. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.

Bake 21 to 26 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely, about 45 minutes.

Stir peppermint extract into frosting until well blended; spread on cupcakes. To garnish each cupcake, cut 1 gumdrop into 4 slices. Place 3 rounds on cupcake to make shamrock leaves; press remaining round into thin strip and place below leaves for stem.

The shamrocks could also be made from green M&M's, or green maraschino cherries cut in half!

"Good St. Patrick traveled far, to teach God's Holy Word and when he came to Erin's sod, a wondrous thing occurred. He plucked a shamrock from the earth and held it in His hand to symbolize the Trinity that all might understand. The first leaf for the Father, and the second for the Son, the third leaf for the Holy Spirit, all three of them in one."

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Irish Beef and Guinness Stew

With St. Patrick's Day coming up in less than a week, I thought I would take a second to share the recipe for our favorite Irish Beef Stew.

Irish Beef and Guinness Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds lean beef stew meat
• 3 tbs vegetable oil, divided
• 2 tbs all-purpose flour
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups Guinness stout beer (or other Irish Stout)
• 2 cups carrot, cut into chunks
  
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 tbs fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Directions:

Trim the meat of any fat, cut into 2 inch cubes, and toss them in a bowl with 1 tbs of the vegetable oil. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. Toss the meat in the mixture to coat.

Heat the remaining oil in a deep pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef, and brown on all sides. Add the onions and crushed garlic. Stir the tomato paste into a small amount of water (to dilute); pour into the pan, stir to blend, cover and cook gently (reduce heat if necessary) for about 5 minutes.

Pour 1/2 cup of the beer into the pan, and as it begins to boil, scrape any bits of food from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. This adds a lot of flavor to the broth. Pour in the rest of the beer, and add the carrots and thyme. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Yields: Six to Eight Servings

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

St. Patrick's Day Blessing Upon You!

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Irish Soda Bread

That much-loved Feast Day, St. Patrick's Day, is just around the corner now. I used to think that St. Patrick's Day was a waste -- a waste of good beer dyed green (well, maybe not so good), and a waste of good time spent doing obnoxious things in the name of a beloved saint. Now I just sit back and giggle that a whole lot of secular people are celebrating a religious feast day. I'm not sure if St. Patrick is giggling with me.

Since we celebrate so many feast days with food in our house, it's no surprise that we feast on St. Patrick's Day as well. I haven't firmed up the dinner menu yet (maybe a lovely Shepherd Pie), but I know that this well-loved bread will be on the table. I can't say for certain that this particular recipe is really very Irish (because I'm not Irish at all). Heck, it was just a year ago that I found out that Corned Beef and Cabbage doesn't have any roots at all in the Emerald Isle. But, we love the taste and the texture, and because it's not a yeast bread, it's very quick to make. I enjoy it all year 'round. Besides being great with supper, it's a treat at tea time, with some butter and jam, and it's something yummy on Saturday morning as you're running out the door. If the kids are not fond of caraway seeds, you can leave them out, but that's my favorite part!

Irish Soda Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 cup butter, cold
1 T. caraway seeds
1 cup raisins
1½ cups buttermilk
1 egg
1 T. half and half or milk


Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Using pastry cutter, or your fingers, cut in butter until crumbly.
Stir in raisins and caraway seeds.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk and egg.

Stir until combined.
If dough is too dry, add buttermilk by the tablespoonful until it holds together.
It should resemble rough biscuit dough.
Press dough into a round, dome-shaped loaf.
Place loaf on prepared baking sheet.
Brush loaf with milk or half & half.
Press a cross into the top with a sharp knife or bench knife.
Sprinkle with caraway seeds if desired.

Bake until loaf is deep golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean,
about 60 minutes. Cool on a rack.

When completely cool, wrap with plastic wrap.

Printer version

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Slainte'

I would like to interrupt the wonderful Lenten posts to remind everyone of an upcoming feast near and dear to my heart.

The Saint Patrick's Day feast almost always lands toward the end of Lent when the fasting and mortifications have become habitual and we are, perhaps, longing for an opportunity to celebrate the lives of one of our great saints.

Patrick was not, in fact, Irish but rather born of a wealthy Roman family. His name was Succat and in his youth he was abducted by Irish brigands and forced into slavery on the Emerald Isle. Patrick prayed faithfully for an opportunity to escape and eventually God led him away from his captors to safety. After studying to become a priest Patrick was sent back to Ireland as a bishop to convert the pagans. This he did with great success and become so beloved in the process that very few people even remembered that Patrick was not Irish. Those that knew did not care, at heart he was a true son of Eire. He loved the people and took their conversion to heart. Patrick died in 461 and his work lived on long beyond his life.

Such a great Saint deserves a little celebration right? So substitute another penance and indulge a little.

Your penance could be green beer. I never understood the appeal of that particular concoction. A Black and Tan, some Guinness, even a long tall Killian's is acceptable, encouraged even since beer is a most noble beverage. However the true drink of the day is that liquid amber, that ambrosia of Eire....whiskey.

The custom of imbibing alcohol on St. Patrick's Day comes from an old Irish legend. As the old story goes, St. Patrick was served a measure of whiskey that was much less than full. St. Patrick took this as an opportunity to teach a lesson of generosity to the innkeeper by telling him that in his cellar resided a monstrous devil who fed upon his dishonesty. The devil was large and bloated. In order to banish the devil, the innkeeper must change his ways. Sometime later St. Patrick returned to the hostelry and he found the owner generously filling the patrons' glasses to overflowing. He returned to the cellar with the innkeeper to find the devil emaciated and starved from the landlord's generosity. St. Patrick promptly banished the demon, proclaiming thereafter everyone should have a drop of the "hard stuff" on his feast day. This custom is known as Pota Phadraig or Patrick's Pot. The custom is known as "drowning the shamrock" because it is customary to float a leaf of the plant in the whiskey before downing the shot.( Paraphrased from Saint Patrick's Day History by Peggy Trowbridge)

It would be a shame not to imbibe in the good stuff in honor of the great man on his feast day. In my house we are fans of Jameson's a good Catholic whiskey, but there are several good ones available.

Another traditional libation is Irish Coffee. This is a wonderful close to a meal with friends.

Irish Coffee

2/3 part freshly brewed coffee
1/3 part Irish whiskey
2 tsps brown sugar
lightly whipped cream

Into a stemmed glass, put two teaspoonfuls of sugar, preferably brown; add one-third Irish Whiskey and two-thirds really hot, really strong black coffee, preferably freshly brewed, not instant. The glass should be filled with this mixture to within half an inch (1cm) of the brim. Stir well at this point to ensure all of the sugar is dissolved, and then carefully float over the back of a spoon a collar of lightly-whipped cream, so that the cream floats on the top of the coffee and whiskey. Do not stir any more. Serve the drink without a spoon or a straw, as part of the pleasure comes from sipping the hot coffee and whiskey through the cool cream.

A feminine cocktail...

Dublin Handshake
1/2 oz Baileys Irish cream
1/2 oz Irish whiskey
3/4 oz Sloe gin
Combine in shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into rocks glass with ice.

Of course, a Baileys on the rocks is always very pleasant.

What's a good drink without a good toast? You can not beat the Irish for a toast so here is one for your feast day.

Saint Patrick was a gentleman,
Who through strategy and stealth,
Drove all the snakes from Ireland,
Here’s a toasting to his health.
But not too many toastings
Lest you lose yourself and then
Forget the good Saint Patrick
And see all those snakes again.

'Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!'
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Candied Popcorn

Again from skiptomylou, again for St. Patrick's Day, again it can be altered to fit other feast days (red for St. Valentine, blue for Mary, etc).

How fun would it be to eat this while watching a movie about that day's saint!?

click on image for recipe

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Blarney Biscuits

I ran across these on skiptomylou and thought it was a great idea. They could be used for any feast day really (just change the color of the paper), these were designated for St. Patrick's Day (hence them being Blarney Biscuits). Click picture for recipe, or follow your own recipe and just use the idea.

She also has a great Blarney Stone craft, click here.

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