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A magical, bittersweet, vacation in County Kilkenny, Ireland
I spent St. Patrick’s Day at the Enchanted Mill Cottage in Kells, population 280. I'd come to Ireland for a month to celebrate the life... Read more
Don your green and grab your glass because everyone’s favorite day to fake being Irish is almost heeeeeere. We’ve got some St. Paddy’s Day recipes to satisfy your carb tooth, your sweet tooth, your booze tooth, and even your hangover tooth. Let’s talk soda bread, Guinness sauce, and a healthy day-after treat to soothe your sore head from all that green beer.
Dense and mildly sweet, Irish soda bread is the easiest method of getting mass amounts of Kerry Gold into your belly — outside of bulletproof coffee, at least. It’s an old peasant bread so it takes very few ingredients and it’s awesomely rustic.
Get the recipe here.
So butter is a delish topping for soda bread, but what about GUINNESS? Yep, we’ve got a way to combine these two…
This sweet Guinness sauce was inspired by a recent trip to Disney Springs where we were served this rich Guinness sauce for dipping. Come to find out, it’s basically just reduced Guinness and sugar. Um, yes please. Take a piece of that soda bread and smoosh it into this sauce and learn what living is really for.
Get the recipe here.
Okay, so you’ve overindulged at the bars. It’s time for some tummy TLC in the form of a low calorie/high protein green smoothie: a healthy protein “shamrock shake!” Grab some spinach, your preferred protein powder, and the couch for some much-needed chill time.
Get the recipe here.
More green in yo’ life:
How do YOU celebrate St. Paddy’s Day?
About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
Ok, so this is a weird pet peeve of mine, but that recipe isn’t for Irish Soda Bread. Traditional Irish soda bread contains only four ingredients: flour, buttermilk, salt, and baking soda. No sugar or fruit.
Check out the Society for the Preservation of Traditional Irish Soda Bread (www.sodabread.info) for a recipe. I’ve made it and it’s 1. easy and 2. delicious. And still a wonderful way to eat that kerry gold.
I had no idea! Thanks for the info. My mom just made us a loaf of not-soda bread (raisins, caraway seeds, etc.) and while it’s of course tasty, I’d love to try the traditional version. I don’t even like raisins, so I’m happy to skip them!
You’re totally right! This one is just a smidge more decadent with the added butter in the recipe and a few other ingredients. But I totally respect the real method.
I have seen recipes with a bit of brown sugar, or even butter, in them, but they’re the exception rather than the rule.
Unless you’re making treacle soda bread, which obviously has treacle (molasses) in it as well. That’s definitely more a treat than an ordinary bread though.
One thing to remember about soda bread – you really have to eat it the day you make it. It doesn’t keep.
Colcannon!!!
Mashed potatoes combined with boiled cabbage (or kale), scallions, butter, milk, and salt.
A link for those that need it: http://altonbrown.com/colcannon-recipe/
Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCQbksGz67U
Irish Potatoes!
A local baker put out samples of irish soda bread yesterday and I tried it. Holy smokes, talk about sweet! They should have been honest and called it Irish Soda Cake.
Other actual Irish food:
Coddle! (specific to Dublin, I miss it)
Bailey’s icecream
Crisp sandwiches (with Kerrygold butter and Tayto crisps)
Blaa
Potato cakes
I made the Guinness sauce (with my cheesey beer bread) for our work potluck and it was a HUGE hit. No one believes how easy it is!