Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies

Perfect Pairing:  St. Patrick’s Day

Despite having ANOTHER snow storm in Chicago, the standard St. Patrick’s Day celebrations will go on as planned this weekend.  That includes dying the river green and filling every Irish pub to the brim starting around 8:00 AM.  Chicagoans are pretty crazy about this holiday.  Two years ago it was 80+ degrees on the big day, so it gives me hope that the foot of snow and ice in my front yard could be gone soon!

Last year I featured Brown Butter Rice Krispy Treats that were tinted green for the holiday.

Two years ago I provided a recipe for Edamame Hummus, which was a lovely shade of green as well.

This year’s recipe is one my favorite cookies, Oatmeal Shortbread.  This cookie has been a staple on our Christmas cookie plate for as long as I can remember.  At Christmas we keep the circle shape and use red and green sugar.

These cookies are deliciously crisp and light.  You will love them any time of the year.  The dough is easy to whip up, then you form into rolls.

Coat the rolls in colored sugar.

Slice (shape into shamrocks, if you so desire) and bake!

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Brown Butter Rice Krispy Treats

Perfect Pairing:  St. Patrick’s Day

Old fashioned rice krispy treats are hard to beat, but sometimes I cannot leave well enough alone.  My recipe is made with browned butter and a pinch of salt, but everything else is pretty much the same as the traditional recipe.  Oh, I also added mini chocolate chips to the top because how could that hurt? 

Browning the butter before adding it to the marshmallows gives the treats a nutty and rich flavor.  It is subtle, but you can definitely tell the difference.  I love this version.  Brown butter does magical things to simple recipes.  One of my all-time favorite appetizers is manchego with brown butter honey sauce.  Yum.

So you may have noticed the rice krispy treats are green.  That was on purpose, not a kitchen experiment gone wrong.  I wanted to do something festive for St. Patrick’s Day.  Last year I made green edamame hummus, which was a hit at the St. Paddy’s party I attended.  Of course, you can always leave the food coloring out or change it up for a different event.

I will be celebrating with family again this St. Patrick’s Day, but I don’t think we will be as lucky as last year with the weather.  I will never forget that day.  Not only did we have a great time but it was 80+ degrees in Chicago and the trees were budding.  This year….. not so much.  Oh well, we know spring is coming!

 

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Edamame Hummus

Perfect Pairing:  St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago is a pretty big deal.  Everyone in the city is Irish on March 17.  The entire metropolis turns into a party starting around 10 AM when the river is dyed green.  It is shocking how green it gets!  I always assumed that the city bank rolled the color job but apparently it is privately funded.  The photo below is from 2010 which was a cold and dreary day.  They are predicting 70+ degrees for Saturday so I can only assume that will add to the mayhem around here!

 

I get to spend this St. Patrick’s Day with some of my favorite people.  I can’t wait!  My mom has even hinted that she might try a green beer…. I don’t think she has had a beer in her life.  That should be interesting.

I wanted to provide some Irish themed food to snack on, but did not want to use green food coloring.  I turned my focus to naturally green ingredients like vegetables, pesto, and well, I guess that is it.  I remembered reading about edamame hummus and thought that would be the perfect party food.  Not only would it be naturally green it would be healthy! 

This edamame hummus is flavored with tahini, lemon juice, and roasted garlic.  Roasted garlic is a very good thing.  Roasting the garlic completely transforms the flavor so it is almost sweet.  You can even spread it directly on crostini.  Yum.   To roast an entire head of garlic you just chop off the top and remove most of the outer papery layer, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil, and roast until it is golden and soft.

Before going into the oven….

After…

 

The edamame hummus was slightly sweet from the roasted garlic and had an earthy taste from the tahini.  It was a lovely shade of green, which makes it the Perfect Pairing for St. Patty’s Day!

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