Irish You Were Beer

St. Patrick’s Days almost here, and I. Am. Ready! Mostly because I get to celebrate my birthday in the most fun of fashions: The Irish Way!

I have two really fun drinks to wow your friends with and still keep it Irish! The first, and my personal favourite, is The Wilde Oscar. I found this one right on Guinness’s website and switched the bourbon for Irish whiskey and loved it (the bourbon version tastes fantastic too, but I love my Irish Whiskey!).

• 1.5 oz. Old Tom Horan Irish Whiskey
• 1 oz. Guinness® Extra Stout
• 0.5 oz. Stirring’s Simple Syrup
• Dash of Aromatic Bitters

Stir all ingredients in an ice filled mixing glass. Strain cocktail over a large ice cube. This cocktail is also delicious when made with Guinness® Draught. Garnish with a large orange peel and maraschino cherry.

Next up, we have the Jade Cocktail. This drink has a few variations to it, but this version seems to be the favourite among my friends. Not much in it is Irish, but the shade green and strength of it will have you singing ‘Danny Boy’ all night long.

• 1/2 ounce Midori

• 1/2 ounce Blue Curacao
• dash of Angostura bitters
• 1/2 ounce lime juice
• Tosca Prosecco

Put the Midori, Curacao, lime juice and Angostura bitters into a shaker and shake vigorously with ice until the shaker’s very frosty on the outside. Strain that into a chilled flute glass. Top it off with chilled champagne and garnish with a slice of lime.

And though it’s tempting to drink all day instead eating an actual meal, let’s give you a meal that keeps with the theme of the holiday. And since we will be drinking let’s keep it simple. Corned Beef Grilled Cheese. Nothing satisifies hunger quite like a grilled cheese. And though I didn’t make it myself, pair this grilled cheese with an Irish Bacon and Cabbage Soup for an extra kick of Ireland.

• 4 Slices of your favourite Bread
• 2tbsp Kerrygold Salted Butter
• 4oz Kerrygold Irish Cheddar (thinly sliced)
• 4oz Corned Beef (thinly sliced)
• 1c Coleslaw Mix
• 2tbsp Honeycup Mustard

Mix together the coleslaw and Honeycup Mustard and set to the side. Butter one side of each slice of bread and place butter side-down in a heated skillet or pan. Place some of the cheese, and corned beef onto the sliced bread. Add mixed coleslaw and more cheese before placing last slice of bread on top. Cook until both sides are golden brown.

Amber’s Melt-in-your-mouth Raspberry “Tarts”

If I haven’t made it obvious by now, I la-la-la-la-lovvveeee grilled cheese. Besides just making it at home, it’s one of my favorite things to make here in the store to sample! When most people think of grilled cheese, their minds automatically go to something savory. Well I’m here to introduce you to the other half of the grilled cheese world: the sweet side. Now I know it might sound a little strange, but you’ve just got to trust me on this one. What I’m about to share with you is technically an open-faced grilled cheese with raspberry jam, but I swear it’ll remind you of a dessert tart. I made them here a couple of weekends ago and everyone who tried them LOVED it.

What you’ll need:
– 1 loaf bread, sliced (we used Il Forno Baguette for smaller pieces to sample)
– 1 pc. of Brie, around 8oz. or so, at room temperature
– 1 jar Rothschild Farm Hot Pepper Raspberry Preserves*
– Kerrygold Irish Salted Butter, enough to grease the pan

How to:
– Drop a small chunk of your butter into a hot skillet or pan and let it melt to coat it.
– Slather one side of a piece of bread with the gooey part of the Brie, leaving the white rind off to the side.**
– Put the piece of bread with Brie into your hot buttered pan, Brie-side up.
– Let it toast in there until you see the Brie cook down and get super gooey and melted.
– Pull your cheesy toast out and spread on some of your Hot Pepper Raspberry Preserves.
– Serve warm.

*I love a little spice, and this jam gives the “tarts” just a tiny kick to them, but feel free to sub for 1 jar Rothschild Farm Seedless Raspberry Preserves to avoid any spice.
**Feel free to add the white rind if you’d like, but I left it out as it tends to add a mildly bitter component.

Luck of the Irish Grilled Cheese

Kerrygold cheeses are some of my absolute favorites to make grilled cheese sandwiches with.  This one in particular calls for Kerrygold’s Blarney Castle–a smooth Gouda-style cheese–and chutney.  I prefer to make my own homemade pear chutney, and have used this recipe with great success!

Ingredients

• Crusty, rustic bread sliced thick
• 4-ounces Kerrygold Blarney Castle, thinly sliced
• 2-4 tablespoons chutney (seriously, try this one!)
• 2 tablespoons Kerrygold Irish Butter

1. Butter outer side of bread slices.
2. Place a few slices of cheese on unbuttered side of bread. Add desired amount of chutney and place other unbuttered side on top.
3. Place buttered side down in large frying pan over medium-high heat, turning once until outside is golden brown and cheese is melted within.

Happy National Grilled Cheese Month!

If you weren’t aware, April is National Grilled Cheese Month–yes, such a thing exists.  To celebrate, we’ve found a recipe that combines two of our favorite things here at Vineyard Market–cheese and beer–into one yummy, gooey sandwich to create a Beer Battered Grilled Cheese!

From Betty Crocker

Ingredients

• 6 slices of bacon
• 4 slices of rustic white bread (try our Il Forno Ciabatta Grande)
• 2 slices of provolone cheese
• 2 slices of cheddar cheese
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup Pale Ale Beer
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon butter

1. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper towel.
2. On 2 of the bread slices, place 1 slice provolone cheese, 3 slices bacon and 1 slice Cheddar cheese on each. Top with remaining bread slices.
3. Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat or to 375°F. In shallow bowl, beat egg, beer, flour and chili powder with fork until smooth. Dip each sandwich into batter, giving it a few seconds on each side to absorb the batter; drain excess batter back into bowl.
4. Melt butter on hot griddle. Place sandwiches on griddle. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.

YUM! I can’t wait to make one of these bad boys for lunch this weekend! Happy National Grilled Cheese Month! 🙂