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ST. PATRICK’S DAY: Have A Tipsy Leprechaun (Stout Float, Spiked Milkshake)

We’ve presented a number of cocktails for St. Patrick’s Day, but we’ve saved the best for last. This one contains our favorite food: ice cream.

It’s easy to whip up a Tipsy Leprechaun, a more sophisticated stout float (a spiked milkshake) that also contains Irish whiskey and Irish cream liqueur.

The recipe comes from R Lounge, a new lounge/restaurant with a beautiful view of Times Square in New York City.
 

TIPSY LEPRECHAUN COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients Per Cocktail

  • 1.5 ounces Irish Whiskey, such as Jameson’s
  • 1 ounce Irish Cream Liqueur, such as Bailey’s
  • 3 ounces Guinness Stout
  • 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
  • 2 ounce chocolate syrup
  • Optional garnish: Maraschino cherry
  •  
    Preparation

    1. GLAZE a pint glass with chocolate syrup

    2. Blend the ingredients and add to the glass.

    3. GARNISH with a cherry.

    4. DRINK up.

    5. HAVE another.

     
    We can’t wait to celebrate! Tipsy Leprechaun
    recipe and photo courtesy R Lounge in Times Square, New York City.
     

    Want more spiked float ideas? Here are recipes for Chocolate Stout Float and Chocolate Stout Ice Cream

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Cheese Storage


    Preserve your Parmesan. Photo courtesy
    Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

      Hard cheeses are the most durable, lasting for months after they’re cut from the wheel. But they still need proper care.

    Store hard cheeses—including Asiago, Manchego, Mimolette, Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano), Pecorino, Romano and Tête de Moine—in an airtight plastic container with a few sugar cubes.

    The sugar will absorb excess moisture and prevent the cheese from getting moldy. Replace the cubes when they get soft.

    If your cheese dries out, here’s a tip to save it:

    Revive dried-out Parmesan or any other hard cheese by wrapping it in a damp paper towel and refrigerating it in a resealable plastic bag for a day before using. After using the cheese, return any leftovers to the fridge in the bag, without the towel.

    Thanks to our friends at CampbellsKitchen.com for this helpful tip.

     
    A related tip: Don’t throw away the rinds of hard cheeses. Add them to simmering soups to impart a deep, rich flavor. Remove the rinds before serving the soup.

    Find more tips in our Gourmet Cheese Section.

      

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    PRODUCT: The Best Chocolate Sauce

    There are lots of chocolate sauces out there. The best ones are made from, not surprisingly, the highest quality chocolate.

    While we’ve had a variety of tasty dessert sauces, four brands have been named Top Picks: The King’s Cupboard, Robert Lambert Chocolate Sauces, Sassy Sauces and Somebody’s Mother’s. Except for Robert Lambert, which focuses on chocolate only, the brands offer both chocolate and caramel sauces.

    The King’s Cupboard has introduced three new flavors:

  • Irish Cream made with real Irish cream liqueur, perfect for St. Patrick’s Day
  • Crème De Menthe, a robust chocolate mint that is certain to delight
  • Bourbon Caramel, with a splash of Bourbon whiskey (it’s family-friendly; we’d add an extra splash)
  •  
    Three new dessert sauce stars. Photo
    by River Soma | THE NIBBLE. Tray from PacificMerchants.com.
     
    Chocolate or caramel sauce drizzled over cake, crêpes, ice cream or fresh fruit elevates something plain to something special. Mix a teaspoon into a cup of coffee to make a fancy drink or add to milkshakes instead of chocolate syrup. If you need a sweet fix, just dip a spoon into the jar.

    The products are kosher-certified (dairy) by OU. Crème de Menthe and Irish Cream are also certified organic.

  • Read our full review of The King’s Cupboard.
  • See our favorite dessert sauces and recipes in our Dessert Sauce Section.
  • How many types of dessert sauce are there? See our Dessert Sauce Glossary. You’ll discover new options to serve with your desserts.
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    PRODUCT: The Best Cheese In The Country



    Evalon is the best cheese in the country.
    Photo courtesy LaClareFarm.com.

      The United States Championship Cheese Contest, America’s largest cheese and butter competition, has been judging dairy products since 1891.

    With America’s continued interest in fine cheese, the contest has more than doubled in size since 2001. At this year’s recently concluded competition, more than 30,000 pounds of cheese were entered, representing 1,604 entries from 30 states.

    Judges retasted the first prize winners from 76 categories of butter and cheese to determine the overall winners:

  • First Prize: At the top of the podium is a hard goat’s milk cheese, Evalon, made by Katie Hedrich of LaClare Farms in Chilton, Wisconsin. Out of a possible 100 points, Evalon scored 99.06 in the final round of judging, during which judges re-evaluated all the individual category gold medal winners to determine the champion.
  • First Runner-Up: Next came a Parmesan made by Sartori Reserve of Plymouth, Wisconsin. It scored 98.97 points.
  • Second Runner-Up: Also making the cut, an Aged Gouda made by Holland’s Family Cheese of Thorp, Wisconsin, with 98.95 points.
  • WHO’S THE BIG CHEESE?

  • It’s Wisconsin, winning 42 gold metals out of the total 76 categories judged—plus the three grand awards.
  • California came in second, with nine golds.
  • Vermont earned five gold medals.
  • Idaho took home four golds.
  • New Jersey, New York and Ohio each captured three golds.
  • Oregon and Pennsylvania each won two gold medals.
  • Kentucky, Michigan and Utah each earned one gold.
  •  
    For more information on the contest, as well as contest photos and complete results for all 76 entry classes, visit USChampionCheese.org.

    Find great cheeses, recipes, and everything you need to know about cheese in our Gourmet Cheese Section.

     

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Caring For Your Vanilla Beans

    Vanilla is the second costliest spice in the world, after saffron. Those vanilla beans are expensive; but they provide superior flavor over vanilla extract (and we mean real vanilla extract—don’t try to save money by using artificial vanilla).

    Vanilla beans need to be stored in an airtight container. That’s why some beans are sold in their own glass capsule. Keep them in a cool, dark place—but never in the fridge, where they will harden.

    Properly cared for, vanilla beans should last for two years or more. If your bean becomes dried out, don’t worry: As soon as it’s added to the warm milk or cream in the recipe, it will plump up.

    It’s easy to use vanilla beans.

    Some recipes call for the whole bean (the pod, shown in the photo). Some require only the seeds inside the bean.

    If you need only the seeds, split the bean lengthwise and scrape them out. Don’t throw away the pod: It can be used in another recipe. Even if a pod has been cooked, you can dry it for 3-4 days and toss it into a canister of sugar, tea or coffee, where its flavor will infuse.

     


    Vanilla is the second costliest spice in the
    world, after saffron. Photo by Joan Vicent
    Canto | IST.

     
    More care notes: Tiny crystals covering a bean indicate a top-quality bean, not an inferior one. On the other hand, a fuzzy coating indicates mold, which has affected the flavor of the bean. Throw it out. Mold occurs where there is dampness and the bean isn’t in an airtight container.

    All about vanilla.

      

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