Perfect with tea (and almost any repast),
we hope that oatcakes will become as
popular as shortbread. Photo courtesy
Effie’s Homemade.

It’s true: “Oatcake” doesn’t sound too beguiling. To Americans, it can sound like something you might give your horse as a treat.

Neigh!

As Scotland is too cold to grow wheat, oats were the staple grain until modern times and easy distribution of wheat products throughout the U.K. In Scotland, biscuits—sweet or savory—were made with oatmeal instead of wheat flour.

So think of a simple but sublime shortbread cookie—essentially wheat flour, butter and sugar. Then substitute oats for the wheat, and you’ve got an oatcake.

While they might not sound as graceful as “shortbread,” oatcakes are just as satisfying—even more so, as they’re not as sweet or buttery. So they go with just about everything, from breakfast to soup and salad to the cheese course.

• Read the full review of Effie’s Homemade Oatcakes.
• Find more of our favorite cookies, biscuits and crackers.

Our first product is Tipsy Cocktail Stirrers from Sable & Rosenfeld.

Bloody Marys, martinis and any savory cocktail will be greatly enhanced by dressing up with gourmet cocktail stirrers. So will a sandwich, a burger or anything else that begs for visual excitement and savory splendor. (That makes it a great gift, too.)

Tipsy cocktail stirrers are also a very low calorie snack, and certified kosher by OU.

• Read the full review of Tipsy Cocktail Stirrers.
• Find cocktail recipes and reviews of our favorite spirits and mixers in our Cocktails Section.

Why didn’t we think of this? Our new favorite
cocktail garnish. Photo by Katharine Pollak |
THE NIBBLE.

Three varieties of sage: tricolor, pineapple
sage (it smells like pineapple) and golden
sage, available from WhiteflowerFram.com.

Think of sage to season beans, in cheese recipes, with eggplant, tomatoes and any pork dish.

The pretty leaves also make a charming plate decoration or general food garnish. You can also add the leaves to iced tea, instead of mint!

RECIPE: WhiteflowerFarm.com, a premium purveyor of fine plants, recommends adding chopped fresh sage with sautéed chopped onions and garlic, and a squeeze of lemon, to cooked pasta or rice.

This wonderfully aromatic plant is a delight in the kitchen—and in the garden. Get a pot (and several for gifts) for St. Patrick’s Day!

• Try this recipe for sage popcorn.
• A sophisticated roast beef sandwich with sage-horseradish mayonnaise.
• A delectable pumpkin fettuccine recipe with chicken and sage.

There are shamrock cookies and petit fours, green marshmallows and malt balls.

There’s a jumbo caramel apple rolled in chocolate and green chips, and Irish Crunch popcorn.

For those who like elegant chocolates, we tried some terrific ones in appropriately green boxes.

• See all of our St. Patrick’s Day treats.

Lucky Clover cookies from Elenis.com. Photo
courtesy Eleni’s.

Enjoy the recipe as a taco or atop salad
greens. Photo courtesy McCormick.

Turmeric, long consumed as a restorative tea in Okinawa, the Japanese island famed for health and longevity, is a vibrant spice from the ginger family that’s now attracting the attention of Western science for its numerous health benefits. Curcumin, the substance that gives turmeric its yellow color, has compounds that laboratory studies indicate have potential health benefits, from cancer-fighting powers to the ability to block the progression of multiple sclerosis. (Read our review of Dr. Andrew Weil for Tea’s Turmeric Tea.)

Turmeric is the key ingredient in many Indian, Malay, Persian and Thai dishes and an element in many curry powders. As a cheaper alternative to saffron, it’s also used as a natural yellow food coloring in prepared food, cheese, mustard and chicken broth.

The best place to find true, vine-ripened tomatoes is at a farmers market in late summer (August and September) when they’re in season and memorable. But for the purpose of this pairing, look for the best “vine ripened” tomatoes you can find—or hold off until summer.

RECIPE

Turmeric and vine-ripened tomatoes are an earthy and naturally sweet blend. Try them in this recipe for Turmeric-Spiced Chicken with Tomato-Avocado Salsa. It’s a chicken taco recipe, but you can serve the chicken atop salad greens instead of in taco shells.

The recipe has three very healthy ingredients:

• Turmeric’s active ingredient, curcumin, has been long known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Recent medical research is revealing much more, as turmeric is being used to treat health conditions from cancer to Alzheimer’s disease.
• The lycopene in tomatoes is a powerful antioxidant that shows promise with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, prostate cancer and even male infertility.
• Avocado is very heart-healthy: Avocado oil can help lower cholesterol and regulate blood pressure. (Learn more about avocado oil.)

So you can legitimately tell guests who watch their diets that they’re eating “healthy tacos.”