[1] Devil’s food cake and mint chip ice cream (photo Jennifer Davick | Southern Living). [2] Andes Mints (photo courtesy Sweet Factory). [3] After Eight Mints (photo courtesy After Eight | UK).

We’ve been saving this recipe from Southern Living for our St. Patrick’s Day lead-up, when our recipes wear a tinge o’ the green.

Made with a Devil’s Food cake mix (or from scratch, if you like), the ice cream doesn’t have to be mint chip. Those who don’t like mint can tint vanilla chip ice cream, or plain vanilla, with green food color.

The topping is chocolate ganache, chocolate mints and whipped cream. We skipped the chocolate ganache, not wanting to gild the lily (it also saves time and money), and used Chocolate Reddi-Wip to anchor the mints around the rim of the cake (it’s easier to slice than cutting through the pile in the picture).

RECIPE: CHOCOLATE MINT ICE CREAM CAKE

Make the whole cake ahead and freeze until ready to serve.

Prep time is 30 minutes, freezer time is 10 to 12 hours.

Ingredients For 10 to 12 Servings

 
For The Chocolate Ganache

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper. Prepare the cake batter and spoon it into the pans.

2. BAKE for 12 to 14 minutes or until a wood toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans to wire racks, peel off the parchment paper, and cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. MAKE the ganache. In a small saucepan, scald the cream. In a small bowl, carefully pour the hot cream over the chocolate pieces. Stir in the butter. Stir in the liqueur. Store in the fridge, sealed in a plastic container, until ready to use.

5. REMOVE the cake from the springform pan, and place it on a plate or a cake stand. Spread the top with the ganache. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Garnish as desired before bringing to the table.
 
  

While we wait for spring vegetables to appear, we’ve been eating lots of root vegetables. Root vegetables have sustained mankind through millennia of winters, because they last for long periods in cool temperatures.

Before the advent of modern refrigeration, root cellars provided vital cold storage that kept a family fed through the winter.

Growing underground (photo #1), roots are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. These large roots are eaten as vegetables.

We have two delicious recipes below: Roasted Root Vegetables With Chicken, and Scalloped Root Vegetable Casserole.
 
 
WHAT ARE ROOT VEGETABLES?

Root vegetables are plant roots eaten as vegetables (photo #2).

Beet, carrot, parsnip, potato and sweet potato, radish, and turnip are widely consumed in the U.S.

Some roots, such as galangal, ginger, horseradish, turmeric, and wasabi, are used for condiments or seasonings. Arrowroot is used as a thickener. Gingseng is used medicinally.

To give you a perspective on the category, here’s a categorization of the root vegetables more familiar in the U.S.

True Roots

 
Roasted taproots and tubers are popular roasted vegetables in American cuisine. Even people who fuss over eating vegetables enjoy the sweetness of the sugars that come out during roasting.
 
 
TWO WAYS TO ENJOY ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES

There are endless recipes, of course; but here are two recipes from Idaho Potatoes with some added glamour.
 
 
RECIPE #1: ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES WITH CHICKEN

We like the convenience of this recipe (photo #3). Root vegetables are hardy and can keep for a few weeks. It’s easy to pick up a rotisserie chicken (photo #4) if you don’t have time or inclination to roast one.

You can use substitute other root vegetables, or create a grain bowl with a bottom layer of a favorite grain.

Ingredients

 
For The Maple Aïoli

[1] An old illustration showing how root vegetables grow (photo ©y Etsy).

[2] Harvested root vegetables (photo © DIY Naturals).

[3] Recipe #1, below: roasted root vegetables with chicken (photo © Idaho Potato Commission).

[4] Rotisserie chicken (photo © McCormick).

[5] Swiss chard (photo © Heather Barnes | Wesual | Unsplash).

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

2. TOSS all of the vegetables in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with thyme. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden and fork-tender, flipping once, halfway through. Meanwhile…

3. HEAT the remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the Swiss chard with the chopped garlic, until wilted, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. MAKE the aïoli: Whisk the mayonnaise with the maple syrup and cinnamon until combined. Spoon into a serving dish.

5. DIVIDE the chard evenly in serving bowls. Top with the roasted vegetables and chicken. Serve with the maple aïoli on the side for dipping.
 
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*Parsley root is not related to parsley, the herb, but is a beige root vegetable that resembles a parsnip or turnip. The edible leaves that grow above the ground do resemble curly parsley leaves, but taste like celery. Parsley root is also called turnip-rooted parsley. In Germany, it is known as Hamburg parsley, and is a popular winter vegetable in Germany, Holland, and Poland.

[7] Turnips (photo © Good Eggs).

[8] We served the casserole with a beautiful Smithfield spiral-cut ham (photo courtesy Smithfield).

RECIPE #2: SCALLOPED ROOT VEGETABLE CASSEROLE

This casserole (photo #6) reminds us of a tian, a beautiful way to serve summer vegetables.

It is actually a gratin†.

This recipe serves a trio of potatoes plus turnips under a cloak of melted cheese. They work together in this recipe because they can be sliced into roughly the same sizes, which cook evenly.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Slice the potatoes and turnips and set them aside in a large bowl.

2. HEAT 1/2 tablespoon butter over medium heat in a medium, non-stick skillet. Add the onions and garlic; sauté until translucent.

3. ADD the cream cheese, heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and stir until smooth. Turn off the heat.

4. SPRAY a 9″ x 13″ baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place half of the potatoes and turnips in a separate large bowl. Slowly add 1/3 of the cream mixture into the bowl with the potatoes and turnips and mix to coat well.

5. PLACE the coated potato and turnip slices into the baking pan vertically, using your hands. Make sure the slices are close together (see photo #5). Add another 1/3 of the cream mixture to the remaining potatoes and turnips, coating well. Layer them into the baking dish. Once all the slices are in the baking pan…

6. POUR the remainder of the cream mixture into the baking pan. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the foil and bake for an additional 40 minutes.

7. REMOVE from the oven, sprinkle on the parmesan cheese and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Garnish with the chives right before serving.

We liked the recipe so much, we’re making it again today!

Gratin (grah-TAN) is a method of food preparation in which a protein, vegetable or starch is served with a browned crust of grated cheese. The crust may also include breadcrumbs, eggs, and/or butter.

Gratin originated in France and is usually made in a shallow baking dish. The main ingredient can be baked (roasted) in the oven or cooked on the stovetop. In the latter case, the toppings are then added and the dish is finished in the oven or broiler.

The baking dish is usually brought to the table piping hot. It’s a perennial favorite: Who doesn’t like their food topped with melted cheese?
 
 

Our mom loved corned beef and cabbage, and made it year-round in addition to St. Patrick’s Day.

There were corned beef sandwiches for lunch the next day, and corned beef hash for Saturday breakfasts (Sunday was always bagels and lox).

But our younger brother, a fussy eater, refused to try it, claiming it looked like dog food.

If only Mom had thought to turn the hash into patties, like the folks at Idaho Potatoes; or to shape it in a food ring mold, like they do at Murray’s Cheese Bar.

The recipe for the patties follows. If you want to make the hash in a ring, here’s a recipe; you can follow the Eggs Benedict preparation or just make the hash.

And here’s another recipe, for Corned Beef Hash Eggs Benedict.

September 27th is National Corned Beef Hash Day.
 
 
RECIPE: CORNED BEEF HASH PATTIES WITH EGGS

Instead of cubed potatoes and corned beef, the potatoes are riced, and the corned beef cubes embedded within. The result: smooth patties. Edward, this recipe is dedicated to you.

Ingredients For 8 Patties

 
Plus

[1] A new way to serve corned beef hash: in neat patties (photo and recipe © Idaho Potatoes).

[2] A fancy approach: Classic corned beef hash shaped in a ring and topped with a poached egg, at Murray’s Cheese Bar in New York City (photo © Murray’s Cheese)..

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 200°F. Place the potatoes in a large pot, add 2 tablespoons of salt, fill with cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender about 20 minutes. Drain well and place the potatoes back into the pot to cool for 10 minutes.

2. USE a potato ricer or grater to rice the potatoes into a large bowl (you should have about 4 cups of riced potatoes). Add the cubed corned beef, chopped scallions, milk, egg and optional parsley to the potatoes, and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

3. HEAT a cast iron skillet skillet over medium heat with about ¼ cup of vegetable oil, and form ½ cup of potato mix into a round patty. Fry for 3-4 minutes per side or until it’s a nice medium gold color on each side. Make sure you place no more than 3-4 potato patties at a time in the frying pan.

4. TRANSFER the cookie patties to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain any excess oil. Season with more salt as desired (or allow for salt and pepper seasoning at the table).

5. KEEP the cooked patties warm in the oven as you cook the eggs. Serve the patties hot as soon as the eggs are ready.
  

[1] Basiron Pesto Rosso has an Italian name, is made in Holland, and is perfect for an Irish celebration (photo courtesy Atalanta Corp.).

[2] Kerrygold’s Dubliner is a unique cross between Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses (photos #2 and #3 © Kerrygold).

[3] It also is made in a limited edition with Irish stout.

Yesterday we featured a recipe for “Irish Nachos,” made with potatoes. We recommended serving them with a tasting of Irish beers:

 
If you don’t want to cook anything, taste the beers with a platter of Irish-themed cheeses.

Today we feature four brands. Three are Irish—Cahill, Cashel and Kerrygold—but we couldn’t help but recommend our favorite green cheese, made in The Netherlands.

All cheeses Your local cheesemonger may carry them; or look for them online.

All cheeses are made with milk from grass-fed cows, who enjoy a natural life (no hormones).
 
 
1. BASIRON PESTO VERDE

This green beauty (photo #1), made green with the addition of basil-garlic pesto, is a a Gouda*-style cheese, made from pasteurized cow’s milk and vegetarian rennet.

It is made in The Netherlands by the Veldhuyzen family, who make other fabulous-flavored Goudas (below).

 
The line includes Alpine (with herbs from The Alps), Garden Herbs, Garlic, Kummel (caraway), Hot Chili (deep yellow for Halloween), Jalapeño, Mustard, Nettles, Olive Tomato, Pepper, Pesto Rosso (a deep orange color for Halloween or Thanksgiving), Smoked Bacon, Sweet Red Pepper, Tricolor, Truffle, Walnut, Wasabi and Wood Garlic!

We’ve had four of them, but on our bucket list: to try them all at one big tasting.
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*How Do You Pronounce Gouda? Most Americans pronounce it “GOO-duh.” But the Dutch might not understand your request. The name of this cheese is pronounced variously as “GAOW-duh” or “HOW-duh” (with the H standing for the Dutch guttural “ch” sound, like clearing your throat).

2. KERRYGOLD

Kerrygold (photos #2 and #3 above) may be better known in the U.S. for its Irish butter, which has national distribution.

But its cheeses deserve equal recognition!

 
Kerrygold also makes specialty versions of two of these cheeses

 
Serve one or all of them. Kerrygold also makes a Swiss cheese, if you want to see how Ireland interprets Switzerland.
 
 
3. CAHILL’S FARM CHEDDAR

Marion Cahill of Cahill’s Farm is recognized as a pioneer of today’s fine Irish cheese.

The Cahill family has been farming and cheesemaking for four generations. Originally the milk was sold locally and the cheese was made for the family. Thankfully, that has changed.

Using a base of tangy Irish cheddar, Marion experimented with flavors, and developed a head-turning range of flavored cheddars (photo #4).

[5] Cashel Blue is an Irish blue cheese in a sweeter style, not salty (photo © more).

Cahill’s makes other flavored cheeses which can be hard to find in the U.S. But keep an eye out for Ardagh Chalice Wine Cheese, Ballintubber Cheese with Chives, Ballyporeen Cheese with Mixed Irish Herbs and Kilbeggen Irish Whiskey Cheese.
 
 
4. CASHEL BLUE

When you think of Irish cheese you don’t think of blue cheese. But Louis and Jane Grubb of Beechmount Farm produces Cashel Blue, a noteworthy blue among all options.

From the rolling hills of Tipperary, will delight people who don’t like robust blue cheeses. It’s extra creamy and not salty (photo #5).
 
 
So eat, drink and be merry, as you treat friends and family to a special “Irish cocktail hour” or beer tasting.

You don’t have to hold it on St. Patrick’s Day. No one would turn down the opportunity, whenever the invite arrives.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[2] Thousand Island Dressing. The recipe is (photo © Good Eggs).

[3] Got beer? Serve the nachos with some Irish brew. Murphy’s has been brewing beer in Ireland since 1854 (photo of Murphy’s Irish Red Ale © Murphy’s).

[4] The flagship of the O’Hara’s brand, this old-style stout is reminiscent of how Irish stouts used to taste (photo © Carlow Brewing).

You won’t want to wait until St. Pat’s to enjoy this scrumptious snack.

Serve it with your favorite beer; or in the spirit of the holiday, these Irish beers.

How about an Irish beer tasting? Here are some of the most popular brands:

 
 
RECIPE: REUBEN “IRISH NACHOS”

This recipe, created by Idaho Potatoes, has no common ingredients with the popular Tex-Mex recipe—except perhaps for the scallion garnish.

The Idaho Potato Commission, which calls them “Irish.” But they’re actually fusion food. With these “nachos”:

Crisp slices of roasted potatoes take the place of tortilla chips; then get topped with Irish-themed corned beef, bacon and potatoes; German sauerkraut; Swiss cheese; and New York State-origin Thousand Island dressing, on a do-over of a Mexican recipe.

It’s a crowd pleaser, especially with beer!
 
Variation: You can also turn these ingredients into a layered “Irish Potato Salad” in a glass bowl—like a layered dip, but a side dish.

Ingredients For The Nachos

Ingredients For The Thousand Island Dressing

There are many variations of the recipe. This one, for example, omits the hard-boiled egg that was sieved and added as a thickener (here’s a recipe).

We ended up doubling this recipe, because we like lots of dressing.

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the Thousand Island Dressing at least one hour in advance of using (and the day before, if desired). Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Taste and add additional seasoning if desired. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld.

2. PREHEAT the oven to 450°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

3. PLACE the potato slices in a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

4. TRANSFER the potato slices to the prepared baking sheets, spreading them out in an even layer (be sure not to overlap the slices). Bake for 12 minutes on each side, or until golden and slightly crispy. Turn the oven down to 350°F.

5. LIGHTLY GREASE a cast iron pan or small baking dish. Layer the potatoes in the bottom of the pan. Top with the chopped corned beef, sauerkraut, and grated Swiss cheese (in that order). Sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

6. DRIZZLE the dressing over the top and garnish with the scallions. Serve immediately.

Thousand Island Dressing (photo #2) was named after the Thousand Islands, an archipelago of 1,864 small islands in the St. Lawrence River, straddling the border of the U.S. and Canada.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during the Gilded Age, the area was a summer destination for the nation’s elite (and is still very popular for boating, fishing and other outdoor activities).

The dressing is a variation of Russian Dressing—a combination of ketchup and mayonnaise—with added sweet pickle relish and a hard-boiled egg. The bits of pickle relish are said to stand in for the Thousand Islands, but that’s likely an afterthought.

As the story goes, in the early 20th century, a fishing guide’s wife, Sophie Lalonde of Clayton, New York, made the dressing to go with her husband’s shore dinners, which were served to his fishing tour clients.

One of the clients, a vaudeville actress named May Irwin liked it so much that she requested the recipe and named it Thousand Island Dressing.

At around the same time, Mrs. Lalonde gave the recipe to the owners of the Herald Hotel, a popular hotel in town (today called the Thousand Islands Inn) where Ms. Irwin and her husband were staying. They prepared it for her meals.

Ms. Irwin, in turn, gave it to another Thousand Islands summer visitor George C. Boldt, the owner of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City (among other properties).

Boldt liked it so much that he gave it to his Waldorf maitre d’, Oscar Tschirky (the famous “Oscar of the Waldorf”), with instructions to put it on the hotel’s menu [source].

From there, the recipe took on a life of its own, with requests for copies; plus the many variations of the recipe that followed. Some recipes, like the one above, for example, omit the hard-boiled egg.

The hard-boiled egg pressed was pressed through a sieve, and served to thicken the dressing.

While that may sound unusual today, it wasn’t uncommon as a thickener at the time that Thousand Island dressing was created. Here’s a recipe with the egg.