March 17 is a green, green, green day. It is fun to celebrate this holiday with green food. Here are some fun and exciting ideas to enjoy with friends and family. The best way to use these ideas is to surprise your family with your unique creations on St. Patrick’s Day.
Shamrock Bread Loaf Recipe
2 packages active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
Green food coloring
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons shortening
6 to 6 1/2 cups bread flour
Butter, softened
2 (1” by 14”) strips of brown paper or parchment baking paper, well buttered (do not use recycled grocery bags)
Florist pins, straight pins or T-pins
1” wide green ribbon
Dissolve yeast in 1 1/4 cups warm water. Add plenty of green food coloring to the liquid (it will lighten as other ingredients are added). Stir in the remaining 1 cup of water, sugar, salt, shortening and 31/2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Dough is ready if indentation remains when dough is touched.
Punch down dough and divide into halves. Let rest 10 minutes. Shape each half into a smooth, round ball. Brush lightly with butter.
To make depressions for the ribbon, tie each loaf with 1” wide heavy brown paper strips, creating four quarters. Fasten with a pin. Place each loaf on a 12” by 18” greased baking sheet or a 12” to 14” pizza pan.
Let rise until double, about 1 hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake loaves on center rack 35 to 40 minutes until golden. Immediately remove from pans. Brush tops with butter; cool on wire racks. After bread has cooled, remove paper strips and replace with green ribbon and a bow.
Green Food Surprises for St. Patrick’s Day
Magic Green Milk: Pour 2 to 3 drops of green food coloring in clear milk glasses. When the children come in to eat, pour milk in the glasses. The milk will swirl green – like magic!
Shamrock pancakes: Add green food coloring to your pancake batter and cook in the shape of shamrocks.
Green potatoes: Blend green food coloring with the milk for mashed potatoes.
Shamrock pizza: Shape a shamrock on a large pizza pan or baking sheet with three circular pizzas and one thin, rectangular one for the stem. Mix equal amounts of green food coloring and water and brush on outer edges of crust. Shake grated cheese with remaining food coloring mixture in a closed plastic bag or container. Top with family favorites (each leaf can be different) and bake as usual.
