Our Bread-and-Butter Butter and Bread

Across warm toast glides a softly melting pat
Lush European butter from a gold package, unwrapped
Pure Irish butter so sweet, lightly salty, sublime
Tinged with a hue, beyond golden, of lime
Tradition and heritage shine through in rich flavor
Yielding butter to cherish and savor
A dance on the taste-buds, like a much-anticipated tryst
On St. Patrick's Day, don't miss Kerrygold's Irish kiss!

There are many ways to show your Irish spirit this March. Sure, you could make travel plans to kiss the Blarney Stone or sport a shirt with a shamrock. But while everyone else is downing green beer, we'd like to suggest a more nuanced celebration for your tastebuds: Kerrygold European-style butter.

With a name that evokes the Emerald Isle's green pastures, Kerrygold™ Pure Irish Butter is one of Ireland's most delicious exports. But it almost wasn't called that. After considering "Buttercup" and "Tub-o-Gold," in 1962 the Irish Dairy Board instead settled on "Kerrygold" as the name for this ethereal Irish creamery butter. Kerrygold is churned by a cooperative of small dairy farmers with centuries of cheese-making tradition in villages adjacent to the very pastures where the cattle graze.

Ireland's moisture-bearing southwesterly winds and the warming influence of the Gulf contribute to rich, fertile land. The rolling, green pastures that dominate the Irish countryside are filled with grasses rich in beta-carotene. The happy cows that graze year-round on these sustainable pastures produce exceptionally sweet milk with a distinctive hue and flavor which yields a silky, creamy butter with a golden glow. These cattle convert grass to gold!

One of my favorite ways to enjoy Kerrygold salted butter is on a slice of freshly-baked bread. If you've ever wanted to try making your own bread but were intimidated by the technique and time commitment required, let me blow your mind with this unbelievably simple and speedy recipe for ciabatta. It can convert even a total novice into an impressive breadbaker, overnight:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/kitchen-hack-one-minute-ciabatta-bread.html

When you finish baking your ciabatta, allow it a few minutes to cool so the inner crumb can set up. But don't wait too long, as you'll want that bread to still be a bit warm when you slather it with a pat of Kerrygold. Cheers to Ireland and sweet Irish flavor that's worthy of celebration long after St. Patrick's Day is over!

Here are a few more recipes to showcase this rich butter:

•  Kerrygold's recipe for grilled salmon with lemon and herb butter sauce

•  Butter Whirls (cookies)

•  Or this scone recipe direct from one of Kerrygold's farmers:

A note about the scone recipe. In the countryside surrounding the picturesque town of Kanturk, in the Duhallow region of County Cork, Mary Burns and her son Gerald are proud to maintain the 150-year-old family tradition as Irish dairy farmers, raising pedigreed Friesian cows.

A visit to the Burns family farm will more than likely include an invitation to tea, where Mary's famous Irish scones are served hot from the oven with homemade butter and jam. According to Mary, the secret is all in the butter: "Don't forget the Irish butter. It has a true creamy texture and a smooth flavor that makes these scones taste their best."

Mary Burns' Butterific Irish Scones

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups (about 8 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling over tops
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. (2 ounces) cold Kerrygold™ Pure Irish Butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup whole milk
1 large egg, plus additional beaten egg for brushing over tops

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Sift together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt into large bowl. Using fingertips or pastry blender, rub or cut butter into flour mixture to form coarse crumbs. Add raisins. Whisk together milk and 1 egg. Make a well in the flour mixture; pour in milk mixture. Using fork, stir just until soft, moist dough is formed. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; gently knead 1 or 2 times to incorporate loose pieces of dough. (Do not over-knead.) Pat dough to 1 1/2-inch thickness.

Using a well-floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter or bottom of a glass, cut out about 6 rounds. Place rounds on lightly-buttered baking sheet. Brush tops with additional beaten egg; sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake until golden brown and delicious, about 14 to 17 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking for more even browning. Serve warm with Kerrygold™ Pure Irish Butter and jam.

Makes about 6 servings (depending on hunger level and capacity for sharing).

Note: These scones are more muffin-like in texture; dough will be moist and wet, which ensures a tender texture.