Happy Halloween!
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Spooky times are upon us! There’s plenty to do these next few days to celebrate Halloween. Why not include some gruesome food items?
Here’s yet another fun recipe that involves shaping meat loaf. This recipe will make eight quarter-pound mice or four half-pound RATS! You can use slices of carrot for the ears, carrot matchsticks for the whiskers, and red bell pepper for their beady little eyes.
MEAT LOAF MICE
2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup crushed crackers
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
raw carrots and red bell peppers
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Mix the ground beef, garlic, onion, cracker crumbs, milk, and egg in a large bowl until blended. Divide into 8 portions.
Line a baking sheet with parchment. Shape one portion into an earless mouse with a tail that curves up over its back (or you could plan to use a long, curvy strip of red bell pepper for a tail). Do the same with remaining chunks of meat. Brush each mouse with barbecue sauce and bake for one to one-half hours (more or less depending on the size).
When you’re ready to serve it, use a spatula to transfer to a plate, poke in the ears, eyes and whiskers, maybe even add some ketchup-dipped fangs and serve. Eeeew!
This next recipe juxtaposes bloodless white “flesh” with brightly colored fingernails. Mixing these appetizers with the baked cracker-style witch’s fingers we’ve done in the past would be great!
MUMMY’S FINGERS
6 pieces mozzarella string cheese
Red and green bell pepper
1 or 2 Tbsp. cream cheese
Slice each string cheese in half lengthwise to make two “fingers” (double the recipe as needed to feed your ravening hordes). Wearing plastic gloves or putting a baggie over your hands will keep your fingerprints from getting on the fingers.
Use a paring knife to scoop a little cheese off of the topside of one end of a finger to make a bed for the fingernail. Make some dimples where the two finger joints belong to look like knuckles.
Cut pieces of bell peppers into fingernails, either manicured ovals or broken and stubby! “Glue” the fingernails onto the end of the finger with a dab of cream cheese, and keep chilled until ready to serve. Pretty creepy!
SQUASHED FROGS
1/2 cup butter
1 bag large marshmallows
5 cups corn flake-style cereal
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. green food coloring
1 cup green M&Ms
1/4 cup red M&Ms
Melt the butter in a large saucepan then add the marshmallows. Stir constantly over a low heat until melted. Remove from heat and mix in the vanilla and food coloring. Quickly stir in the corn flakes, adding the green M&Ms last.
When everything is well coated, drop by the spoonfuls onto a piece of waxed paper, shaping them slightly like a squashed frog might look. They should be chunky and bright green. Dot them with red M&M’s (guts) and allow to cool. Now that’s gross but good tasting — the kids will love it.
WHITE CHOCOLATE EYEBALLS
1/2 cup butter
1-1/2 cups peanut butter
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. white chocolate or candy coating
40 chocolate chips
colored food gels
Cream the butter and peanut butter together, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and blend thoroughly. (I do this in my food processor). Roll dough into forty one-inch balls and refrigerate until firm.
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave and, using a toothpick, dip each ball into the chocolate, coating thoroughly. Set onto waxed paper until firm. Use a chocolate chip to make the pupil and colored food gels to color the iris, adding “bloodshot” streaks in red if you want to. Sweet and creepy!
Here’s a cold drink to soothe those little throats tired from yelling “Trick or Treat!”
VAMPIRE’S BLOOD SMOOTHIE
2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 package frozen strawberries or raspberries, thawed
Red food coloring
1 pint strawberry ice cream
Mix yogurt, vanilla, and berries in the blender, tinting with food coloring to desired shade of blood. Pour into tall glasses over ice cubes and top with a large spoonful of strawberry ice cream. I think neon green straws would be the perfect color complement.
TOAST THEM PUMPKIN SEEDS!
Fresh pumpkin seeds
Canola oil or nonstick spray
Salt
Rinse your pumpkin seeds under cold water and pick out the pulp and strings (do this before the pulp has dried). Place the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet, stirring to coat. If you want, use a nonstick cooking spray instead. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 325º F until toasted, about 25 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Let them cool and store in an airtight container. For variations, you can toss them with seasoned salts, chili powder, or even Emeril’s Essence.
Alrighty then! Ready for your Halloween party? Hope it’s a great one! Next week we’re doing desserts, including a very nice one from Peggy Lane, the wife of ESU’s new president.
The challenge now is along the lines of the Taste of Home cooking school theme: what is your best table decor? Is it Grandma Sally’s crochet runner, a handful of pretty fall leaves, or the nifty engraved South American candlesticks you picked up on eBay?
Share your success (and maybe not so successful) stories of table decoration and help us get ready for the holidays with some new ideas. I’ll be waiting at murphysmenu@yahoo.com or Murphy’s Menu, PO Drawer C, Emporia. Let’s get cooking!