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Halloween Recipes: Part 1, Appetizers
by Guest Writer, Valerie Whitmore[this is a repost from October 2012]
Jump to: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
I still can't believe that Halloween is almost here. This fall has gone faster than usual for me and, frankly, I'm just not ready for it to be October yet.
Since August, I've been dealing with tech issues. After something like 10 years we finally upgraded our servers to current versions of some necessary software. Upgrades are always stressful for me but this one was a doozy. Not only did I have to worry about the servers being offline at various times during the process but the were some drastic differences in software versions that required I update a lot of code. Since the site has been around for 17 years, that was an arduous task. As a result, all my projects have been pushed back and I'm behind schedule.
But, since it doesn't look like my request to postpone all holidays until January didn't go through, I figured I had better step up the pace and get some Halloween recipe testing done!
Since Halloween fare usually involves sweets and party-type food I decided that we needed to do a taste testing event. As much as I enjoy Kit-Kat candy bars, I wasn't going to make all these recipes just for us. Fortunately, most of our friends are good sports and willingly sacrificed their Saturday night to taste some creepy, gross, yet delicious food.
The Menu
The last thing I wanted was a bunch of grownups on a sugar high so I looked for a variety of sweet and non-sweet recipes that fit the theme. I also didn't want really disgusting looking food - you never know what will make someone lose their appetite. Dips, savory nibbles, a hearty main course, kid-friendly sweets, and decadent desserts were what I had in mind.
The first recipe was a black bean dip. I picked it not only because it was called "Black As Night Witch Dip" but because it wasn't your usual black bean dip. The recipe called for black olives and roasted red bell pepper in addition to the beans. Since presentation is one of my favorite things, I also planned to carve out jack-o-lantern faces on orange bell peppers and serve the dip in them.
I made the dip the day before and chilled it. The flavor was really good, you could taste both the black beans and the olives. The texture, however, was rather runny. I drained both the beans and olives well but it was going to be too thin to serve in the peppers. I had visions of it oozing out through the cut out eyes and nose. I guess that could work for Halloween, but it's not what I had planned
I added 4 ounces of cream cheese to the dip (a quick whir in the food processor blended it up nicely). However now the color of the dip was more brown than "black as night". Purely for presentation purposes I added a few drops of black food coloring paste. The result was a lovely black color. Perfect! The cream cheese flavor was subtle and it still tasted just as good. Best of all it wasn't going to ooze out of the jack-o-lantern pepper
I served the dip with chips and breadstick bats made from frozen bread dough. The breadsticks were soft but just firm enough to use for dipping. They were also kind of addicting. You could do an egg wash and/or sprinkle them with seasonings too. I sprinkled these with garlic powder. Just a tiny bit.
The next recipe was inspired by a photo I saw on Facebook. I wish I had the name of the original source but at the time I just thought it was clever, I hadn't planned to use or modify their idea. The photo was that of deviled eggs made to look like cute little pumpkins. I liked what they did but I had my own ideas on how to expand on that
First, I found a very basic recipe for deviled eggs. The taste-testers loved the recipe. It was so simple yet really had good "deviled" flavor.
Then, I got out the food coloring and went to town. I made the deviled egg mixture first then added the color slowly in a mini food processor. You can mix by hand but you'll get some specks of yellow yolk throughout (which I didn't want). I used decorating bags fitted with a star tip to fill the eggs
Black cat deviled eggs: black food coloring paste, capers for eyes, parmesan cheese for whiskers. I admit it - the presentation isn't perfect on this one but it's the concept that counts, right?
Yeah, I know. It was fun to make though.
Pumpkin deviled eggs: orange food coloring paste (and just the tiniest speck of red paste too), green onion for stem. I loved the color of these
My plan was also to do a Frankenstein head with green food coloring paste for the face and black for the hair. However, they turned out more of a cross between Angry Birds and Mr. Bill.
Check out Part 2 of our Halloween series where we test some ghoulish savory snacks!
Jump to: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
I still can't believe that Halloween is almost here. This fall has gone faster than usual for me and, frankly, I'm just not ready for it to be October yet.
Since August, I've been dealing with tech issues. After something like 10 years we finally upgraded our servers to current versions of some necessary software. Upgrades are always stressful for me but this one was a doozy. Not only did I have to worry about the servers being offline at various times during the process but the were some drastic differences in software versions that required I update a lot of code. Since the site has been around for 17 years, that was an arduous task. As a result, all my projects have been pushed back and I'm behind schedule.
But, since it doesn't look like my request to postpone all holidays until January didn't go through, I figured I had better step up the pace and get some Halloween recipe testing done!
Since Halloween fare usually involves sweets and party-type food I decided that we needed to do a taste testing event. As much as I enjoy Kit-Kat candy bars, I wasn't going to make all these recipes just for us. Fortunately, most of our friends are good sports and willingly sacrificed their Saturday night to taste some creepy, gross, yet delicious food.
The Menu
The last thing I wanted was a bunch of grownups on a sugar high so I looked for a variety of sweet and non-sweet recipes that fit the theme. I also didn't want really disgusting looking food - you never know what will make someone lose their appetite. Dips, savory nibbles, a hearty main course, kid-friendly sweets, and decadent desserts were what I had in mind.
The first recipe was a black bean dip. I picked it not only because it was called "Black As Night Witch Dip" but because it wasn't your usual black bean dip. The recipe called for black olives and roasted red bell pepper in addition to the beans. Since presentation is one of my favorite things, I also planned to carve out jack-o-lantern faces on orange bell peppers and serve the dip in them.
I made the dip the day before and chilled it. The flavor was really good, you could taste both the black beans and the olives. The texture, however, was rather runny. I drained both the beans and olives well but it was going to be too thin to serve in the peppers. I had visions of it oozing out through the cut out eyes and nose. I guess that could work for Halloween, but it's not what I had planned
I added 4 ounces of cream cheese to the dip (a quick whir in the food processor blended it up nicely). However now the color of the dip was more brown than "black as night". Purely for presentation purposes I added a few drops of black food coloring paste. The result was a lovely black color. Perfect! The cream cheese flavor was subtle and it still tasted just as good. Best of all it wasn't going to ooze out of the jack-o-lantern pepper
I served the dip with chips and breadstick bats made from frozen bread dough. The breadsticks were soft but just firm enough to use for dipping. They were also kind of addicting. You could do an egg wash and/or sprinkle them with seasonings too. I sprinkled these with garlic powder. Just a tiny bit.
The next recipe was inspired by a photo I saw on Facebook. I wish I had the name of the original source but at the time I just thought it was clever, I hadn't planned to use or modify their idea. The photo was that of deviled eggs made to look like cute little pumpkins. I liked what they did but I had my own ideas on how to expand on that
First, I found a very basic recipe for deviled eggs. The taste-testers loved the recipe. It was so simple yet really had good "deviled" flavor.
Then, I got out the food coloring and went to town. I made the deviled egg mixture first then added the color slowly in a mini food processor. You can mix by hand but you'll get some specks of yellow yolk throughout (which I didn't want). I used decorating bags fitted with a star tip to fill the eggs
Black cat deviled eggs: black food coloring paste, capers for eyes, parmesan cheese for whiskers. I admit it - the presentation isn't perfect on this one but it's the concept that counts, right?
Yeah, I know. It was fun to make though.
Pumpkin deviled eggs: orange food coloring paste (and just the tiniest speck of red paste too), green onion for stem. I loved the color of these
My plan was also to do a Frankenstein head with green food coloring paste for the face and black for the hair. However, they turned out more of a cross between Angry Birds and Mr. Bill.
Check out Part 2 of our Halloween series where we test some ghoulish savory snacks!
