Delicious Halloween Menu

PUMPKIN PUNCH

Serves 8

Ingredients

½ cup caned pumpkin puree*

4 cups orange, apple pineapple juice (Welch’s brand)

juice of 1 lime

2 cups of ice

½ bottle prosecco

5 Star Anise

Cinnamon Sticks

1 small apple

Whole cloves

METHOD:

Place pumpkin puree, juice, lime juice and ice in a blender and blend.

Pour into punch bowl, and add prosecco.

Slice apples vertically, add pierce whole cloves into apples.

Garnish with star anise, cinnamon sticks and cloved-apples.

If using a pumpkin, carve out top and clean pumpkin. Once cleaned, place top back on and refrigerate until ready to use.

*Pure pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling

BUG BITES & SPIDER BITES

ROASTED DATES WITH GORGONZOLA AND WALNUTS

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 pint of dates

½ cup of Gorgonzola Cheese

½ cup of whole Walnuts

Method:

Slice dates in half, remove pit. Fill hole with cheese. Broil until cheese melts. Top with walnuts.

BOURSIN CHEESE WITH CRACKERS AND BLACK OLIVES

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 container Boursin cheese

Crackers of choice

1 can, pitted whole Kalamata Olives

Method:

With a mini ice cream scoop, scoop 1 serving of cheese atop a round cracker. Slice olive in half, lengthwise. Slice second half into strips (for the legs) Place whole half (the body) on the cheese mound. Attached 3 legs on each side.

WITCH’S STEW

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, skin on bone-in

2 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 fresh leeks, white parts chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 cup of oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 cup of cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 cup portabella mushrooms, roughly chopped

2 tsp dried thyme

½ cup of white wine

7 sprigs of rosemary, separated

6 cups of chicken broth

1 tbsp of flour mixed with 1/4 cup of water

½ cup of half & half

1 tsp of salt

½ tsp of fresh cracked pepper

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 425

Roast chicken breasts for 20-25 minutes until cooked through. Set aside to cool.

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot. Sautee onions, leeks, celery until soft.

Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme and wine. Continue to cook until liquid is reduced.

Add 6 cups of broth, flour/water mixture and 5 sprigs of rosemary. Cover and simmer for 5 mins.

Meanwhile remove meat from chicken and shred into bite-sized pieces.

Remove rosemary from the stew and discard. Add half and half and chicken. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve in soup bowls garnished with a 1 in” rosemary sprig.

CHEESY HERBED CORNBREAD

Serves 8

Ingredients

Favorite box of store-bough corn bread

¼ cup of Swiss cheese

¼ cup of frozen corn

½ cup of green onions (scallions) white and green parts

3 tbsp of chives chopped.

Method:

Follow instructions on the box for making corn muffins.

To the batter add, ½ of cup of Swiss cheese and chives. Pour into muffin tips, and sprinkle with additional cheese.

Bake according to package instructions.

FALL HARVEST SALAD

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 heads Frisee Salad

1 head radicchio, sliced into ribbons

1 endive, sliced horizontally

1 small apple, diced into match sticks

¼ cup of fresh pomegranate seeds (Trader Joe’s sells them )

½ of pecans

1 tsp honey mustard

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp grape seed oil

salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

Place mustard and vinegar in a bowl and whisk together. Slowly add oil until an emulsion combines. Season with salt and pepper.

Wash and dry frisee and place in salad bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and toss with the vinaigrette

WICKEDLY GOOD FALLEN CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM AND MERINGUE MUSHROOMS

Serves 8

For Cake:

Ingredients:

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1 stick of butter

1 cup of sugar, separated

6 eggs, separated

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut a round of parchment paper and line the bottom of a spring form pan.

Melt butter and chocolate in microwave at 30 second increments until melted.

Beat egg yolks with ½ cup of sugar. Add in melted chocolate and vanilla and transfer mixture to a large bowl.

Whip egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar, whipping gently until combined.

Place about 1 cup of the eggs whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten them, then add the remaining egg whites, folding them in gently so as not to deflate.

Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake for 40 mins. Once cooled cake will sink and become cracked and “fallen”.

To serve fill top of cake crevice with chocolate whip cream and meringue mushrooms.

For the Whipped Cream:

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream

¼ cup of cocoa

2 tbsp powder sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

Method:

Place all ingredients in a the bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Dollop on top of cake, in fallen crevice.

For the meringue mushrooms

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

½ tsp cream of tartar

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla

1 cup of sugar

¼ cup of cocoa powder

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

¼ cup of cocoa for dusting

Method:

Preheat oven to 225.

Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

Whip egg whites, tartar, salt and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Then add sugar slowly until combined.

Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a ½ round tip. Pipe 1-2 in mounds (for the mushroom tops) and 1 inch lines for the stems.

Dip a spoon in water and flatten down any peaks that are created in meringues. You want a smooth top and stem.

Dust with powder cocoa either with a shaker or a fine-mesh sieve. Bake for 1 hour.

Allow to sit until meringues are hard and no gummy-ness remains.

Place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, microwave on high in 30 sec increments until chocolate has melted.

Core out a small hole under the meringue tops (the flat side) top, smooth on a layer of chocolate on surface and in hole. Insert stem and allow to dry.

Keep in an airtight container until ready to use.

Decorate cake with mushrooms.