| Halloween Food 5 |
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| Creepy Cuisine 5 |
| Are you sure you read the recipe right? |
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| You know the Baby Ghouls are cooking! |
| Join us here for cooking with the "Baby Ghouls".They spend plenty of time in the kitchen coming up with their own version of some classic recipes. So Bona Appetite! |
| Eerie Eyeballs |
| 3ozs. of Lemon Gelatin 1 cup of Hot Water 1/2 cup of Miniature Marshmellows 1 cup of Pineapple Juice 8ozs. of Cream Cheese (can be lowfat Neufchatel) 1 cup of Mayonnaise |
| I don't know but a piece of my hand fell in there! |
| recipe yields approx. 9 dozen bite size balls |
| Dissolve lemon gelatin in one cup of water in a double boiler, add marshmellows and stir to melt. Remove from heat. Add pineapple juice and cream cheese. Beat until well blended. Cool slightly. Fold in mayo. If you have a truffle candy mold or round ice cube trays, pour the mixture in the molds and leave it to set in the frig. Otherwise pour into a deep ceramic dish and chill until thickened or firm enough for scooping into eyeballs. Using a melonscooper, scoop full balls of mixture and set aside for decoration. To decorate use liquid food coloring and an old detail paintbrush and get creative. You will need black food coloring for the pupils. Also if you are in a hurry, instead of painting the colored irises, you can cafefully dip the ball in a small pool of food coloring to approximate the iris, but still paint the pupils. For additional "how too's" on these....here is the link to Britta's to see how great hers look, she has the most wonderful web site! |
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| Skeleton Bones |
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| Cheese Straws |
| 2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry like Pepperidge Farm defrosted in th frig overnight flour for dusting 1 extra large egg 1 tablespoon of water 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesian Cheese 1 cup finely grated Gruyere Cheese 1 teaspoon of minced fresh thyme leaves 1 teaspoon of kosher salt freshly ground black pepper |
| Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out each sheet of puff pastry in a lightly floured board until it is 10 by 12 inches. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the surface of the pastry. Sprinkle each sheet evenly with 1/4 cup of the parmesian cheese, 1/2 cup of the gruyere, 1/2 teaspoon of the thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of the kosher salt and some pepper. With the rolling pin, lightly press the flavorings into the puff pastry. Cut each sheet crosswise with a floured knife into 11 or 12 strips. Twist each strip and lay on the baking sheets lined with parchment. Don't stretch the dough with twisting and if its to warm.....stick in frig to cool a bit and then twist. Bake 10 - 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed. Turn each straw and bake another 2 minutes. Don't overbake or the cheese will burn. Cool and serve at room temperature. |
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| Here is a recipe from our Dear Morticia, she calls it "Select Organ Cuts" and serves it for all her parties that She and Gomez have! |
| Select Organ Cuts |
| There are a few different ways I make my cheese trays and they all work quite well! You can do a wooden cutting board with chunks of various cheeses or you can cube your cheese and place it either on a tiered serving tray or just on a party tray. I look at how many people I am having and what other food is on the table. I always try to use some sort of real flowers and greenery along with grapes and other assorted fruits. My Dad was a chef in Chicago all of his life and he always preached>>>>>You feed people with their eyes first and the visual should be strong enough to entice them to have to taste whats on the presented plate. |
| Cheese & Cracker Tray |
| The below suggestions are from my good friend "The Barefoot Contessa"......I just love the way Ina cooks & her presentation of foods. |
| Assembling a stunning fruit tray and cheese platter requires no cooking. I follow a few key principles to be sure it looks festive and is easy for guests to help themselves. First I choose an interesting assortment of cheeses, hard sharp cheeses, soft creamy ones and very pungent blue cheeses. I look for an interesting mix of flavors, textures and colors. For example: French Camembert, Le Chevot, (a sharp goat cheese), Rodin with herbs (a creamy goat cheese) and Montagnolo ( a creamy blue cheese) Go to the best cheese shop in town and ask the person behind the counter which cheeses are ready to serve. Taste everything....they expect you to. We all know the brie may look terrific, but it can be under-ripe and tough or over-ripe and ammoniated. You only want the freshest cheeses that are perfectly ripened. Take them home, refrigerate them nd then bring them to room temperature a few hours before serving. Second be sure to have a platter or wooden board that is flat and large enough to hold cheese without crowding them. Arrange the cheeses with the cut sides facing out, and with several small cheese knives, maybe one for each type. Third, to finish the platter,add sliced breads and crackers, and green leaves. I use either lemon or galax leaves which you can get from your florist. If you have a garden, any large flat leaf like hydrangea looks beautiful, but be sure they aren't poisonous and are pesticide free. Overall the simpler the design, the better the platter looks. Group each kind of cheese together and add a large bunch of green or red grapes in the center to create a visual focal point. Fill in the spaces with lots of crackers and small slices of bread. |
| Last season I bought the molds....... large eye, heart, brain, hand, and a skeleton. Gonna start working with what I can make with these. |
| More to Come! |
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| Oven Cooked Brain Pieces |
| Tortilla Chips layered with Beef & Your Choice of Cheeses. Serve with Sour Cream, Guacamole & Pico de Gallo |
| 2 lbs. of Ground Beef ( the amount is up to you) 1 large can of Pinto Beans 1 can of Refried Beans 1 medium Onion chopped 1 envelope of Taco Seasoning 1/2 to 1 whole jar of sliced Jalapenas 1 bunch of fresh Cilantro 1 lb. of grated whole Cheddar Cheese 1 bag of Tortilla Chips or freshly deep fried Corn Tortillas cut in triangles Salt & Pepper Chili Powder |
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| Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees |
| In a large frying pan, add a little oil & add chopped up onions. Saute onion for a few seconds & add 2 lbs. of ground beef ( can also use 1 lb. of ground beef & 1 lb. of ground pork). Add package of taco seasoning, mix in well with the meat & onions. Cook till meat is done. |
| Get a colander & dump meat mixture into it & let meat drain well. |
| While your meat is draining, grate your fresh cheese & drain your sliced jalapenas. We always used fresh block cheese in the restaurant & grated it ourself. Pre-packaged grated cheeses have a lot of preservatives added to them & the cheese just taste different then freshly grated. They never taste as good or melt evenly Also be careful what kind of cheese you select. Some cheeses have a bitter taste & some just do not melt well. |
| Open your Pinto Beans & Refried Beans. Put your meat mixture back into the frying pan with the heat on medium & add both cans of beans to the meat mixture, mix in well. |
| Distribute chips evenly over a cookie sheet or use your oven broiler pan. I stack my chips on top of each other. |
| Now with a spoon, distribute the meat/bean mixture evenly over the chips. Cover the top with your grated cheese & sprinkle the sliced jalapenas on top of the cheese. Sprinkle chili powder over the cheese just a bit for color. Add a dash of dried cilantro here if you like or for a spicier taste chop fresh cilantro real fine and sprinkle on top of the nachos just before serving. |
| Be careful with sharp cheddars, the flavor varies. I use the Walmart brand cheese found in their cheese case. Its a good flavor cheese & comes in large & small paks.It also melts very smoothly & holds its shape well when removed from the oven. This cheese is available in cheddar, colby, monteray jack & I use the mozzarello for all my italian dishes.. You can use as much cheese as you like but to much overpowers the nacho. With 2lbs. of beef & chips in the bottom of my oven pan I use about 1 lb. of grated cheese which is half of the large Walmart cheddar. |
| While grating your cheese also drain your sliced jalepenas. You can use as many jalepenas as you like, but make sure they are drained well. |
| Heres what your nachos look like after they come out of the oven. The key to cooking crispy nachos that are not water logged which then causes them to be soggy is - well drained ingredients & fast assembly, then right into the oven to cook. If you follow these instructions your nachos should come out of the oven & be able to sit at room temperature & remain crispy & not get soggy. |
| Oh I love hot foods! |
| Bake in the oven till the cheese melts well. This varies with different ovens so watch your nachos. Mine cook 10 - 15 minutes. When you remove them from the oven let them sit a few minutes. Now take a spatula & cut straight down into them & remove from the pan. |
| Put on a plate with chopped up red tomatoes on the side. Add a large dollop of sour cream & guacamole on top of the chips & add a dash of chili powder for color. Serve pico de gallo on the side. |
| Pico de Gallo |
| Mexican Relish |
| with Freshly Chopped Flesh |
| These are the 32 oz. paks of cheese |
| 4 plum tomatoes, seeded & chopped 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 2 fresh chili pepppers, seeded & finely chopped 1 1/2 teasp. finely chopped fresh cilantro 1 teasp. of lime juice Salt & pepper to taste Garlic sate to taste |
| A fresh & chunky salsa with tomatoes & chili peppers & onions. |
| Add everything to a bowl & mix well. Refrigerate until you serve so your veggies stay crisp. |
| Serve with chips or any mexican dish. |
| tomatoes, finely chopped onion, finely chopped fresh finely chopped cilantro 1 can of Rotel chopped tomatoes & chilis salt & pepper garlic salt add some tomato juice if you like a little bit juicer |
| Add everything to a bowl & mix well. Refrigerate until you serve so your veggies stay crisp. |