Halloween Themed Menu
Halloween is right around the corner, which means you have the perfect excuse to throw a costume party and serve up the ultimate combo of fall recipes and spooky treats! Halloween is an event at our house (it’s Marc’s hands down favorite holiday) and I can expect that now that we have kids, it will become even more so! For our first theme menu post, I figured we couldn’t go wrong with Halloween.
Two years ago, we threw a raging costume party/sleepover for my close group of high school friends and I created this menu. For some reason, I had a really hard time finding a fully comprehensive Halloween themed menu online that fit the bill, so I had to stitch this all together piecemeal. There were a lot of cute theme-appropriate Halloween apps on Pinterest so I waded through those and picked out a good assortment of treats. Since this was in our pre-blogging days, I don’t have a lot of photos from the first time I made this spread, so I’ll have to come back and add those later!
First, our line-up of fun spooky Appetizers:
- Pumpkin Shaped Cheese Ball – credit to lol foodie
- Fiery Sriracha Dip – credit to pure barre
- Artichoke Dip – a family favorite, thanks Mom!
- Mozzarella Eyeballs – credit to home made interest
Pumpkin-Shaped Cheese Ball
October 28, 2017
: 15
Ingredients
- 11 ounces of goat cheese, softened
- 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
- 1 pound of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp fresh chives
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1 braided pretzel (for stem)
- 1 parsley sprig (for leaf)
Directions
- Step 1 In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until thoroughly mixed. You can use a stand mixer to speed up the process, but you’ll probably want to round the “dough” by hand anyways to finish it up. Shape it into a pumpkin-shaped ball, best you can.
- Step 2 Use a toothpick or a skewer to draw the ridges in the sides of the pumpkin and then add the “stem” (half of a braided pretzel) and the “leaf”(a sprig of parsley). Serve with crackers, one cheese ball make approximately 15 appetizer servings.
Fiery Sriracha Dip
October 28, 2017
: 10
: 10 min
Ingredients
- 1 container plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 can diced tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves
- Dash of salt, pepper, paprika
- 1 container of chickpeas (drained)
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup low-fat Monterey Jack cheese (or other cheese of choice)
- 1 T. Sriracha sauce (plus more for topping, if desired)
- 1/4 cup roasted red peppers
- A dash of red pepper flakes
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions
- Step 1 Mix the greek yogurt, diced tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, chickpeas, olive oil, Monterey Jack cheese, and Sriracha sauce in a food processor.
- Step 2 Top with roasted red peppers, more Sirarcha, red pepper flakes, and a little salt and pepper.
Artichoke Dip
October 28, 2017
: 8-10
: 10 min
: 20 min
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 14 oz can of quartered artichokes, drained
- 1 c fresh grated parmesan, plus more for sprinkling
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- Pepper to taste
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together in an oven safe dish. Once fully incorporated, sprinkle additional parmesan on top of the dip.
- Step 2 Bake for 20 minutes, uncovered. Serve with crackers.
- Step 3 For a Halloween twist, decorate the dish as a graveyard (see below).
With my artichoke dip, I decided to decorate it like a graveyard, a la this inspiration from My Spice Sage. Put pretzels around the edge to make a fence. Add standing crackers in the shape of tombstones. I like to use these from Trader Joes. Then add broccoli fronds as trees.
Mozzarella Eyeballs with Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade
October 28, 2017
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted
- 1 TBSP dried basil
- 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 container Bocconcini mozzarella balls
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 1 can of pitted black olives, sliced
- A pastry bag for piping
Directions
- Step 1 Bring water to a boil and add sun-dried tomatoes
- Step 2 remove from heat, cover and let stand 15 minutes or until soft.
- Step 3 Drain tomatoes in a colander over a bowl, reserving 3/4 cup liquid. Combine tomatoes, olives, basil, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic in a blender or food processor, add reserved liquid if necessary, and gradually process until smooth.
- Step 4 Place tomato mixture in a small bowl – cover and chill.
- Step 5 Meanwhile, assemble the “eyes”: put the pesto in a pastry bag. Pipe a small dab of pesto on each mozzarella ball and press a slice of black olive onto each one. Pipe more pesto into the center of the olive to complete the eye. Repeat with other mozzarella balls.
- Step 6 To plate, spread the sun-dried tomato tapenade on a platter, place mozzarella balls on top. Serve with crostini.
Then the Entrees. Unless it’s snowing, I love grilling for parties. The prep is easier and the clean-up is a breeze. Plus the men bond over grilling together. Here are the entrees we served for our Halloween Party.
- Cornbread Ghosts – The first time around I made regular cornbread squares, but why not put a haunted spin on it and make ghosts? Thanks to My Recipes for the inspiration!
- Roasted Portobello Mushrooms
- Grilled Steakhouse Tips – best marinade courtesy of Hip Foodie Mama
- Chicken with Zesty Honey Lime Marinade
- Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes, courtesy of the Reluctant Entertainer
Cornbread Ghosts
October 28, 2017
: 16
: 15 min
: 30 min
: 45 min
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cup white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 cups yellow cornmeal
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 375ºF. Lightly spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray
- Step 2 Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in the skillet. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
- Step 3 Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, around 30 minutes. Place pan on a wire rack to cool.
- Step 4 Use a 3- to 4-inch ghost-shaped cookie cutter to form cornbread ghosts.
Grilled Portobello Mushroom Caps
October 28, 2017
: 6-8
: 5 min
: 10 min
: 15 min
Ingredients
- 8 portobello mushroom caps
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 1 TBSP garlic powder
- Salt & Pepper for seasoning
Directions
- Step 1 Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserve for other use. Place caps in a bowl and add olive oil. Toss with garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Step 2 Grill over hot grill for 10 minutes. Slice into strip and serve immediately.
Grilled Steakhouse Tips
October 28, 2017
: 8
: 5 min
: 10 min
: 15 min
Ingredients
- 4 lbs steak sirloin tips
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1½ tablespoons garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons dried basil
- 1½ tablespoons dried parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Place meat in a large ziptop bag. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed.
- Step 2 Pour the marinade into your ziptop bag, directly over the meat. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 5 hours. The longer you marinate, the better.
- Step 3 Cook tips (covered if using gas) until charred for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Chicken with Honey-Lime Marinade
October 28, 2017
: 10 min
Ingredients
- 4 limes, zested and juiced
- 1/3 cup peanut oil or canola oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
- 8 bone-in chicken breasts
Directions
- Step 1 Mix marinade ingredients in a dish. Place chicken breasts in two large zip-lock bags and split the marinade between each bag. Chill for at least 5 hours in the fridge (same time as steak tips). Bring to room temperature before grilling. Heat grill and cook the chicken over the hotter part of grill, reserving the marinade, until it’s lightly charred on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes for a charcoal grill or 10 to 14 minutes for a gas grill.
- Step 2 Move chicken to cooler side of the grill (or under low flame), baste both sides with reserved marinade (you can either dip the entire chicken breast into the reserved marinade, or use a basting brush and add marinade while the meat is still on the grill), and cover the grill. Check every 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of the breasts)
- Step 3 turn over and baste as necessary. The easiest way to check for doneness is with instant-read thermometer. Chicken breast should reach 165 – 170 degrees when it is fully cooked.
Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes
October 28, 2017
: 6-8
: 20 min
: 20 min
: 40 min
Ingredients
- 2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 2” pieces
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 2 TBSP butter, melted
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup milk
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh thyme
Directions
- Step 1 In a large, covered saucepan, cover the potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Cook potatoes for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender, then drain.
- Step 2 In the bottom of a stand mixer, add the melted butter and softened cream cheese. Place the drained, hot potatoes
- Step 3 on top of the butter and cream cheese. Add the milk, salt, and pepper. Mix on low, building up gradually in speed, until nearly smooth.
- Step 4 Beat in canned pumpkin and fresh thyme.
- Step 5 Return to saucepan
- Step 6 heat through before serving.
