Halloween Party

WELCOME

Gordon and Julie as:

Darrin and Samantha Stevens from

Bewitched

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Come on in and join us! The party is just starting………

Brains! BRAAAIINNSSS!!!!

Actually, our “Brains” are a head of seasoned Middle Eastern Spiced cauliflower with a red pepper puree and stabbed with a big butcher knife.

Our Ghoulish Appetizers

(on stakes)

I placed our ghoulish appetizers in a Cribbage board that I found at an antique mall for just a few dollars. Cribbage has a long history but I can remember reading many years ago that prisoners used to use these boards and place match sticks in each hole.

Simple, yet satisfying. Fried turkey meatballs in olive oil with green olives for ‘eyeballs’. Black and green olives with grape tomatoes on a ‘stake’. Oh, and fried pork rinds as the ‘skin’.

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The Ghoulish Table

White ghostly tablecloths draped on the table and also the chairs. Roasted pumpkin seeds, lots of bruschettas, spicy eggplant on toasts.

Veronica and Brian enjoying their ghoulish Halloween appetizers and dinner.

My Veronica, she is a cutie!

The Salmon

Gordon did cook a delicious salmon for our dinner…Julie.

This is a recipe I modified from culinary school. I combined some of my favorite spices which make up a delicious rub for the fish. This can be done a day ahead to let the seasonings marinate the meat of the fish. The day of your party, you just have to roast the fish.

Green Eyed Seasoned Salmon

Ingredients:

For the Rub…

1 1/2 Tbsp Onion Powder

1/2 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Turmeric

1 1/2 Tbsp Ground Cardamom

1 Tbsp Ground Ginger

1 1/2 Tbsp Coriander

1 1/2 Tbsp Cumin

1 1/2 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Tbsp Nutmeg

1/2 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper

1 1/2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar

Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients well and set aside.

Salmon – 3lb Salmon half cleaned, with or without skin

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400’F. Rub the entire salmon with the rub (which can be done a day ahead of time) being sure to use less on the skin. Place the salmon skin side down on an oiled baking sheet pan. Roast the salmon for 17-20 min. depending on when the salmon meat become slightly opaque and feeling firm to the touch. To add extra color to the fish, broil the fish for 3 to 5 min. more being sure to carefully watch the fish as it cooks as the spices and sugar could burn. Once cooked, let the salmon rest for ~5 min. before slicing.

To make the green puree topping simply boil a small bag (10 – 12 oz) of frozen peas until just cooked. Drain and place in some ice water to preserve their color. In a blender, place the peas, two cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp onion powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Puree the ingredients and slowly add ~1/2 cup of water or vegetable stock ensuring the mixture stays thick and not runny. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasonings then spoon it onto your cut pieces of salmon. Julie used candy eyes which gave the salmon the spooky LOOK!

“The Eyes are the Widows of the SALMON”

(oh, and don’t forget the wormy shoe string French fries.)

Cut the salmon into single servings and add a little pea puree, delicious! Oh, and don’t forget the eyeballs.

The Lobster

Gordon simply sliced the fresh lobster in half, cleaned out the yellow mustard looking innards, and baked the lobster on a baking tray at 350’F for about 20 min.

While it was baking, he basted the lobster meat with a mixture of butter and garlic, which he melted together in a small pot on the stove.

Doesn’t get more ghoulish than this.

Salmon and Lobster

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Enter if you dare……..

Beware of the lady in white.

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An Old Cow Bone

I wanted a Halloween setting with only 4 colors, black, white, silver/grey, and clear glass.

The Green Slime Potion

The Slimy Cocktail with the Eyeball

(a lychee)

The drink is a basic screwdriver with one part vodka to 3 parts orange juice.

We added some green food coloring to give it that green color.

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The Lighting

Beautiful Moroccan Lighting

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Caramel Apples

This was such a fun ‘take me back to my childhood’ thing to do. Not to mention, delicious!

The tart green apples with the sweet melted caramel was wonderful!

Green apples and sweet caramel. Perfect!

We used a double boiler here. I think the old fashioned way of doing this is the best. You can melt them in the microwave but I think it tends to ruin the caramels, as you have to keep heating them up, they tend to get hard.

We used bamboo chopsticks to insert into the apples.

Above left, Veronica is taking two of them for her, and her boyfriend Brian. A caramel apple tip for using small apples is to bring out a cupcake pan and line it with cupcake liners. The pan will steady the apples as they harden.