When the banshees howl and the zombies prowl, Halloween can’t be far away.
Scare up some ghoulish goodies for your festivities on All Hallows Eve, severed finger food anyone? No nightmarish ingredients are required for these easy appetizers.
It’s all about the presentation and the more gruesome the better! Set the scene with a cobweb-draped table and scary uplighting. Some bare branches will cast spooky shadows and provide a cosy home for your collection of shrunken heads and bleached bones.
Cheesy Jack-O-Lantern
4 thin, round slices salami or other deli sausage (the darker in colour the better)
Two 250-gram packages cream cheese, room temperature
2¼ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided use
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup finely chopped red peppers
¼ cup finely chopped black olives
1 small dill pickle
Kale or lettuce leaves for serving
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the green onions, 1¼ cups of the cheddar, the Worcestershire sauce, pepper, red peppers and black olives until well combined. Refrigerate mixture for one hour.
Form chilled cheese mixture into a pumpkin-shaped ball; roll ball in remaining cup of shredded cheddar to cover completely.
Place kale or lettuce leaves on a serving plate and place the cheese ball on top. Cut triangles from the salami to form eyes and nose, and several smaller triangles to place in a row for the mouth; press salami pieces onto the cheese ball. Insert the dill pickle in the top of the cheese ball to form a stem. Serve with assorted crackers; makes about 24 servings.
Yummy Mummies
10 hot dogs (you can use regular hot dogs, European wieners or smokies, whichever you prefer)
1 tube of refrigerated crescent rolls
Ketchup and mustard
Preheat oven to 375º F. Cut each hot dog in half crosswise. Unroll the entire sheet of crescent roll dough and separate into triangles. Cut each triangle into narrow lengthwise strips. Wrap a strip of crescent dough around each halved hot dog to resemble mummy wrappings (be sure to wrap a strip over the top of the hot dog’s “head,” the rounded end of the hot dog, but leave some of the hot dog showing to form the mummy’s face).
Place the mummies about an inch apart on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake until wrappings are pale golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Allow mummies to cool slightly, then put two little dots of mustard on each mummy face to form eyes. Serve with additional mustard and ketchup for dipping. Makes 20.
Eyeball Meatballs
1 lb lean ground beef
6 or 7 large pimento-stuffed green olives, cut in half crosswise
1⁄3 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tsp ketchup
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp mayonnaise
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
12 to 14 small bocconcini balls (about one inch in diameter)
1 cup purchased marinara sauce for dipping (or ketchup or chili sauce if you prefer)
Preheat oven to 400º F. In a large bowl, gently mix together the ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, salt, garlic powder and pepper just until well combined.
With a small, sharp knife cut a shallow divot out of each bocconcini and insert a green olive half into it snugly so it looks like the iris of an eyeball. Roll the meat mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball. With your thumb, make an indentation in the centre of the ball and insert the bocconcini with the green olive slice facing up.
Place the meatballs in a foil-lined baking pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and the cheese is melted.
Remove the meatballs from the oven and allow them to cool slightly. Meanwhile, heat the marinara sauce; place warm sauce in a small bowl in the middle of a serving platter (if using ketchup or chili sauce room temperature is fine).
Arrange eyeballs around the bowl of sauce. Have toothpicks at hand for skewering. Makes 12 to 14 appetizers.
Angela Shellard is a self-described foodie. She has done informal catering for various functions. Contact: [email protected].
