Halloween Party

Gameplan
2 Days Before Party:

* Coat muffin cups with chocolate for Peanut Butter cups and refrigerate.

* Boil vegetables in salted water for Poached Garlic Soup until soft

* Puree for smoothness, cover and refrigerate

* Freeze hand and face ice cubes for Vampire Punch

1 Day Before Party:

* Prepare peanut butter mixture for hardened cups

* Add banana chip on each cup, refrigerate for hardening

* Cut graham crackers into Halloween shapes for S’mores

Morning of Party:

* Blend sweets for the Slimedoo Fondue until melted

* Mix in green food coloring, place in fondue pot for serving

* Re-heat soup, mix in cream, and serve in warm bowls

15 minutes Before Party:

* Mix juices for Vampire Blood Punch, put in body ice cubes and serve


Build Me Up, Peanut Butter Cup

12 paper muffin cups
1 (9.7 ounce) bar bittersweet chocolate, chopped (recommended: Scharfenberger)
1 cup your favorite peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pinch grey salt
12 to 15 dried banana chips

Cut the top half off of the muffin cups so that they are shallower.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the chopped chocolate. Pour the rest into a glass bowl and melt them in the microwave: Microwave at 50 percent power for 1 minute. Stir the chips gently, and let them sit for a minute or so. If the chocolate needs more melting, microwave those chippies again at half power for 30 seconds. Stir gently. Continue the process, stirring gently as you go. But be very careful not to overcook the chocolate.

Temper the melted chocolate by stirring in the reserved 1/4 cup of chopped chocolate chips as it cools. This will 're-emulsify' the chocolate and enable it to harden at room temperature.

Using a teaspoon, spoon a portion of the chocolate into the middle of a muffin cup. Draw the chocolate up the edges of the cup with the back of the spoon (or you can paint the chocolate on with a small paintbrush). Coat the entire inside of the muffin cup with chocolate and place it into a muffin tin. Repeat with the remaining muffin cups and then put the whole muffin tin in the refrigerator so that the chocolate hardens.

Combine the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt in a mixer. Pour the mixture into a resealable plastic bag and seal.

When the chocolate in the muffin cups has hardened, pop the sweetened peanut butter into the microwave on full power for 1 minute. This will soften up the peanut butter so that it easily flows into the cups.
Cut a corner off the edge of the plastic bag. You can use this to pipe the peanut butter into each of the chocolate-coated cups. Put a banana chip on top of each cup. Put the candy in the refrigerator to harden the peanut butter. This should take 15 to 20 minutes.


S 'Mores at the Door

1 box graham crackers
1 bag marshmallows
4 bars good quality milk chocolate (recommended: Scharffen Berger)
Halloween cookie cutters

Lay the graham crackers in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate. Heat them in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute on high.

Using a metal cookie cutter, cut the graham crackers into a Halloween shape (pumpkins, bats, cats, and eyeballs without too many little details work best).

Light a hibachi on a table near your door. Make sure there is fireproof stone underneath to prevent melting things. Next to the hibachi, put some wooden skewers. Set out a tray of the marshmallows, graham cracker shapes and chocolate near the hibachi.

Encourage trick or treaters to make their own s'mores at the door!



Green Chocolate Slimedoo

2 cups heavy cream
2 ounces sugar
2 ounces butter
2 pounds white chocolate
6 to 12 drops green food coloring
2 bags pretzels
Strawberries, bananas, pineapples, apples for dipping
Candy corn and Halloween shaped sprinkles

Make a ganache. In a non-reactive double boiler set over medium-low heat, bring the cream, sugar, and butter to a boil. Meanwhile, chop the chocolate into small chunks - a serrated knife works best for this.

Add the chocolate chunks to the cream mixture in the double boiler, whisking, until it is melted and incorporated into the cream. Finally, add the food coloring until it is the desired shade of green.

Keep mixture warm in a fondue pot near the door. Set out the fruit and the pretzels for dipping with long wooden skewers next to the fondue pot. Guests can dip their pretzels or fruit into the fondue and then roll them in the candy sprinkles, if desired.


Poached Garlic Soup

2 cups garlic cloves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onion (1/4-inch dice)
1 cup finely chopped leek, white part only
1/2 cup diced celery (1/4-inch dice)
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon grey salt
1 cup diced, peeled, russet potatoes
Freshly ground pepper
4 to 5 cups chicken stock or canned low salt chicken broth
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh oregano leaves
4 cups roughly chopped spinach leaves
1 cup heavy cream

Peel the garlic cloves, cut in half lengthwise, and remove the central greenish core. Put in a small pan of salted water and bring to a boil. Drain and repeat twice to remove the garlic's heat and leave only the sweetness behind.

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat until hot. Add the onion, leek, celery, bay leaf, and a little salt to draw the water out of the onion. Cover and cook until the vegetables are soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes. Add the blanched garlic and stock. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove soup from the heat and cool to room temperature. Place cooled pot with soup in refrigerator to chill. Day of party re-heat soup over medium heat. Add the oregano, spinach, and cream and cook 1 minute to wilt the spinach. Transfer to blender and carefully blend until smooth *see note below.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.


Vampire Blood Drink

1 gallon cranberry juice
1 gallon orange juice
1 cup raspberry sorbet
1 quart seltzer
Body Part Ice Cubes, recipe follows

Mix the juices together. Add the sorbet, softened, and stir until it disappears. Add the seltzer.

Before serving, chill with the Body Part Cubes of floating face and hands.

Pour into glasses and stir with glow stick swizzle sticks.

Body Part Ice Cubes:
12 cups cold water
2 to 3 drops green food coloring

Special Equipment:
1 roll packing tape
1 roll plastic wrap
2 plastic gloves
1 plastic Halloween face mask

Color the cold water with enough green food coloring to make it stand out against the background of the punch.

Use packing tape to seal of the eyes, nose and mouth openings of the mask. Line the inside of mask with plastic wrap to prevent leaking. Place it in a bowl that will hold the mask as still as possible while freezing. Fill with the colored water up to the line of the mask, making sure not to spill over if possible. Place bowl in freezer to solidify, at least 24 hours.

Fill 2 food service gloves with colored water and twist and knot opening closed to make a tight seal. Freeze gloves for 12 to 24 hours.

When frozen, cut plastic gloves off. Take ice out of mask, putting hot water on the outside of the mask, if necessary, to help it come out easily.

Carefully float the face and hands in the punch.

courtesy of Micheal Chiarello