Go on, admit it; you’re just as excited about Halloween as the kids – perhaps more so because whilst they can only dress up and go trick or treating, you can create the ultimate spooky dinner party for a more grown-up (but just as entertaining) Halloween party. Put Thriller on the iPod, dim the lights, pull the curtains, make sure everyone is wearing suitable (black) attire, and enjoy the most sophisticated of Halloween feasts. Make your guests shiver and shake with your strange and gruesome (gruesome looking, of course, but delicious tasting) offerings; perfect for werewolves, witches, ghosts, ghouls, and friends and family too!

Blood Curdling Beetroot Soup with Feta Cheese

The blood red colour of this sumptuous soup ready sets the tone for your Halloween bash! The garlic will keep you save from any nearby vampires, and the salty feta is a great way to keep those troublesome demons at bay!

Ingredients:

500g beetroot (cooked and cut into chunks)
250g tinned tomatoes
1 large onion (diced)
1 garlic clove (crushed)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
750ml vegetable stock
125g feta cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180^oC (or gas mark 6)
2. Find a large saucepan, add the oil, and throw in the diced onion. Leave it to ‘sweat’ for around 8 minutes, but keep checking on your pan, as the onions shouldn’t be allowed to get too brown
3. Once the onions are ready, throw in the garlic, leave for just one minute, and then add the beetroot, vegetable stock, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar. Whack up the heat, bring to the boil, then simmer for 2 minutes
4. Next, either transfer your soup (being very careful of the hot liquid) into a blender, or use a hand/stick blender, and blend the mixture until it’s totally smooth
5. Just before serving, crumble feta cheese on the top of the soup

Spooky Bread Rolls

Bread rolls and soup go together like Morticia and Gomez, like Scooby Doo and Shaggy, like Frankenstein’s Monster and his Bride. So here is a fabulous recipe for Halloween bread rolls – these are great fun and will bring a smile to the deadest lips! This recipe makes six rolls.

Ingredients:

225g strong plain wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
15g butter (softened)
6g dried yeast
150ml warm water (make sure it’s not hot or boiling)
240ml balsamic vinegar

Method:

1. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix together (fingertips work wonders here, but a mixer will do the job too)
2. Once combined, add the yeast and stir in
3. Next, pour in all the water and stir again, this time using a wooden spoon to start with. Once the dough becomes harder to move around, go in with your hands (if it’s really sticky, make sure to add a little more flour as you mix)
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for around 5 minutes
5. Pull the dough apart to make six round rolls and place on a greased baking tray
6. Put a clean tea towel over the top and leave to prove for around half an hour
7. Once they are ready, pop the rolls into a preheated oven (230⁰C or gas mark 8) for 20 minutes
8. Whilst they are cooking, it’s time to make the balsamic vinegar reduction for the decoration. Put the vinegar into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Leave it simmering over a low heat for around 15 minutes until the vinegar has thickened and reduced. You need it to be at a good consistency for decorating, so make sure it’s thick enough – the longer it simmers, the thicker it gets. But if it goes too far, you can always add water to bring it back
9. When the balsamic vinegar reduction and the rolls have all cooled, decorate them with whatever spooky designs you like

Potent Pork and Apple Casserole

Serve this delicious dish at the table for great effect, but make sure no brave soul decides to bob for the apples in this bowl – it’s hot, steamy, and dreadfully moreish, so you might have a fight on your hands!

Ingredients:

1kg pork (shoulder works well) (cut into chunks)
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp olive oil
100g thick gammon steak (chopped)
2 leeks (cut into chunks)
1 large onion (diced)
500ml dry cider
250ml vegetable stock
3 tbsp soured cream
2 apples (sharp and tangy if possible) (cored and cut into 1cm slices)
25g butter
1tsp sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150^oC (gas mark 3). Whilst it’s heating up, toss the pork into the flour
2. In a hob proof casserole dish, heat one tbsp oil and brown the pork. Set the meat to one side.
3. Fry the gammon steak and then put with the pork for later
4. Fry the onion and garlic together for around 1 minute, then add the leeks. Stir in the cider and the stock and bring to the boil
5. Once at the right temperature, add the pork and gammon to the mixture. Then cover and cook in the oven for around 1 hour until the pork is tender
6. Once cooked, strain the casserole and remove the pork, leeks, and gammon. Warm the liquid over a medium heat on the hob and allow to reduce a little
7. Add the soured cream and stir, simmering for 3 minutes. Put the meat and leeks back in and season to taste
8. Take the apple slices and add them to a saucepan of melted butter and sugar. Fry for around 5 minutes until caramelised and nice and soft.
9. Serve the casserole with the apple slices on the top

Monster Mashed Potato

This mashed potato recipe really is a graveyard smash, and it goes perfectly with the casserole dish above. It’s got quite a kick to it, so it’s a trick and a treat rolled into one!

Ingredients:

6 large potatoes (peeled and chopped)
55g butter
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 red chillies (seeded and finely chopped)
3 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp fresh chives (chopped)
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes until tender (around 20 minutes). Remove from the heat and drain completely
2. As the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat, and add the onion and all but a teaspoon of the chillies. Fry until soft (around 4 minutes)
3. Add the onion mixture to the potatoes along with the cream, chives, and seasoning. Mash the mixture until smooth
4. To serve, sprinkle the remaining chillies on the top

Pumpkin Pie

If you’re going to have a Halloween dinner party, you may as well go all the way and finish with a baked pumpkin pie. It’s a great way to use up the innards of your jack-o’-lantern too! As for the pastry, well, you’re already doing a load of hard work – we don’t mind if you use readymade…

Ingredients:

Packet of readymade sweet short-crust pastry
450g pumpkin flesh (chopped into chunks)
2 large eggs
1 additional egg yolk
75g sugar
1tsp allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
300ml double cream

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200⁰C (gas mark 6)
2. Line a pie dish with pastry and blind bake for 20 minutes
3. Now it’s time to make the filling. The first thing to do is bake the pumpkin chunks – place them on a baking tray, cover them with foil, and roast them for around 20 minutes. When they are cooked, purée them in a blender
4. Put the cream, spices, and sugar into a saucepan and simmer whilst whisking
5. Whisk the eggs and yolk in a large bowl
6. Pour the cream mixture into the egg mixture and whisk again before adding the pumpkin purée. Make sure everything is totally combined
7. Turn the oven down to 180^oC (gas mark 4) and pour the filling into the pastry case. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the middle is just a little wobbly

Grasshopper Cocktail

With its lurid green colour, its spicy minty flavour, and its name that brings to mind images of creepy crawly legs, the grasshopper is a favourite cocktail that is perfect to round off your meal. Serve just before your guests fly off into the night…

Ingredients:

25ml green crème de menthe
25ml white crème de cacao
25ml cream

Method:

1. Pour everything into a cocktail shaker along with some ice cubes.
2. Shake!
3. Serve and enjoy

If you want to make the grasshopper more of a dessert than a drink, simply mix it with mint ice cream.