Spooky Halloween Party Recipes

Our favorite magician in the kitchen, Chef Joey Altman, created this signature menu of creepy food and poisonous drinks. Though the recipes look and sound scary, just watch them disappear.

Impaled Roast Filet of Beef and Blue Cheese Roulades

Makes about 24 skewers

  • 2 pounds of flank steak, trimmed
  • ½ cup teriyaki sauce
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 ounces blue cheese (a robust and creamy variety like Stilton or Cabrales works best)
  • 24– 6″ wooden skewers
  • Marinate the steak in the teriyaki sauce for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
  • Preheat a grill or grill pan or broiler on high
  • Remove from the marinade, pat dry and coat with the oil and season with some salt and pepper. And then cook to a medium rare, about 3–4 minutes per side.
  • Transfer steak to a plate and allow to cool for 15–20 minutes.
  • Slicing across the grain on a slight bias, cut the steak into thin strips about 2″ long.
  • Place a hazelnut–sized piece of cheese at the end of a strip and roll the meat around it and then stick a skewer just through it so to secure it. Repeat until all the meat is stuffed and skewered. Lay the skewers on a baking tray facing the same way with the meat at the edge of the tray.
  • Just before serving place just the meat end under the broiler for 1 minute just to warm the meat and soften the cheese.
  • Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.

Pumpkin Soup “Shooters” with Ginger and Apple

(Serves 16–24)

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 Pipin apple, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh ginger minced
  • 1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
  • 4 cups chicken stock or water
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • Salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • ½ cup lightly whipped heavy cream with a pinch of nutmeg
  • ¼ cup minced fresh chives (about ½ a bunch)
  • Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion, apple and minced ginger and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft, about 15 minutes.
  • Add the pumpkin to the onions mixture and cook for another 5 minutes.
  • Add the stock or water and cream to the pot and simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Using an immersion blender (stick blender, safer for pureeing hot liquids) or in a traditional blender, until smooth, then return it to the pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then cover soup and keep warm over lowest heat.
  • To serve, fill large shot glasses 3/4 of the way and garnish with a small dollop of cream and a pinch of minced chives.

“Night Crawlers” with Maggots, Blood and Bile

Serves 8

  • 1 pound sushi grade Ahi Tuna, cut into long thin worm shaped strips
  • 1 bag thick, home–style potato chips
  • Soy Dressing
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • Maggots (Sushi Rice Salad)
  • 2 cups cooked sushi rice, cooled to room temperature ( tip: I buy it already made from a sushi restaurant!)
  • ½ cup pickled ginger, minced
  • 2 scallions, minced
  • ¼ cup toasted sesame oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Combine everything in a bowl.
  • Blood (Ginger–Beet Vinaigrette)
  • 1 medium steamed red beet, peeled and cut into small chunks
  • 1 tablespoon peeled and chopped fresh ginger juice of one lime
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 shallot
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • Mix in a blender until smooth.
  • Bile (Wasabi Oil)
  • 2 tablespoons of Wasabi powder
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 scallion, green part only, finely minced
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Mixed in a bowl until smooth.

Presentation

  • Place a small spoonful of the rice salad on a chip. Place the tuna in a bowl and dress the tuna with the soy dressing and lay one of them over each of the mounds of rice, winding it around to fit on the chip. Drizzle the beet vinaigrette and wasabi oil decoratively over the tuna.

There's a Fungus Among Us

(Wild Mushroom Crostinis)

Wild mushrooms have a great earthy flavor and when combined with bold flavor of fontina and placed on a crostini the combination flavors and textures make an awesome hors d'oeuvres.

  • Wild Mushroom and Fontina Topping
  • 2 baguettes, cut on the bias into ¼″ thin coins
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 3 cups of sliced wild and domestic mushrooms, (approximately 1 pound) that have been brushed clean (any mix of crimini, shiitakes, chanterelles, oyster or portabellos)
  • 1 cup minced red onion
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon loosely packed fresh thyme leaves, chopped
  • 1 cup grated fontina cheese
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • Preheat to 375°.
  • Brush a baking tray with olive oil then lay out baguette slices so they are close side by side but not overlapping and lightly brush those with olive oil and season with some salt and pepper. Bake on middle rack of oven for 5–8 minutes or until they are lightly browned.
  • In a sauté pan on medium–high heat, sauté the red onion in the olive oil and butter for a few minutes then add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are tender and have released their juices.
  • Turn down the heat and simmer the mushrooms until they're almost dried, about 3–5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper, transfer to a mixing bowl and let cool for 15 minutes then add the fontina and parmesan cheeses.
  • Place a mound of the filling on to each crouton and place in the center of your oven and bake for 5–10 minutes.
  • Serve immediately