Midnight Jack (Smoky Cheddar Cheese Ball)

My 12 year old son, who doesn't like cheese on anything but pizza, opened the fridge the other day and said, "Mom, why is there nothing but cheese in here?" I started to laugh because he was right, there was a hell of a lot of cheese in there. I'd been working on a few recipe ideas and had to make them a few times to get it right. Also, I'd been online shopping and had a bunch of artisanal cheeses that didn't look like the usual suspects of mozzarella and cheddar. He was not happy. Needless to say, my laughter made him turn and walk out of the kitchen. 😉 

'Green' Reaper Platter 

Despite already blogging this gorgeous fruit and cheese plate and a whole refrigerator full of cheese, I was compelled to squeeze in one more cheese dish with these festive and fun Midnight Jacks. I made two variations, a traditional orange and black jack-o-lantern made with sharp cheddar and smoky paprika, and a green and black lack-o-lantern made with Gouda, and Spinach Pesto to match my green and black Halloween theme this year. 

Honestly, I wish I had thought of this Midnight Jack last year when my color theme was orange and black...but oh well, better late than never. The best thing about this easy recipe is that it's so versatile. Create any flavor combination or color combination desired to match your Halloween theme. Here are a few ideas to play around with.

Orange: sharp cheddar with smoked paprika.(recipe below)
Green: green Gouda with spinach and herbs (recipe below)
Purple/Pink:red wine cheese with beet powder or blackberry jam.
Blue: a white cheese with blueberry powder or jam.
Yellow: a white cheese with yellow curry, turmeric and spices
Black with Orange coating: add charcoal powder and garlic to the cheese mixture and roll in finely crushed cheese crackers or Cheetos®

Here's the Spinach and Pesto Cheese version. Didn't he turn out cute? Enjoy!

Midnight Jack (Smokey Cheddar Cheese Ball)

Makes ~2 cups

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 clove garlic, grated
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 t. smoked paprika
1/2 t. reg. paprika (to intensify color)
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/2 t. ground coriander
1/4 t. white pepper
1-2 t. olive oil
1/4 cup poppy seeds
Vanilla bean pod for stem
Charcoal Crackers (link) 

In a food processor, blend cream cheese and grated garlic together until smooth. Add cheddar cheese and blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and process adding olive oil if cheese mixture is too dry. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.  Line a small 4 inch diameter bowl with plastic wrap and spoon in about half of the cheese mixture. Press cheese mixture into bottom of the small bowl making sure to remove gaps and air pockets. Add remaining cheese. Lift plastic wrap over cheese and twist molding a tight ball. Refrigerate overnight.

Cut jack-o-lantern faces out of parchment paper and position parchment paper cut outs onto one side of cheeseball, pressing gently to ensure parchment sticks to cheese. 

Pour poppy seeds into a shallow bowl or plate and roll cheese ball in poppy seeds.


  

To insure a sharp line of poppy seeds that outline the face of the jack-o-lantern, gently push poppy seeds around the edge of the parchment paper. and into the cheese. After cheese ball is completely covered, use tweezers to slowly remove the parchment to reveal the jack-o-lantern face. 

Add broken vanilla bean to the top of the cheeseball to create a stem for the Jack-o-lantern and serve with crackers.  

Midnight Jack (Spinach Pesto Cheese Ball): 

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 clove garlic, grated
2 cups Green Pesto Gouda (link)/Sage Derby Cheese (link)
1/4 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh spinach (add more to enhance color)
1/4 t. white pepper
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup poppy seeds
bell pepper stem 
Charcoal Crackers (link) 

In a food processor, blend cream cheese and grated garlic together until smooth. Add gouda and derby cheeses and blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and process adding olive oil if cheese mixture is too dry. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.  Line a small 4 inch diameter bowl with plastic wrap and spoon in about half of the cheese mixture. Press cheese mixture into bottom of the small bowl making sure to remove gaps and air pockets. Add remaining cheese. Lift plastic wrap over cheese and twist molding a tight ball. Refrigerate overnight. 
Cut jack-o-lantern faces out of parchment paper and position onto side of cheese ball, pressing gently to ensure parchment sticks to cheese. Pour poppy seeds into a shallow bowl or plate and roll cheese ball in poppy seeds. To insure a sharp line of poppy seeds that outline the face of the jack-o-lantern, gently push poppy seeds around the edge of the parchment paper. After cheese ball is completely covered, use tweezers to slowly remove the parchment to reveal the jack-o-lantern face. Add bell pepper stem to the top of the cheeseball to create a stem for the Jack-o-lantern and serve with crackers.

More Halloween Recipes to try:

Bloody Eyeball Bruschetta

Jack-o-lantern Cupcakes

Spiderweb Eggs

Baked Entrails (Chorizo Empanada with Blackberry Chipotle Sauce)

There are a million recipes out there for these popular Halloween intestines. Some are sweet and some savory. I think my favorite sweet version on Pinterest is the one made with red velvet cinnamon rolls. The icky pink color really kicks up the gross factor and they are truly horrifying visually...which is a good thing.:) So despite my urge to make disgusting red velvet cinnamon roll guts, I went for a more savory approach. 
My cooking tends to be on the savory side because I don't really eat a lot of sweets normally, but I do love when savory foods are sweet and spicy. My Baked Entrails are the best of all worlds...savory, buttery, smoky, spicy, and sweet with a hint of heat. The best part is that they're easy to throw together thanks to ready made puff pastry and a handful of ingredients. The blackberry chipotle sauce may seem like a strange combination, but I promise you that you will not be disappointed. In fact, you may question why you haven't added a spicy jam to your empanadas before. It's absolutely delicious! 
So...if you are one who thinks it's too early for Halloween food, or if this gruesome recipe just makes your stomach turn (pun intended), don't be afraid. This Mr. Hyde can be easily transformed into the respectable Dr. Jekyll equivalent of Chorizo Empanadas with Blackberry Chipotle Sauce. Instead of rolling up the filling into intestinal tracts, just cut squares of puff pastry, fill with chorizo and cheese, fold diagonally into triangles, bake and serve with sauce. Same great flavors with a lot less guts. 
Have fun and enjoy!
                                ...🎃193 Days until Halloween🎃

Baked Entrails (Chorizo Empanada with Blackberry Chipotle Sauce)

Serves 4-6

2 tubes of chorizo, casings removed (Beef, Pork or Soy)
1 medium red onion, diced
1 cup pepper jack cheese, grated
1 1/2-2 packages frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
1 egg plus 1T water (egg wash)

Bloody Blackberry Chipotle Sauce
1 cup blackberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 T adobo sauce
salt (to taste)

Add blackberries to a small saucepan and crush with a potato masher. Add sugar, water, chipotle pepper and adobo sauce, and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce begins to reduce and thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Blend in a food processor and strain to remove big chunks. Reserve the remaining smooth blackberry sauce. Salt to taste, if needed.

Prepare filling:Cook chorizo and onions in a large skillet over medium high heat. No additional oil is needed as the rendered fat from the chorizo will add fat and flavor as the onions cook. Reduce heat and simmer until onions are soft, stirring occasionally about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and allow the chorizo mixture to cool. 

Preheat: oven to 350 degrees. 
Egg wash:Beat egg and 1 T water for egg wash and set aside.

Assemble pastry: Working on a long piece of parchment paper, remove one sheet of tri-folded puff pastry and cut along the two folds, to create three narrow pieces of pastry. Align the short ends of the pastry end to end, pressing the seams together to create one long piece of puff pastry. Spoon chorizo filling and pepper jack cheese to the center of the pastry dough leaving a half inch on each side of the filling. Run a small amount of egg wash on one side of the filling and fold pastry over to seal it, working your way down the length of the pastry dough. Repeat with remaining tri-fold sheets of puff pastry until you make 3 or 4 rolls of intestines (I used 3 whole puff pastry sheets to make 3 long rolls)

On a parchment lined baking sheet, begin assembling your intestines SEAM SIDE DOWN by coiling and creating twists and turns of filled pastry rolls. Add another roll and join each end by pinching together the seams and continue to coil them to create a gory maze of twisted entrails. 

If you did what I did and assembled the entrails SEAM SIDE UP, not to worry. Line another cookie sheet with parchment paper and place it directly over the SEAM SIDE UP pastry. With the puff pastry sandwiched between two cookie sheets, pick up both cookie sheets and flip them over. Remove the top cookie sheet and parchment, the intestines are ready to bake with SEAM SIDES DOWN. Brush with the egg wash and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25*-30 minutes. 

*Optional: To add a little baked in color, remove entrails from oven at 25 minutes and using a paint brush, paint the areas between the twists and turns with the blackberry chipotle sauce. Then place the entrails back in oven and continue to bake an additional 5-8 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let the pastry cool 10 minutes. Run a spatula underneath the cooked pastry to make sure it will slide freely from the parchment paper. If serving on old, worn out cookie sheet, like I did, gently pull the parchment on one side to remove it. Generously spoon and drizzle the Bloody Blackberry Sauce between the folds and twists of the entrails for a gory look. Serve with additional sauce on the side.  If serving on another platter, use the parchment paper to lift then slide the entrails onto the serving platter.  'Bone' Appetit!

More Halloween body-part recipes to try: 

Skewered Epidermis

Sixpence Meat Pies

Amputated Appetizer

Bread of the Dead (Squid Ink Flatbread w/Mushrooms, Shallots & Herbs)

I'm not eating bread for the rest of this month. I've made this recipe so many times this week that I can barely look at these photos without feeling like I'll burst. Sure the first few times it was to get the flavors and ingredients right, and then to get the right shots. I really thought I was done because the photos looked great. It tasted great. The blog was written and I was just about to press publish for this darkly gorgeous mushroom flatbread when my husband said, "You know what you should've done? Instead of using these regular sliced mushrooms, why don't you make it with your mushroom skulls from a few years ago?" 

Hold up...stop the presses! I slowly moved my cursor away from the PUBLISH button and I sat there with mixed feelings. 
In my mind, I thought...Noooo! I can't possibly make this pizza again. No. More. Bread. No!
But, in my heart, I knew...I had to make it one more time with these super festive mushroom skulls. It was such a great idea that I couldn't believe I almost posted this recipe without them. Check out the recipe and how to below. 

About this recipe 
I like a good flatbread where the bread is soft but chewy with a crisp bottom that holds up the toppings well and gives a little crunch when you bite all the way through it, and this dough is just that. It also has squid ink, but don't let that scare you. It's just for color. The bread does not have a fishy taste or smell once baked. It will smell faintly of the sea while the dough is unbaked, but I promise you it won't taste like that once it's baked. 
I also used this beautiful Pesto Gouda instead of your typical mozzarella or parmesan. I think it adds an organic grassy look to the flatbread and packs a lot of pesto flavor.  I picked it up on-line from here.

I also topped them with an assortment of fresh herbs from my garden, like thyme, parsley, oregano, savory, and marjoram. Feel free to use your favorite herbs or what you have on hand.

And lastly, I drizzled a balsamic glaze over a few slices that I ate and really loved the acidic pop that added contrast to the earthy flavors. Here's an easy recipe if you'd like to drizzle it on. 
Balsamic Glaze
1 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced to 1/3 cup
honey (to taste)
~Over medium heat, reduce the balsamic vinegar to about 1/3 cup. Cool and add honey to taste.

Bread of the Dead (Squid Ink Flatbread w/Mushrooms, Shallots and Herbs)

Makes 4

Squid Ink Flatbread Dough
2 cups bread flour
2 t garlic powder
1 t salt
1 t active dry yeast
1 T olive oil + more to oil the bowl
1/2 t squid ink
1 cup warm water (110 degrees)

Stir together flour, garlic powder, salt and yeast in a medium bowl. Add the olive oil to flour mixture and lightly mix. Dissolve squid ink in the warm water and add to the flour mixture, and mix with a fork until it comes together into a shaggy dough. 
Use your hands to work the loose flour into your dough while in the bowl until its mostly incorporated. Turn it out on a floured surface and knead lightly, forming the dough into a ball.  Clean and dry the bowl you used to mix the dough. Oil the bowl and place the dough in it and roll to coat the dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to double in volume. About 2 hours. 

While dough rises, grate cheese, prepare mushrooms skulls and shallot topping.
  
Mushroom Skulls
I used button mushrooms for the skulls and chopped up some baby bella mushrooms to give the mushroom topping more flavor, but if you can find small baby bella mushrooms, they can also be used to make the skulls. 

Create two skull faces on opposite sides of each mushroom using a straw to form the large eye holes. Use a pairing knife to cut the nose holes and to scrape down the stem to create teeth. Trim the stems if desired. Cut mushroom in half creating two skull halves. Save the mushroom eye holes and saute them with the mushroom caps.  

Flatbread Toppings
2 T butter 
4 oz. small mushroom skulls, halved
1/2 cup shallots, thinly sliced (can substitute with red onion)
4-5 cloves garlic, sliced thin
2 T cooking sherry
1 t fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper (to taste)
1/2 cup jarred pesto sauce (such as Classico)
1 cup Green Pesto Gouda (I purchased it here- link)
Mixed fresh herbs (Use your favorites or whatever you have on hand) 
Optional topping: Balsamic Glaze (see below)

Melt butter in a large skillet, add mushroom skulls and saute about 5-8 minutes. Add shallots, garlic and sherry and continue to cook until all the liquid has cooked down, about 3-5 minutes more. Add thyme leaves, salt and pepper and set aside. 

Balsamic Glaze
1 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced to 1/3 cup
honey (to taste)
~Over medium heat, reduce the balsamic vinegar to about 1/3 cup. Cool and add honey to taste. Set aside and drizzle over flatbread if desired.

Preheat
Place a pizza stone or a rimless cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat oven to 500 degrees. 

Back to the dough...
When dough has doubled, remove from bowl and cut into 4 equal pieces and shape into a ball pinching edges together. Push in a circular motion to form a taut ball. Repeat with the remaining pieces. Brush each with oil, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. (Note: Only 2 of the 4 are pictured below)

Cut a length of parchment paper. Coat hands with oil and gently pull one piece of dough into an 6 inch length. Place it on the parchment paper and gently dimple surface of dough with fingertips and then flatten with your palms into a  8" by 4" oval. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush each flatbread generously with pesto sauce, grated Pesto Gouda cheese, and the mushroom and shallot mixture. 

Slip parchment onto the pizza stone, or cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. To remove from the oven, pull the parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool 5 minutes then cut crosswise into triangles. Top with your favorite fresh herbs and drizzle with the Balsamic glaze. Repeat for remaining flatbread dough.  Bone Appetit!

More Halloween bread recipes:

Deathcap Kabobs

Brimstone Bread

Tortured Soul Rolls

Tapeworm Soup (French Onion Soup)

Fun plating and a little creative preparation goes a long way in transforming regular recipes into fun festive dishes for Halloween. Think of it like everyday recipes in costume. This Tapeworm Soup for instance, is your classic French Onion Soup and instead of putting them in crocks smothered in Gruyere cheese melted toasts, I served it in these fun food-safe beakers which I ordered from restaurantsupply.com. The beakers expose the rich caramel color of the soup with worms of onions stringing throughout the murky rich broth. Instant yuck factor! As if that wasn't enough, I added to the tapeworm affect by topping each soup with lightly sauteed leeks, letting them them droop over the rim of the beakers. The flat segmented rings mimic those disgusting parasites perfectly. A deliciously gross idea for Halloween. Serve it with a few bubbly crisps of Parmesan cheese and dig in. Enjoy!

Tapeworm Soup (French Onion Soup)

(slightly adapted recipe from Chef Teri Appleton)

Serves 8

4 lbs. yellow onions, cut into 1/4 inch slices
3 T butter
1 cups water, divided for rounds of deglazing
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
6 sprigs of Thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine onions and 2 cups water in a large dutch oven over high heat. Cover and cook for 25 minutes until onions are soft and wilted. Drain onions and wash and dry Dutch oven. 
Over medium heat, melt butter in Dutch oven and then add the wilted onions.  Cook onions, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Scraping the bottom and sides of the pot until liquid evaporates and the onions brown, ~15-20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if onions are browning too quickly. 

 Continue to cook, stirring frequently until bottom of the pot is coated with a dark crust(fond), adjusting heat as necessary to avoid burning the fond. 

Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping bottom of the pot to loosen the crust and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust. Repeat process of deglazing 2-3 times, until onions are very dark brown. 

Stir in sherry and cook until sherry evaporates, ~5 minutes.
Stir in stocks, thyme, bay leaf and 1/2 tsp salt, scraping up any bits of browned crust on the bottom and sides of the pot. 

Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

Tapeworm Garnish
3 leeks, white part only, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds 
3 T butter

Cut leeks into 1/4 inch rounds. Laying each round flat on the cutting board cut a quarter of the way through the rings of the leek creating long open rings. 

In a medium skillet, saute in butter for a about 5-8 minutes until leeks are softened but not browned. Top soup with leeks and serve with a Parmesan crisp.

Parmesan Crisps
1 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place small mounds of grated Parmesan on a parchment lined cookie sheet. 

Bake for 9-10 minutes until cheese is melted a light golden brown. Serve with soup. Bone Appetit!

More Halloween Food Ideas:

Vampire Slayer Soup (Roasted Garlic and Sweet Potato Soup)

Decomposed Deviled Eggs

Roasted Roaches(Bacon Wrapped Cheese Stuffed Dates)