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)

Toil and Trouble Soup (Roasted Potato Cauliflower Soup)

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble...Hello my little pretties...It's time to get ready for All Hallows Eve. We've waited all year and the time is finally upon us, so fire up your cauldrons and get ready to fill up the kiddies with this mysteriously delicious Toil and Trouble Soup. Don't let the name scare you. You won't be stuck stirring your cauldron all day, it comes together as easily as a wave of your wand. Gorgeous roasted violet cauliflower and two kinds of purple potatoes are blended with sauteed onions, white carrots, garlic and fennel to make a satisfying and beautifully festive Halloween Meal. It's sure to keep the kids warm as they venture out for a night of trick-or-treating. Serve it all by itself or with BLT sandwiches.  I topped my soup with crispy homemade potato chips, sour cream and chives, but feel free add cheddar cheese and bacon bits, just like a loaded Baked Potato Soup.  Enjoy!
                             🎃🎃🎃 6 days until Halloween  🎃🎃🎃

Toil and Trouble Soup (Roasted Potato Cauliflower Soup)

Adapted recipe from wifemamafoodie.com
Serves 4-6

2 purple sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
5-6 purple potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
1 small head of purple cauliflower, cut up
olive oil
3 very small purple potatoes for frying, sliced thin
1/2 bulb fennel, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small *white carrot, diced (1/2 cup)
4 cups chicken stock(substitute with vegetable stock)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Penzeys® Parisien Herbs (substitute 1/2 tsp dried chives & 1/4 tsp thyme)
chives (garnish)
fried purple potatoes (garnish)
swirl of sour cream

NOTE*Do not use Orange or purple carrots for this soup. Remember the color wheel in Art class...Orange + Purple = Brown. Trust me on this...my first attempt I used purple carrots...BTW they are orange on the inside...and the soup turned a disturbing shade of brown.  No beautiful violet soup...only earthy ugly brown.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Prepare potatoes and cauliflower and toss with enough olive oil to evenly coat vegetables. Spread out on a parchment lined cookie sheet and roast for 30-35 minutes or until vegetables are cooked.

While vegetables are cooking quickly fry some sliced purple potatoes into crunchy chips for garnish. Drain on a paper towel and salt. (I sprinkled these with a gorgeous purple sea salt I picked up at Aldi® last year, but don't sweat it if you don't have purple salt, regular Kosher salt works too.)

In a large dutch oven, add 1 T olive oil, onions, white carrots and fennel and saute until vegetables are tender, ~10 minutes. Add chicken stock and simmer for a few minutes. Add roasted vegetables to the pot and heat for about 2-3 minutes to soften some of the roasted vegetables that might have browned in the oven. Add 1 tsp Parisien Herbes or substitute with 1/2 dried chives and 1/4 tsp thyme.

In batches, transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.  Ladle into bowls and swirl in some sour cream, top with purple chips and chives and Enjoy!

More Halloween recipes to try:

Vampire Slayer Soup

Eye of Newt Stew

Spider Caviar

Vampire Slayer Soup (Roasted Garlic Sweet Potato Soup)

It's spring and I'm so excited because it's just another step closer to my favorite season...fall. People always ask me what's with all the Halloween food? The short answer is, it inspires me and it's just plain fun to dream up fun festive dishes that taste amazing. I was inspired to make this soup when I unpacked my kitchen after the remodel and found my stash of plastic vampire teeth in the cookie jar. It was instant inspiration! And the great thing about having a food blog is that I can create my own little slice of fall anytime I want. Who cares that it's spring? I'm channeling fall via Halloween, with this rich and delicious Roasted Garlic Soup which I like to call, Vampire Slayer Soup. Made with lots and lots of roasted garlic and ginger, mellowed with sweet potatoes and carrots and a touch of coconut milk, this soup screams fall with it's bright orange color and it's potent enough to slay the nearest bloodsucker.  Complete protection from vampires and the common cold in a bowl. Enjoy! 
 
🎃🎃🎃Only 170 days until Halloween...in case you were wondering. 🎃🎃🎃

Vampire Slayer Soup (Roasted Garlic Sweet Potato Soup)

(recipe adapted from Bound By Food)
Serves 6

2 T olive oil, divided
4 heads of garlic, peeled and roasted
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 medium yellow potato, diced
1 T fresh ginger, peeled, sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 t. fresh thyme leaves
1 t. coriander
1/4 t cayenne
1 can coconut milk
salt to taste
cayenne pepper  (garnish-optional)
grapeseed oil with red food coloring (garnish)
Plastic vampire teeth (garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel garlic cloves and place in foil with 1 T olive oil and fold foil to create a packet. Roast garlic cloves for 30-35 minutes or until cloves are soft and golden brown.  Set aside.

Saute onions, carrots, potatoes, and ginger in olive oil until onions are translucent, ~5 minutes. Add chicken broth and continue to heat until carrots and potatoes are tender, approximately 10 minutes more.  Add roasted garlic, (reserve a few garlic cloves for garnish), thyme, coriander and cayenne pepper and stir. In batches, blend vegetables and transfer back to pot. Add coconut milk and cook 5 minutes more. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with roasted garlic cloves, cayenne and drizzle with bloody grapeseed oil.

Other Halloween Dishes to try:

Bloody Burger Bites

Love at First Bite Linguini

Rattlesnake Rolls

Irish Chili

My kitchen remodel is finally complete. I've unpacked and moved into my new, fancy-dancy kitchen. It is so beautiful! I'm super excited about it and I've been planning upcoming dishes to blog. Originally, I intended to blog easy dishes throughout my kitchen remodel but who was I kidding... Cooking was not even possible during the construction process. Dust everywhere, all pantry ingredients, pots and pans packed in boxes in the garage. Nope! Didn't happen. It was two solid months of eating out, cereal, sandwiches and microwave meals. But now that my life is settling down and I have a functioning kitchen again I'm happily cooking and trying out new recipes. One thing that's been tripping me up in my new space is the power of my new professional stove.  I've burnt more food in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last twenty years. It's been quite humbling and a bit frustrating, but I'm learning the quirks of my new beautiful stove and oven.
Anyway, I realize St. Patricks Day is a distant memory now that we are in April but I was able to whip up this delicious Irish Chili in honor of my contractor, Matt from Celtic Construction. He did such a fabulous job on my kitchen that I thought my first dish in my new kitchen would honor his Irish heritage. This is in no way authentic Irish food, it's just my delicious take on some Irish ingredients of Corned Beef and Irish Stout mixed together in this comforting Irish Chili! Enjoy!

Irish Chili

3-4 lb corned beef roast, cooked
1 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 can tomato puree
1 ham hock(I used a leftover ham bone from Christmas)
2 cans Rotel tomatoes with chiles
2 cans kidney beans, drained
1 bottle Stout beer
2 T chili powder
2 t. cumin
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper (to taste)
Dubliner cheese, grated
green onions, garnish

Cook corned beef according to package directions and cut into 1/2 inch chunks and set aside.
In a large dutch oven,  add olive oil, onions, leeks, green peppers and garlic and saute until onions are translucent ~5-8 minutes. 

Transfer cooked vegetables into a blender. Add chicken stock and blend until pureed.

Transfer blender contents back into dutch oven and add, tomato puree, Rotel tomatoes, ham hock, corned beef, beer, chili powder, cumin and bay leaves. Simmer for about and hour. Add kidney beans and continue to heat on low for another hour. Remove ham hock. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with Dubliner cheese and green onions.

More Corned Beef recipes:

Corned Beef Rolls

Corned Beef, Cabbage and Leek Soup

Corned Beef Tacos

Mulligatawny Soup

I'm afraid to say that it is still very warm here in Southern California.  It's been in the 80's and very dry with Santa Ana winds. But as hot as it gets during the day, once night falls, so does the temperature. My go-to easy meal for a cool night is always soup. If you've never had Mulligatawny soup, don't let the complicated name scare you. Mulligatawny is an Anglo-Indian soup that means, "Pepper Water". There are many versions of this soup, some highly spiced and contain meat and other versions omit meat and have lentils. This recipe is a warm and comforting curry soup with a little heat from the added cayenne pepper that cools to a mellow spiciness with a dollop of yogurt. I used leftover grilled chicken thighs but you can always use chicken breasts if preferred. Adding the tart apples also adds a exciting texture and complements the Indian spices beautifully. My husband was very skeptical of the apples and the almonds at first impression, but really liked what they added to the soup. I also added a little bit of rice as well to sop up all that wonderful curry. Enjoy! 

Mulligatawny Soup

Serves 8

1 T vegetable oil
1 leek, white and light green parts only
2 cups onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped (first addition)
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 Pasilla pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, halved
7 cups chicken broth, divided 2cups/5cups
2" fresh ginger, chopped (~2 T)
3 chicken thighs, cooked and chopped
1 small carrot, finely diced (second addition)
2 T Penzeys® Sweet Curry (plus more to taste)
1 T ground cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 T tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
1 can full fat coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tart apple, chopped 
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
Strained Greek yogurt or coconut cream (optional)

In a large dutch oven, add oil, leeks, onions, carrots (1st addition), celery, Pasilla pepper and garlic and saute until tender crisp. 

Add two cups chicken broth and continue cooking until vegetables are tender, about ~8-10 minutes. Place the ginger in a blender and coarsely chop. Once the vegetables are tender, Add the vegetables along with all the liquid to the blender with chopped ginger and puree. (Note: when blending hot liquids, remove the lid insert and cover with a towel while blending) Transfer blender contents back into the dutch oven. 
Add remaining 5 cups of chicken broth, chopped chicken thighs, finely diced carrot(2nd addition), curry powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and tomato paste and salt and pepper to the dutch oven. Heat to a simmer, taste and adjust seasonings. Add coconut milk and cilantro and simmer for 5 minutes. 
Add chopped apples and toasted almonds and top with a dollop of Yogurt or coconut cream and more cilantro.  Enjoy!

Other recipes to try:

Potato Gnocchi and Spinach Curry

Spiced Couscous and Carrot Salad

Indian Spiced Lentils