Night Crawlers con Funghi

When I was a little girl, I loved to play in the dirt. I loved the smell of dirt, and much to the horror of my parents, I even liked the taste of dirt as I frequently sucked on rocks to get them clean. I know...pretty strange kid huh? My parents are probably surprised that I didn't die of trench mouth. 
One summer at my Grandma's house, my brother, sister and I got the hose and flooded her flowerbed and got nice and muddy making mud pies. We made dozens of pies loaded with sticks and grassy weeds popping from the gooey masses. We added a sprinkle of dirt on some and dried leaves on others. We uncovered earthworms and added them in the pies. Occasionally a worm or two were sacrificed as they tried to wiggle free from the mud pie. I remember feeling happy as we worked with a surprising amount of cooperation. We rarely did anything together that didn't involve arguing or eventual tears. Apparently, making a mess together builds teamwork. We eagerly lined up our mud pie masterpieces on sunlit patches of grass to dry. We were so proud of ourselves as we looked at the fruits of our labor... "Let's show Grandma!"
We didn't go far to find her because Grandma found us. Our excitement faded quick. The shock and horror on her face obvious as she looked at the mess we made of her flowerbeds...No more mud pies! 

Obviously we got in trouble, but we sure had fun doing it. It was worth the trouble. I still like playing in the dirt when I go out to garden and thankfully I gave up sucking rocks. Inspiration for this dish came from making mud pies and playing with worms. Nightcrawlers con Funghi is a fun Halloween dish that's hearty and packed with savory flavor from the sauteed pancetta, onions, garlic, and mushrooms tossed with rosy-hued Udon noodles and toasted garlic breadcrumbs...It is so delicious! (I'm eating leftovers as I write this!) 
Imagine the fun you can have plating this dish at your next Halloween party. Serve it in large flower pots with shovel serving spoons or serve individual plates on a garden trowels spilling over onto dirt breadcrumbs, like I did below. Serve it warm or room temperature. Either way, it is simply delicious! Happy Halloween!

Night Crawlers con Funghi (Noodles with Mushrooms and Pancetta)

Serves 4

1 small onion, sliced
5 oz. Pancetta, diced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2-3 cups baby Bella mushrooms, halved
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 t fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper (to taste)

2 packages Udon Noodles
1/4 t each orange and purple gel food coloring

1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1 T butter
1 t garlic powder

Breadcrumbs
Melt 1T butter in a small skillet over medium high heat. Add panko bread crumbs and garlic powder and toast breadcrumbs until they are a dark brown, stirring frequently to ensure they don't burn. Set aside.
Mushroom/Pancetta Mixture
Add butter and olive oil to large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions, mushrooms and pancetta and saute for about 10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme leaves and continue to saute until pancetta and onions are browned, and mushrooms are cooked to desired tenderness. About 10-15 minutes more. Add  salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat and set aside.
Udon Noodles
In a small bowl add 3-4 cups water and add approximately 1/4 t. each of orange and purple gel food coloring and whisk until dissolved and the water is an orange-brown color. Transfer water into a saucepan and add Udon noodles. Let noodles sit for about 10-15 minutes to color the noodles. Once desired color is achieved, cook the noodles according to package directions and drain. Add noodles to skillet with mushrooms and pancetta and stir fry until noodles are coated. Top with additional thyme leaves and breadcrumbs and Enjoy!

Other Halloween Main Dishes to try:
Love at First Bite Linguini                           Midnight Sushi                             Fiendish Fingers

Antipasto de los Muertos

I realize we are just a few short weeks into spring and a long way away from fall and my favorite holiday, Halloween, but I just couldn't help myself! I plan my Halloween recipes all year and this year I have over 16 really cool and fun recipes to share, so I decided to get them started early.

While playing around with cooking techniques to make my Death Cap Kabobs look and taste good, I searched for different ways to prepare mushrooms. The usual, sautéing and grilling popped up. Then I came across boiling mushrooms, which not only helped me with the Kabobs but, it also gave me the idea to make this Halloween inspired Appetizer by marinating the mushroom skulls. I coupled these marinated mushroom skulls with my Pickled Shrunken Heads from last year. I added roasted radishes because they just look like creepy Halloween food. I made a handful of mozzarella eyeballs and sliced up roasted red pepper guts along with more traditional antipasto ingredients like artichoke hearts, pepperoncinis and olives to round out my Antipasto de los Muertos.
Hope you find this inspiring! Happy (early) Halloween!

Antipasto de los Muertos

Serves 8-10

1 cup roasted red bell peppers, sliced
1 small jar pepperoncini, whole
1 cup container of marinated mozzarella balls
1-2 cups cucumber skulls
1-2 cups hard salami, sliced and cut up
1 cup green olives with pimento
1-2 cups marinated mushroom skulls
1 cup artichoke hearts
1 cup roasted radishes or pickled onions
bed of mixed greens (I used baby kale)

Prepare mushroom skulls, roasted radishes and cucumber skulls a day ahead. Assemble all ingredients on a platter and serve with your favorite vino and crusty bread! Happy Halloween!

Antipasto Mushroom Skulls
1-2 lbs. baby bella or button mushrooms, carved into skulls
1/2 cup olive oil plus about 1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large shallot, sliced
1 t each of dried oregano and dried parsley
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t salt (or to taste)
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t red pepper flakes

Cut Skull faces into mushrooms by using a large diameter straw for the eyes and a paring knife for the nose and the mouth.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add mushrooms. Boil for 10 minutes and remove from water and set out on paper towels to drain and cool completely. While cooling, make the marinade.
In a canning jar or a bowl that has a tight fitting lid, add all ingredients to container and shake well to mix. Once mushrooms have cooled, add them to the marinade. Seal lid and gently turn the jar upside down a few times to coat the mushrooms. Place in refrigerator over night. Mushroom will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.

Roasted Radishes

2 bunches radishes, greens trimmed, roots intact
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 large shallot, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 t dried parsley
1 t. dried basil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Add all ingredients to a shallow baking dish, cover with foil. Bake for 45 min-1 hour or until radishes are soft when pierced with a fork. Cool and refrigerate overnight.
salt pepper to taste

Here's another Halloween Inspired Appetizer to try:
                                                        Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte

Death Cap Kabobs

The flavor inspiration for these little morsels came from one of Hollywood's  oldest restaurants, Musso and Frank Grill. My husband took me
there a few months ago and we ordered their Mushrooms on Toast appetizer. The mushrooms were prepared in a red wine reduction sauce and served in a mini cast iron skillet topped with Roquefort Cheese and French bread. It was an amazingly delicious dish. I remarked to my husband that I'd like to try something like these mushrooms for the blog but, I was worried about how to photograph them and make them look as delicious as they tasted. The dark mushrooms in the dark reduction sauce would be problematic for a blog photo. Afterall, you can't taste the food on a blog, so the picture needs to make you want to make it and then eat it. 
So I came up with a sort of deconstructed Mushrooms on Toast Appetizer. I decided to forgo the red wine reduction for a balsamic reduction butter sauce and I replaced the toast with a toasted garlic panko bread crumb with crumbled bleu cheese. The balsamic buttered mushrooms and roasted garlic sit on a small bed of crumbs so that when the kabob is picked up, the crumbs stick to the buttered mushroom, giving it just a hint of toast and bleu cheese. It's a delicious combination of flavors and the crunchy texture of the bread crumbs gives it the wow-factor!

I love Halloween and Halloween inspired appetizers but this recipe, just like all my Halloween recipes can be a regular appetizer. Just skip the part where you make the mushroom into skulls. :) 
Happy (...early!) Halloween!

Death Cap Kabobs 

(Roasted Garlic and Mushrooms in Balsamic Butter with a Bleu Cheese Panko Crumble)

Makes 6-8 Kabobs

1 lb crimini mushrooms, cut into skulls
6-8 cloves roasted garlic
2 T balsamic butter reduction
6-8 T bleu cheese panko crumble

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Prepare Roasted Garlic and Balsamic Butter Sauce and Panko Crumble first and set aside. 

Quick Roasted Garlic
8-10 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 T olive oil

Preheat oven 375 degrees.
Wrap garlic cloves in foil drizzled with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in foil. 

Balsamic Butter Reduction
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 t brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

Put the vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer until approximately 3T remain. Turn off heat. Add butter and brown sugar and let sit until melted stirring until sugar is dissolved. Set aside. 
Unused butter can be stored in the refrigerator for a week and can be used on vegetables and pasta. 

Crumble
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 T butter
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t dried parsley
1 T crumbled bleu cheese
In a small skillet, melt butter and add panko bread crumbs, parlsey and garlic powder. Toast crumbs for about 5-8 minutes on medium heat, taking care not to burn them. Allow to cool completely before adding the bleu cheese. Set aside.


Mushroom Preparation

Skulls: Use a large straw to make the eyes of the skulls and a paring knife to cut out the nose. Use the tip of the knife to score the stem to make the teeth. Trim the stem if it is too long.
Bring a large pot of water to boil and blanche the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. This will shrink up the mushrooms a little and allow them to stay plump when roasting in the oven. Otherwise they will wrinkle up. 
Transfer mushrooms to a cookie sheet with a rack. Roast for 5 minutes. Toss mushrooms in a bowl and coat with balsamic butter. Assemble kabobs, starting with a roasted garlic and then a mushroom. Place 6-1 T of bread crumb/cheese mixture on a serving platter or in small salt and pepper plates, like I did below and top with the kabob.  Serve immediately.

Check out more delicious Halloween dishes by clicking here.