Articles > Halloween Recipes
Halloween Recipes
In the month of Halloween, here are some yummy season recipes to try out. Warming and melting in the mouth, pumpkin is the definite hero giving the dishes this mild sweetness. Plus, it's packed with vitamins to boost the immune system when we most need it.
Pumpkin soup
Ingredients
1 x 4kg/8lb 13oz pumpkin
125g/4oz butter
2 medium onions, peeled, finely chopped
1 cinnamon stick
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1.7 litres/3 pints chicken stock (vegetarians may substitute vegetable stock)
3 tablespoons sherry
Preparation method
Cut the top off the pumpkin and set aside. Scoop out the seeds and fibres from the middle and discard.
Using a sharp knife and a spoon, carefully hollow out the pumpkin, removing the flesh and setting aside. (It is imperative that you do not cut right up to the inside of the skin or pierce it. Leave 2cm/1in of flesh all around the inside.)
Roughly chop the scooped-out pumpkin flesh.
Melt the butter in a large pan with a lid over a low heat and add the onions. Cook the onions gently for 10-15 minutes, until they are softened and golden-brown.
Add the pumpkin flesh, the cinnamon and nutmeg, and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Increase the heat to medium and cover with the lid. Cook for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the base from burning, until the pumpkin is cooked through.
Add the stock and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Transfer the soup to a food processor in batches and blend until smooth.
Return the soup to the pan and bring to a low simmer and cook for a further half an hour.
Forty-five minutes before eating, preheat the oven to 170C/335F/Gas 3.
Pour the soup into the hollow pumpkin shell, add the sherry and stir to combine.
Place the reserved pumpkin 'lid' onto the pumpkin and place onto a large baking tray. Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes, to bring the soup up to temperature.
To serve, carefully remove from the oven and serve the soup in the pumpkin at the table. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Winter vegetable salad
Ingredients
For the pumpkin purée
2 tsp olive oil
250g/9oz pumpkin (such as Muscat de Provence or Iron Bar), peeled, cut into 2cm/1in cubes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp hazelnut oil
For the pumpkin and beetroot
1 candy beetroot, washed, quartered
1 golden beetroot, washed, quartered
1 ruby beetroot, washed, quartered
4 pieces pumpkin, each cut into rounds 3cm/1.5in in diameter and height using a pastry cutter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce
100ml/3½fl oz ruby port
100ml/3½fl oz red wine
1 star anise
caster sugar, to taste
For the mushroom fricassée
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small handful baby beetroot leaves
100g/3½oz mixed mushrooms, such as chanterelles, girolles and trompettes
squeeze lemon juice
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
10g/½oz fresh flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
For the garnish
½ parsnip, peeled, sliced into ribbons with a vegetable peeler, deep-fried until crisp and golden-brown
12 fresh sage leaves, deep-fried until crisp
12 pickled baby shallots
Preparation method
For the pumpkin purée, heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan and gently fry the pumpkin for 4-5 minutes over a medium-low heat. Season with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Increase the heat and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. Continue to cook the pumpkin for 8-10 minutes, or until tender. Transfer to a food processor and blend to a smooth purée. Spoon into a bowl and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix in the extra virgin olive oil and hazelnut oil. Set aside until ready to serve.
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
Bring a pan of water to a simmer and place a steamer insert on top. Place all of the beetroot into the steamer and steam for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Set aside to cool slightly.
Heat the olive oil in a small ovenproof frying pan, add the pumpkin rounds and fry for 1-2 minutes on one side, or until golden-brown. Transfer to the oven and roast for 7-10 minutes, or until golden-brown and tender.
Mix the steamed beetroot with the extra virgin olive oil in a small pan and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Warm through over a medium heat just before serving.
For the sauce, heat a frying pan until hot and carefully pour in the port, and reduce in volume by half.
Add the red wine and star anise to the pan and simmer until the liquid has reduced in volume by a further two-thirds, and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and add a little bit of sugar if the tannins in the sauce are too strong. Strain the sauce into a small bowl.
For the mushroom fricassée, heat a non-stick frying pan until hot and add the olive oil, baby beetroot leaves and chanterelle mushrooms. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and fry for one minute, then cover the pan with a lid and cook for a further minute.
Add the girolles and fry for a further 30 seconds with the lid on, then remove the lid and add the trompette de la mort mushrooms. Cook for a few more seconds, then season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir in the chopped parsley.
To serve, take a spoonful of pumpkin purée and drag it in a line along the middle of a rectangular plate. Place three beetroot wedges along the purée (one of each colour). Place a roasted pumpkin round on the other end of the pumpkin purée. Spoon the mushroom fricassée on either side of the pumpkin. Top with some deep-fried parsnip ribbons and deep-fried sage leaves, and arrange a few pickled shallots around the plate. Drizzle over the sauce. Repeat the process three more times to create four servings.
Chicken shank with pumpkin croque monsieur, chicken crackling and a pecan and flower salad
Ingredients
For the croque monsieur
350g/12oz pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed and flesh diced
salt
1 tbsp avocado oil
2 slices Iberico ham
2 slices strongly-flavoured rind-washed cheese
4 slices white sandwich bread
25g/1oz unsalted butter, softened
For the shanks
4 large chicken drumsticks
sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
pinch smoked paprika
pinch ground coriander
1 tbsp avocado oil
knob of unsalted butter; softened
For the sauce
150g/5½oz pitted cherries
300ml/10fl oz chicken stock
4 tbsp bourbon or rye whiskey
3 tbsp white vermouth
3 tbsp red vermouth
4 tsp orange juice
For the crackling
250g/9oz lard
skins from the chicken drumsticks
For the pecan and flower salad
small handful chervil
small handful dill
small handful sage
50g/1¾oz pecans, roasted, shelled and halved
small handful edible flowers
2 tsp avocado oil
1 tsp lemon juice
Preparation method
For the croque monsieur, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Place the pumpkin in a small roasting pan, coat with the oil and season with salt. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until completely tender, then blend in a food processor to make a thick, chunky purée.
Meanwhile, skin the chicken drumsticks, reserving the skins. Remove the knuckle joints and scrape away the flesh from the bottom of the drumsticks so the meat will shrink back during cooking to reveal the shank bone.
Blend together the salt, pepper, spices, oil and butter and rub the mixture into the chicken. Place the drumsticks in a roasting tin and roast for 15 minutes, or until browned and just cooked through. Remove the pan from the oven and leave to rest in a warm place until ready to serve.
For the sauce, place the cherries and stock in a saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce the volume of liquid by half. Pass through a fine sieve and set the liquid aside.
Heat the whiskey, white vermouth and red vermouth in a small pan and flambé until the flames die down. Add the orange juice and reduce by two-thirds. Stir in the cherry liquid and reduce by a further one-third or until the sauce is thick and glossy. Remove the pan from the heat and reheat gently just before serving.
For the crackling, melt the lard in a saucepan and gently fry the skins until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper, then break into small pieces and scatter with sea salt. Keep warm until ready to serve.
For the salad, roughly tear the herbs and mix in a bowl with the pecans and the flowers. Blend together the olive oil and lemon juice in a small bowl, season with a little salt and gently mix into the salad.
To finish the croque monsieur, heat a griddle pan over a high heat. Make sandwiches with the ham, cheese and pumpkin purée, buttering both sides of the bread with the softened butter. Griddle the sandwiches for two minutes on each side until golden-brown and the cheese is starting to ooze out. Cut each sandwich into four small triangles.
To serve, spoon the sauce around the plates. Place two triangles of croque monsieur in the middle and place the chicken on top. Scatter the salad and crackling around the chicken and serve immediately.
Pumpkin and rosemary muffins
Ingredients
60ml/2fl oz vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
180g/6½oz self-raising flour
130g/4½oz wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt
3 fresh rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
100ml/4fl oz plain yoghurt
275ml/10fl oz milk
1 tbsp honey
240g/8½oz cooked pumpkin, cut into ½cm/¼in cubes
handful pumpkin seeds
Preparation method
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Oil a 12-hole muffin tin and line with 12 squares of baking paper. Push the squares down into each hole so that the paper sticks up.
Sift the flours, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir in the salt and rosemary. (Reserve any wholegrain left in the sieve.)
Meanwhile in another bowl, mix the eggs, yoghurt, milk, honey and vegetable oil until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold the ingredients together, but be careful not to over-work the mixture.
Sprinkle the reserved wholegrain, pumpkin and the pumpkin seeds over the muffins. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20–25 minutes, or until the muffins are well risen and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Serve and eat at any time of the day.
Source: BBC Food
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