Recipes: Bewitch all the family with some ghoulish Halloween treats

Published on Saturday 31 October 2009 10:18

FROM haunted vaults and an old eerie underground city hidden deep below the streets, to tales of grave robbers, witch hunters and executioners, Edinburgh is shrouded in myth and mystery with a very real and terrifying dark history dating from the 1400s. And, as the annual witching hour arrives, our historic Capital is the only place to be.

Today is the day that kids of all ages have been waiting for from at least the end of August. Shops have been brimming with devilish decorations and gruesome dressing-up outfits for weeks, and it's safe to say that Hallowe'en is here.

As Hallowe'en falls on a Saturday this year, it's the perfect excuse to gather friends and family together for games, ghost stories, pranks and, of course, food. Whether it's a tea party for children or a more grown-up bash, this is the ideal time to have some fun in the kitchen and use lots of imagination to create spooky dishes.

When it comes to making an impact with Hallowe'en party food, all normal cooking rules go out the window. On this day only, forget about looks – it's all about texture and colour. Bright, garish greens, blood reds and vibrant oranges bring a table to life and will complement any Hallowe'en decorations. It's all about an abundance of gloopy, gunky, slimy and oozing foods – the more revolting-looking the better.

Little monsters are great helpers in the kitchen and creating fiendish dishes is the perfect way to introduce wee ones to cooking at home. Cocktail sausages can be wrapped in lengths of flour tortillas to make bandaged fingers and a blob of bright red tomato ketchup at one end completes the ghoulish effect. Cook in a hot oven at around 200C for 10 minutes.

Some of the best party food is bite-sized nibbles. Pork ribs with a sticky glaze made to look like a big bowl of bones along with samosas shaped like a witch's hat would be ideal. Or try meatballs served with cocktail sticks and dipped in a bowl of blood red tomato sauce, which will delight any wee horror. Mini mozzarella balls can be transformed into evil eyeballs with a dot of ketchup or even green pesto.

Hallowe'en shaped cookie cutters can be used to make homemade tortillas in a variety of scary shapes. Simply cut out from a flour tortilla, drizzle with a touch of oil, season with salt and pepper and then bake in a hot oven for a few minutes until just brown. Serve with a dip made from avocados, salsa and grated cheese for a gunky, gruesome accompaniment.

And sweet can be just as sickly. Try bright-green lime jelly with grape eyeballs as a perfect party pudding for children. Caramel apples are another tradition at this time of year and tasty for both kids and adults alike. Or make a simple shortbread recipe and let kids cut out scary shapes – it is a fun way to spend an afternoon and decorating them is a chance to release all inner demons. Think about using coloured icing, gummy sweets or chocolate.

And, if carving a pumpkin, then there are plenty of ways to use both the flesh and seeds. Pumpkin flesh can make delicious soups, pastas or pudding, while the seeds can be roasted in a hot oven with seasoning to make a nutritious nibble.

Peter Fleming is head chef of Hadrian's Brasserie at The Balmoral, www.thebalmoralhotel.com, 0131-556 2414.