Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone, I hope you have had a great weekend. We had a party on Saturday night and all got suitably dressed up for the occasion. It turned out to be quite the collection of costumes including a geisha (moi!), catwomen, the joker, a vampire, superboy, a rocker, pirate, cowgirl, horse, 80's prom queen and Greek God to name a few!! On the menu were some bat wings with mouldy dip, trolls toes, slime dip and an eyeball cheesecake....not for the fainthearted!



Bloody Good Cocktails

These recipes are a little late for Halloween now but the are so delicious that you can serve them at any party, perhaps just stick to their original names though!

Bat Wing's

(Honey Garlic Chicken Wing's)

Most often than not we cook these on the BBQ, however you can cook them in the oven and they are still delicious. If it's easier you can also cook the wings ahead of time then just warm them in the oven for about 5 minutes before tossing with the sauce. The wings I buy are quite small so if you buy the bigger ones you will need to cook them a bit longer than I have stated. I use half a packet of chicken wings for this recipe and use the other half to make some hot and spicy buffalo wings (see below). If you prefer though just double the amount of sauce and use all of the chicken wings.

½ large packet of chicken wings (roughly 24)

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tsp ginger, finely grated

6 tbsp honey

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp light soy sauce

Put all the ingredients for the sauce into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer gently for 5 minutes until reduced and slightly thickened.

To cook the chicken wings –

Season the chicken wings with a little salt and pepper. If cooking in the oven, preheat the oven to 200C/ 400F/ GM 6 then cook the wings for 40-45 minutes or until they are completely cooked through and crispy and golden on the outside.

If cooking on a barbecue, once the barbecue is ready (or preheated if using a gas one) cook the wings over a medium-low heat with the point of the wings on the outside and the meaty drums inside so that they cook evenly, for roughly 20 minutes or until they are completely cooked through and deliciously crisp and slightly charred on the outside.

When the chicken wings are ready transfer them to a large bowl and pour over the sauce. Serve at once with lots of napkins!

(If the wings aren't crisping up enough, simply turn the grill on for a minute at the end until the skins are crispy and golden brown)

Buffalo Chicken Wings

To make these hot and spicy wings I just cook the wings as above then right before serving drizzle over some buffalo wing hot sauce and toss well – be warned though, they will have a good kick!

Mouldy Dip

(Blue Cheese Dip)

125ml sour cream

125ml mayonnaise

85g/ 3oz blue cheese of your choice, crumbled

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

Mix together the sour cream and mayonnaise then crumble in the blue cheese. Mix with a fork crushing the cheese a little as you do. Add the lemon juice and parsley and stir well. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Troll's Toes

(Honey & Sesame Chipolatas)

60 chipolata or cocktail sausages

125ml honey

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

Sprinkling of sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 400F. Put the sausages on a non-stick baking tray so they are in a single layer. In a small bowl or jug mix together the honey, maple syrup, sesame oil and soy sauce. Drizzle over the sausages then toss well so they are evenly coated. Cook in the oven for 40 minutes or until properly cooked through and are sticky and delicious. Just before serving sprinkle over the sesame seeds.

*The slime dip was made by my brother-in-law and is my spinach and artichoke dip.

* The cheesecake my sister made was from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food (as we are testing his cookbook), just slightly adapted with the topping!