Try 3 spooky recipes at your next Halloween party
Looking for some recipes to spice up your Halloween parties this month?
The Offcenter Grill at the Yorktowne Hotel has a few ideas.
The restaurant started offering a menu of spooky snacks and drinks, including two specialty cocktails and three "horror d'oeuvres," on First Friday.
"The First Friday theme for York City was a Halloween theme," Offcenter Grill supervisor Ryan Holcomb said, "and we wanted to be a part of that."
The rain kept Offcenter Grill's usual First Friday crowd away, Holcomb said, but the First Friday menu will be available through Halloween from 6 to 9 p.m. each day.
The menu includes a Poison Apple Martini and Vampire's Kiss cocktail as well as Deviled Brains, a hard-boiled egg dish; Frankenstein's Cemetery, a spring greens and smoked kielbasa worms dish; and Bloody Eye, a peppermint patty dessert with blood orange sauce.
Cocktails are $5 and the Gruesome Three Horror d'oeuvres are three for $10.
Coming up with special Halloween-themed recipes is all about figuring out how to put a creative spin on ingredients you know you like, Holcomb said.
"It's easy to come up with your own recipes as long as you know what pairs well together," he said. "For example, cranberry juice pairs well with pomegranate and cherry. You can be as creative as you like."
For those planning Halloween parties this month, here are a few recipes to get you started.
Deviled Brains
Ingredients:
6 eggs
2 tbsp. roasted red bell peppers, pureed
1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. mayonnaise
Dash of salt and pepper
Food coloring of your choice
Directions:
Hard boil eggs. Crack the shells, but leave the eggs inside the shells. Add any color food coloring to a pot of water and soak the cracked eggs in the mixture overnight. Remove the shells from the eggs. You should see a colored pattern on the egg, resembling brains. Cut the eggs in half and remove the yolks. Mix red pepper, mayonnaise and yolks in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place a spoonful of the mixture in the center of each egg. Place eggs on a bed of greens and serve with pureed red peppers, if desired.
— Recipe by Amanda Rohrbaugh and Chef Derek Meyers, Offcenter Grill
Poison Apple Martini
Ingredients:
1 ½ oz whipped vodka
½ oz pomegranate liqueur
½ oz cherry liqueur
3 oz cranberry juice
Directions:
Boil equal parts water and sugar, and add red food dye. Rim a martini glass with the red sugar mixture. Shake remaining ingredients and strain into martini glass.
— Recipe by Amanda Rohrbaugh and Ryan Holcomb, Offcenter Grill
Vampire's Kiss
Ingredients:
9 oz. Guinness
3 oz. champagne
Directions:
Pour Guinness into a glass. Top with champagne.
— Recipe by Amanda Rohrbaugh and Ryan Holcomb, Offcenter Grill
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