Halloween Food
Creamy Wild Rice Chicken Soup
Many years ago, my dad came home on a Saturday afternoon and started putting this soup together. I was so excited. He pulled out wild rice, chicken, and cream and went to work. The soup was delicious! His recipe and inspiration for his soup was from the Chef at 1790 in Savannah. My dad loves good food and has always enjoyed going to dinner with us when we were little and to this day. Mom and Dad were the first ones to help me understand the meaning of a good meal and family time around the table – and I love them for it. This is my memory of that day and that decadent soup.
I cook my wild rice ahead as it takes longer to cook and allows to move the recipe along. You can substitute with a wild rice blend.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups wild rice, cooked (about 10 ounces of rice before cooking)
2 1/2pounds chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon hot sauce
Directions
Boil the wild rice according to package directions and set aside.
In a medium stock pot, boil chicken thighs in 8 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of salt for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
Remove chicken thighs from the stock and let cool. Set stock aside as it will be used in the soup.
Once cooled, remove skin, debone, and shred the meat for the soup using two forks in a pulling method. Discard skin and bones.
In a large stock pot, add carrots, celery, onion and mushrooms in olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon of salt for 10 minutes or until tender. Then add the thyme and stir for one minute. Follow with the garlic and sauté for one minute.
Add 8 cups of the chicken broth to the large stock pot with vegetables. If you do not have enough broth, add water to make 8 cups.
Then add the rice, chicken, and cream to the soup and bring to a low simmer.
Season the soup with 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, pepper, garlic powder, bay leaves, and hot sauce .
Let the soup simmer on low for 30 minutes being careful not to burn. Serve immediately.
PEPPERONI PIZZA SKELETONS
These are absolutely the tastiest and most fun Halloween treats. To celebrate Halloween, I like to offer goodies to kids and adults that are savory and filling. These do both.
If you decide to make this ahead for a party, you may want to leave the marinara out before baking. You can serve the marinara as a dipping sauce to prevent the bread from becoming soggy.
You will need a silicone pan with large slots for the pizza rolls to be made. Here is a link to the one I used. Halloween Baking Tin
Ingredients
1 premade, raw pizza dough, divided
36 pepperoni slices, divided
6 ounces fresh pesto marinated mozzarella cheese, sliced, divided
6 ounces marinara sauce, divided
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roll out the pizza dough and cut into sixths.
Grease decorative silicon baking sheet and place the dough in each hole filling the dough up the sides.
Place 6 pieces of pepperoni into the bottom of each hole.
Place 1 ounce of mozzerella into each hole.
Please 1 tablespoon of marinara in each hole.
Wrap up the dough, folding each corner on to the opposing corner making a wrapped up pizza roll.
Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Once cooked, remove and let cool 5 minutes before serving.
ITALIAN SAUSAGE STUFFED MUSHROOMS
When I met Walt, I didn’t like mushrooms. I told him this and replied, “Well, you just haven’t eaten any cooked the right way.” He was right and now they are among my favorite foods to eat.
This recipe uses the method of “par cooking” to decrease the amount of water in the mushroom while eating. That is why you cook the mushroom a bit before stuffing it. This would make for a great appetizer or delicious light dinner when paired with a salad.
Ingredients
16 ounces whole white button or whole baby bella mushrooms, wiped off and destemmed (about 20 whole mushrooms)
16 ounces Italian sausage, ground
4 tablespoons shallots
2 tablespoons thyme, finely chopped, divided
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, shredded
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place mushrooms top side down on a sheet pan. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove after 20 minutes and discard the water from the middle of the mushroom.
In a skillet, brown the Italian sausage over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes until cooked through. Add the shallots and thyme and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes. Turn heat to low and stir in cream cheese and parmesan cheese until all the sausage is thoroughly coated and mixed well.
Place the mushrooms back on the sheet pan top side down. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of the sausage mixture into the middle of each mushroom.
Cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops of the sausage mixture begins to brown.
Serve warm.
LEMON DILL RANCH DIP
This is a fresh twist on a classic Ranch Dip. Serve with your favorite crudités.
Ingredients
16 ounces sour cream
1 ounce packet ranch dip
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh dill
Directions
Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Refrigerate for one hour before serving.
RICE KRISPY SKELETONS
This is a treat kids of all ages will enjoy making and uses the same pan as this week’s pepperoni rolls. Just fill the mold about half way full for a nice size treat! And use any candy or icing you like to decorate! We used a narrow tip to make the mouths. Plus Hershey Kisses and M & Ms come in handy!
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
5 1/2 cups marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies
6 ounces icing your preferred colors
1 cup candy your preferred type
Directions
Melt the butter and marshmallows over low heat. Once melted, stir in the Rice Krispies and coat fully with marshmallow mixture.
Spray a skeleton silicone mold with cooking spray. Press the Rice Krispy mixture in the mold and let cool for a 10 minutes.
Remove mold from Rice Krispie skeleton and decorate with icing and candy.
