Orange Food for Halloween
- Bright orange cheddar cheese gives pimento cheese its vivid coloring.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
For an appetizer, start with pimento cheese. This Southern favorite is a bright orange spread made with two types of cheese, mayonnaise and diced pimentos. Paula Deen's recipe combines 3 oz cream cheese, 1 cup grated Montery Jack cheese, 1 cup grated cheddar, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tbsp. diced pimentos and 2 tsp. grated onions. The pimento cheese will taste better if you make it the night before and allow the flavors to combine. Serve it with vegetables for dipping or on top of pumpernickel cocktail toasts as an appetizer. - Serve pumpkin soup in a hollowed gourd for a pretty presentation.Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Pumpkin soups puts to use the variety of pumpkins available at stores at Halloween time. Do not use Jack o'Lantern pumpkins for making soup because those have a bland, stringy flesh. Canned, unsweetened pumpkin is both convenient and more concentrated in flavor than homemade pumpkin puree. To make a pumpkin soup, combine pureed pumpkin with chicken broth and your choice of seasonings. Stirring in heavy cream or half-and-half just before serving gives the soup a silky texture and rich flavor. - Wrap strips of salmon around carrots for an unexpected orange treat.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
For a twist on traditional foods, serve salmon sushi. Food Network features a recipe for carrot and black radish matchsticks to be wrapped with a strip of smoked salmon and nori seaweed. The result is a bright orange and black cocktail snack for a Halloween party. Nori is the seaweed used to wrap around sushi and can be found in Asian and gourmet stores. Black radishes have a black exterior and white interior with an eye-watering pungency. Look for them in some gourmet markets or substitute ordinary red radishes. Serve the salmon sushi with an orange-flavored soy sauce for dipping. - Roasted sweet potatoes have a savory-sweet flavor.Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
Orange sweet potatoes are versatile in the kitchen. Simply bake them and serve with whipped butter and brown sugar or mash them with orange juice. For more flavor, roast chunks of sweet potatoes with pecan halves. Toss the mixture with melted butter and cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. When the orange sweet potatoes caramelize, they will turn black on the edges, adding to the black and orange theme for Halloween. Adding brown sugar to the sweet potatoes before roasting encourages caramelization.
