Macheesmo

With only two days until Halloween, you might be looking for something quick to do. And in that regard, I’ve kind of let you down as a food blogger. I’ve posted about homemade gummy worms which most people decided were way to complicated to actually make – although I thought they might be a fun craft project. And I posted a pumpkin spice cupcake recipe that wasn’t hard, but wasn’t fast either.

So this post is all about quick stuff you can throw together 15 minutes before the party. Both of these appetizers are cheese-involved because cheese is a great way to bring some quick flavor to an appetizer dish.

Two Halloween Appetizers

by Nick

Serves:

Serves 8

Prep Time:

15 mins

Total Time:

15 mins

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Ingredients

Mozzarella Eyeballs

1 pound fresh mozzarella balls (you can find this in the deli section normally)

1/2 Cup Kalamata or black olives, sliced

1 Jar roasted red peppers

Toothpicks

Putrefied Cheese Log (Adapted from Martha Stewart. I know her recipe is called "Petrified" but Putrefied is a much better Halloween name in my opinion.)

5 ounces Blue Cheese (honestly you could use any cheese you wanted here I think. Just grate it up if it isn't crumbly.)

5 ounces cream cheese

Blue and/or green food coloring (just a few drops)

1/3 Cup Sesame seeds. Black work best, but are also hard to find. I just used regular and toasted them.

Crackers

Instructions

For eyeballs:
1) Drain red peppers and then give them a spin in a food processor.

2) Cut your olives into slices.

3) Cut a little divet out of each mozz ball so olive fits snugly on top.

4) Put eyeballs together and secure each olive with a toothpick.

For cheese log:
1) Combine blue cheese and cream cheese in a bowl and mush it all together with a fork.

2) Once it is all combined well, then add a few drops of food coloring and work it through the cheeses.

3) Then scoop cheese mixture out onto some plastic wrap. Gently fold the plastic wrap over and roll the cheese into a log. Try to compress the cheese really well so it forms a solid log. Sometimes it helps to twirl the ends around which tightens the plastic wrap around the cheese log.

4) Let this sit in the fridge for a few minutes just to firm up.

5) Meanwhile, toast sesame seeds (if you want) over high heat in a dry pan. They should take about 10 minutes to toast up nicely.

6) Let your sesame seeds cool after toasting and then just roll your cheese long in them and press to down so they stick to the outsides.

7) Serve it with crackers!

Mozzarella Eyeballs

This is a really simple dish that you can make in about 15 minutes. In dark lighting it kind of resembles a bloody dish of eyeballs. Always a crowd pleaser.

You can probably see where I’m going with this. First, drain your red peppers and then give them a spin in a food processor. Heck, if you are really in a rush, you could just use tomato sauce here people.

Next, cut your olives into slices. Is this even a recipe?

The only tricky part about this, and I’m pretty sure it is optional, is to cut a little divet out of each mozz ball so your olive fits snugly on top.

Then put your eyeballs together and secure each olive with a toothpick! If I were to make this again, I think I would serve it in a shallow bowl rather than a plate so the sauce would cover more of the eyeballs.

These are pretty classic flavors that go really well together so it’s a surefire win for an appetizer.

Putrefied Cheese Log

This is kind of an odd one, but basically it’s a flavorful cheese spread formed into a log and coated with sesame seeds which somewhat resemble maggots I guess. I will say that it’s very tasty. Especially if you are a blue cheese lover like me.

Just combine your blue cheese and cream cheese in a bowl and mush it all together with a fork. Once it is all combined well, then add a few drops of food coloring and work it through the cheeses. I think I added a bit too much green, but you get the idea.

Then scoop your cheese mixture out onto some plastic wrap.

Gently fold the plastic wrap over and roll the cheese into a log. Try to compress the cheese really well so it forms a solid log. Sometimes it helps to twirl the ends around which tightens the plastic wrap around the cheese log.

If you’ve ever made compound butter, it’s the same idea.

Let this sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes just to firm up. Meanwhile, you can toast your sesame seeds (if you want) over high heat in a dry pan. They should take about 10 minutes to toast up nicely. Toasting sesame seeds is not as finicky as pine nuts or something with a lot of oil in them.

Let your sesame seeds cool after toasting and then just roll your cheese long in them and press to down so they stick to the outsides. Serve it with crackers!

Mine kind of looks more psychedelic than putrefied, but whatever. It’s pretty darn delicious. The sesame seeds make it in my opinion.

The best thing about going to a Halloween party (or hosting one) is seeing lots of little appetizer dishes all around that you can sample throughout the night.

You could make both of these dishes in under an hour and they would be pretty well received at any party.

Have any other quick appetizers? They don’t have to be Halloween specific, but if you do, leave a comment!