October 31 Meal: Halloween Feast

Time to play catch-up.  I had five recipes to complete before the end of the month: Heirloom Squash Farrotto, Raw Cepes Salad, Root Vegetable Tagine with Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Turnips, and Spice-Roasted Chickpeas, Wild Mushroom Risotto, and Halloween Peanut Butter and Toffee Candy Bark.  It was a busy night and there were lots of leftovers.  Maybe not surprisingly, the leftovers barely got eaten.  There's a reason some of these were saved for last.

Heirloom Squash Farrotto

The problem with this recipe was that I couldn't find semi-pearled farro anywhere.  I thought my last chance was a Washington D.C. grocery store (they should everything up there, right?), but I had no luck.  I ended up with wheat berry.  It looks the same as farro, so we decided it was an OK substitution.  The outcome was good, except I forgot to add the butternut squash back into the mixture at first.  The sauce was especially good, made with toasted cumin seeds, yogurt, lemon juice, and garlic.  The leftovers were less impressive.

Yumminess: 7 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $8 for 4 main course servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 50 minutes for prep and 1:15 hours total. It took me about 30 minutes of prep and 55 minutes total.
Was it worth it?: It was good, but I might not make it any other time soon.

 

Raw Cepes Salad

This was one of the recipes I'd been avoiding, but it really ended up quite tasty!  However, the search for fresh (reasonably priced) porcinis was fruitless.  I just ended up using cremini mushrooms.  It was simple to make, just thinly slice the mushrooms and mix up the dressing of lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil.  Add a little bit of Parmesan to the top and that's it!

Yumminess: 8 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $3.75 for 4 small servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 20 minutes for prep and total. It took me about the same amount of time.
Was it worth it?: Yes, I probably won't make it often, but it was a unique salad and pretty cheap.

Root Vegetable Tagine with Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Turnips, and Spice-Roasted Chickpeas
October had been filled with root vegetables, so by the time we got to this we had OD'd.  I had high hopes for the flavor, but I think we just couldn't see past the vegetables.  Also, I'm not a huge fan of cous cous, so it was a little less appealing because of that.  I even burned my first batch of cous cous since I was doing too many things at once.  The flavor was decent and I think this would be a good vegetarian main dish, just not for me.

Yumminess: 6 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $11 for 6 big servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 45 minutes for prep and 1:45 total. It took me about the same amount of time.
Was it worth it?: No, I didn't really care for this dish much.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

This was a good dish, especially when it was fresh.  I've enjoyed learning that risotto isn't too challenging to make.  This risotto had re-hydrated porcini mushrooms and I also used some fresh stemmed shiitakes.  Another interesting ingredient was vermouth, but I couldn't quite pinpoint the flavor in the outcome.  Parmesan cheese makes the risotto extra creamy. 

Yumminess: 7 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $13.50 for 6 big servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 1 hour for prep and total. It took me about 40 minutes.
Was it worth it?: Yes, it was good and creamy.

Halloween Peanut Butter and Toffee Candy Bark

We weren't procrastinating on this recipe, we just wanted to make it on Halloween.  It was a great combination of different Halloween candies.  I used Ghirardelli chocolate for the base.  On top of that are Butterfingers, Heath bars, Reese's peanut butter cups, and honey roasted peanuts.  Next was supposed to be white chocolate drizzle, but I couldn't get the Nestle white chocolate to melt after three tries.  I ended up using the same dark chocolate as the base to "glue" the peanut M&M's on.  The outcome was great.  Only a small piece could cure any chocolate craving.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $8.50 for 2 pounds

Time: Bon Appetit said 20 minutes for prep and 1 hour total. It took me about the same.
Was it worth it?: Definitely, this was a great Halloween treat!