Crime Unit

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween, Fall Harvest, and Blessed Samhain. There are so many people that celebrate a holiday or festival around this time of year.

The Jewish culture celebrated Simchat Torah this week. American’s celebrate Halloween. Celtics celebrate Samhain or The Last Harvest. Mexican’s around the world celebrate Los Dias de los Muertos to honor the dead. Plus it’s a Christian holy day of All Souls Day.

Since I love to cook on holidays, I’d thought that I’d offer some recipes for each culture. I wanted to give you the traditional meal that Barry FitzGerald fed to the crew of Ghost Hunters International before they investigated.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find it but I do have same excellent substitutions. Who knows, perhaps Mr. FitzGerald will email me and pass on the recipe?

Pan de Muerto (Bread of the dead)
This bread is usually shaped like a skull or a roll that has bones laid crossed it.

You’ll need
Half cup of butter
Half cup of milk
Half cup of water
5 to 5 and a half cups of flour
2 packages of dry yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1 Tablespoon whole anise seed
Half cup sugar
4 eggs

In a saucepan over medium flame, heat the butter, milk and water until very warm but not boiling.

Meanwhile, measure out one and half cups of flour and set the rest aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the 1-1/2 cups flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and sugar.

Beat in the warm liquid until well combined. Add the eggs and beat in another 1 cup of flour. Continue adding more flour until dough is soft but not sticky. Knead on lightly floured board for ten minutes until smooth and elastic.

Lightly grease a bowl and place dough in it, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 and a half hours. Punch the dough down and shape into loaves resembling skulls, skeletons or round loaves with “bones” placed ornamentally around the top. Let those loaves rise for 1 hour.

Bake in a preheated 350 F degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and paint on glaze.

Glaze
Half cup sugar
A third of a cup of fresh orange juice
2 Tablespoons grated orange zest

Bring to a boil fgor 2 minutes, then apply to bread with a pastry brush. Some have decorated the breads with colored sugar at times.

A Last harvest would not be a harvest without pumpkin. This is a great pumpkin dessert crust that I know that you will want to make year after year.

Frozen Pumkin Dessert Crust
Half cup graham cracker crumbs
A fourth of a cup of granulated sugar
A fourth of a cup of melted butter
Blend ingredients and press into the bottom of a 9” pan.

In another mixing bowl beat the following:
One and a half cups of canned or fresh pumpkin
Half of a cup of light brown sugar
Half a teaspoon of salt
One teaspoon of cinnamon
A fourth of a teaspoon of ginger
A eighth of a teaspoon of cloves
Fold in one quart softened vanilla ice cream. Pour over crust and freeze till firm. Cut into 3” squares and serve.

This great recipe came from The Artists’ Palette Cookbook by Bruce Chandler. It’s an interesting cookbook from artist in South Carolina.

A person can’t celebrate Samhain without some festival cakes. These cakes were popular at the turn of the century in Wales. It’s a unique cake to great friends with and to put on Samhain alters.

You’ll need
2 sticks of unsalted butter
One and half cups of self rising flour
Three fourths cup of confesctioner’s sugar, plus more for dredging
Half a cup of currants
3 Tablespoons dark beer, ale, or stout

Preheat the oven to 350”. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside.
Cut the butter inot the flour with a pastry blender, then add the sugar and currants.
Slowly add enough beer to make a soft dough. Turn it out onto a floured board and roll to a thickness of a quarter inch.

Cut into two inch rounds with a glass or cookie cutter and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until edges start to brown and the aroma fills the kitche. Cool on wire racks and dust with confectioner’s sugar.

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