Tricks to their treats: Chefs share simple steps to a festive Halloween menu

For treats without tricks this Halloween, we asked area chefs for simple steps for a festive dinner table. Here are some no-fuss ways to dress up your Halloween menu.

At Mon Ami Gabi in Oak Brook, executive chef Bruce Williams is getting ready for a Halloween Dinner Party the restaurant will host on Oct. 28.

Williams will make flavorful, seasonal purées with ingredients like parsnips and butternut squash to showcase Halloween party menu items like horseradish-crusted braised short ribs. The purees add color and balance with a subtlety of earthy, seasonal flavors.

And making purées is simple: To make a parsnip purée, for example, combine 1 pound of peeled, thinly sliced parsnips with a tiny handful of thinly sliced garlic. Add 1/2 cup of cream, 1/2 cup of milk, and 2 tablespoons of butter and bring it all to a boil in a saucepan over the stovetop. Lower the heat, cover the saucepan and simmer until the parsnips are soft (10-15 minutes). Remove the saucepan cover and reduce the liquid in half by continuing to cook. Season with a pinch of salt. Purée in a blender until smooth. Plate the purée and top with short ribs or other meats. Parsnips can be substituted with butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower or other root vegetables.

“This my favorite dish to make due to the seasonality of fall vegetables,” Williams said.

For a costume party at Autre Monde in Berwyn on Oct. 31, the menu features pumpkin soup shooters, black rice arancini — and, of course — deviled eggs. And mixologist Becci Visconti West will also be making plenty of one of her favorite specialty drinks, which she has aptly named Ghost.

“It’s my take on a White Russian,” West said.

To make a Ghost cocktail, West blends 1 1/2 ounces of vodka with 1/2 ounce Kahlua and 1/2 ounce spiced heavy cream. To make the spiced cream, she mixes heavy cream with vanilla extract and 1 ounce of a grappa-based aperitif. She mixes it all together with ice, strains and pours.

West’s simple trick for creating cocktails with elaborate flavors? Flavored simple syrups. As she explained, they’re a cinch to make and they significantly enhance the flavor profile of drinks. “Just with a few soft deviations from a recipe you can really go nuts,” she said. Walnuts, in fact: West makes simple syrups by cooking down equal parts granulated sugar and water with desired amounts of everything from walnuts to rhubarb to cinnamon, which is perfect for accenting an Old Fashioned.

West also spices honey for blending into cocktails. She adds 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of ginger and 1/2 cup of water to 1 cup of honey. She shakes it all together in a squeeze bottle and incorporates it into cocktail recipes for enhanced flavor.

Meanwhile, in a storied building in downtown Hinsdale that once housed the Hinsdale Theater, father and son team Luis Mendoza Sr. (chef) and Luis Mendoza Jr. (mixologist) will pay homage to the spirits of some of the Spanish actors that once graced the silver screen. Their Day of the Dead dinner is now an annual event. Each course of the dinner is dedicated to a different screen siren.

“The history of these great characters inspired me to create this menu that has so much history,” Mendoza Sr. said.

This year, on Oct. 31, Mendoza will make apple, sweet potato and poblano-stuffed pork loin to honor the late Mexican film director, actor and screenwriter Emilio “El Indio” Fernández. “He was one of the most prolific film directors of the golden age of Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s,” Mendoza said. “He is best known for his work as director of the film ‘Maria Candelaria,’ which won the Palme d’Or award at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival. His favorite food was pork and mole verde.

“Mole verde is the lightest and freshest-tasting of Oaxaca’s seven varieties of different moles,” Mendoza said. “Fresh herbs (rather than spice accents) are what distinguish mole verde — a puree of green herbs is added at the last minute.”

Mendoza will also tip his hat on Halloween to Mexican actor Pedro Armendáriz, who loved mole poblano, a chocolate-laced sauce that originated in the Mexican mountain town of Puebla.

And his Halloween dinner will end on a sweet note in honor of Mexican movie star Dolores del Rio’s favorite dessert, which was tamales dulces or capulin black cherry. “She was the first Mexican movie star with international appeal and had a meteoric career in 1920s Hollywood, which was an extraordinary accomplishment for a Hispanic female in those years,” Mendoza said.

Apple, Sweet Potato and Poblano-Stuffed Pork Loin

Brine

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup kosher salt

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 cups boiling water

12 ice cubes

1 3-pound pork loin, trimmed

Stuffing for pork

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 poblano peppers, finely diced

1 small sweet potato, peeled and finely diced

1 small apple, such as Pink Lady or Gala, finely diced

More Top Picks The Ins And Outs Of Noise Cancelling

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

Rub

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

To prepare brine: Place brown sugar, 1/4 cup salt and 1 Tablespoon cumin in a heat-proof bowl. Pour in boiling water and stir to dissolve. Stir in ice cubes until melted.

To butterfly and brine pork: Double butterfly the pork loin so it can be flattened, stuffed and rolled. Place pork loin on a cutting board. Holding the knife blade flat, parallel to the board, make a lengthwise cut into the side of the roast just above the center, stopping short of the opposite edge so that the flap remains attached. Rotate the tenderloin 180 degrees. Still holding the knife parallel to the cutting board, make a lengthwise cut into the side opposite the original cut, just below the center, taking care not to cut all the way through. Open up the two cuts so you have a large rectangle of meat. Cover with plastic wrap and pound to an even thickness (about 1/2- to 1-inch thick). Place the pork in a sealable gallon-size plastic bag and pour in the brine; turn to coat. Place in a dish and refrigerate between two to four hours.

To prepare stuffing: About one hour before stuffing the pork, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add poblano peppers, sweet potato, apple, three garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon each pepper and chipotle and cook, stirring, until the potato is just tender, 12 to 15 minutes. (Add water by the tablespoon to prevent sticking, as needed.) Remove from the heat and let cool for about 15 minutes.

To rub and roast pork: Line a large baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray. Remove the pork from the brine and thoroughly pat dry. Combine 2 tablespoons oil, two cloves garlic, cilantro, chipotle and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly, then rub the mixture all over the pork. Spoon the stuffing mixture over the pork, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Roll up from long side to long side and secure in several spots with kitchen string. Transfer to the prepared pan seam-side down and let stand at room temperature while the oven preheats, 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roast the stuffed pork until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meat (not the stuffing) registers 145 degrees, for 45 minutes to one hour. Let rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes. Remove the string and slice the pork into thick rounds.

Executive Chef Luis Mendoza Sr., Cine Modern Taqueria