That Sexy Dish!: 'The Walking Dead' Screening Party

My TWD Party Invite

In addition to "Orange is the New Black" as being among my favorite of television series, "The Walking Dead" has ranked high up on the list for several years now. So, this year, I had to have a screening party for the Season 6 release on Netflix. Although it may be too late to inspire your screening party, these recipe ideas and decorations will be great for a Halloween celebration and/ or the Season 7 Premier coming in October for those who have direct access to AMC.

Like many zombie parties, we decided on having the dead dude on the table to be our food. But given that many of my party guests were a mix of the boring 'pizza and beer' variety as well as several healthy eating folks looking for gluten-free and vegetarian options (yea, vegetarian options at a Zombie Party!!!) the menu did require some imagination to satisfy both sets of palates as well as stay in theme with the afternoon's happenings. Our break from the TV was a fun TWD themed relay race and I have provided those details below too...Enjoy!

On the Menu

Pasta Brains (can be made GF & Vegetarian)

Meatloaf Zombie Face (can be made GF)

Roasted 'Beeting' Heart (GF & Vegetarian)

Rib Bone Rolls (GF and Vegetarian)

Intestines Stromboli

Shredded Thighs: 1 (Chicken Strips) Shredded Thigh 2 (Potato Skins - bacon & cheese & GF & vegetarian options)

Daryl's String of "Ears" (GF)

Signature Libation: The Zombie-tini

Pasta Brains - I do recommend to purchase a brain gelatin mold to make this take the intended shape. They are very common in party stores or Amazon and inexpensive. If one is not at all available, an oval-shaped bowl may do the trick with the same instructions.

Ingredients:

1/2 box of cavatappi, shell or elbow macaroni pasta (GF options available at most markets)

2 stalks of celery sliced

1/2 cup yellow onion, minced

1/2 cup olive oil mayonnaise

2 tsp garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

dashes of hot sauce to taste

1-2 beets, peeled and diced

1 box of gelatin

Cook pasta as per package instructions (boil in water and drain)
Mix pasta celery, onion, mayonnaise, salt & pepper and dashes of hot sauce in a mixing bowl until all ingredients are well blended.
Gently fold in beets. (You want some 'bleed' over coloring but not to turn the whole pasta pink)
Transfer pasta to brain mold or bowl
Prepare gelatin per box instructions
Pour gelatin into mold (or bowl) over pasta and allow to set in refrigerator as per gelatin instructions.
Carefully release pasta from mold or bowl onto serving platter.

Meatloaf Zombie Face - although there are several versions of meatloaf recipes as well as even meatloaf zombie face recipes out there, this one is especially gruesome because of its final decorating touches as well as the additional tomatoes and cheese in the mix make the face look like its "oozing" bloody chunks and puss when you cut a piece...yum! Gross, but yum!

Ingredients:

2 lbs of lean ground beef

2 eggs

1 cup panko bread crumbs (GF options available at most markets or make your own with GF Chex cereal)

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup yellow onion, minced

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

salt & pepper to taste

8 oz of Monterrey jack cheese, cut in 1" square chunks

1 can stewed tomatoes

5-6 vertical chunks of yellow onion (for teeth)

5-6 strips of bacon

2 whole Bella mushrooms, stems removed

1 pimento stuffed green olive

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix the first 11 ingredients (minus 3 tbsp. of ketchup) together in a large mixing bowl.
In a medium-large size round baking dish or deep pie dish, transfer meatloaf mixture and form two indentations for eyes and a wide bar for the open mouth.
Place bacon strips over "non-indented parts" of the face, to represent mangled flesh (cheeks, forehead and chin)
Bake in oven for about 45 - 60 minutes or the meat reaches an internal temperature of 175 degrees F and bacon is cooked through and meatloaf has browned around the edges.
Carefully remove baking dish from oven with mitts, place a pan or pot top/ cover over the baking and drain any excess grease and drippings.
Take the 5-6 vertical cut chunks of yellow onion and place them in the indentation bar/ mouth of the face to make teeth.
Place each Bella mushroom, in eye indentations, tops down, caps up.
Cut olive in half and place them into the mushroom caps.
Drizzle reserved ketchup strategically around face to look like blood streaks.

Roasted "Beeting" Heart

Ingredients:

3-4 beets, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

4-6 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

sea salt & pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Place beets in a bowl and drizzle with 2 tbsp.extra virgin olive oil
4. Cover the bowl with Saran wrap and shake vigorously (keeping beets enclosed in the bowl) to coat each piece with the oil
5. Lay out beets on a baking sheet and season with sea salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.

6. Roast in oven for approximately 30-45 minutes.
7. Remove from oven, let cool for about 5 minutes, and transfer to a serving bowl...Enjoy!

Rib Bone Rolls - makes 8 rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup olive oil mayonnaise

1 can mild green chilies

1/4 cup marinated jalapenos, minced

1/2 cup cooked spinach

1/2 cup canned artichoke hearts, minced

8 egg roll wraps

3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix first 7 ingredients all together in a large mixing bowl.
Spoon mixture into an egg roll wrapper, vertically along the center angle of the wrapper
Wrap both end points inwards and and roll to enclose mixture and place on greased baking sheet.
Repeat 8 times or until all of the mixture is used up.
Brush each roll with extra virgin olive oil.
Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes or until wrappers begin to bubble an brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Transfer or arrange on serving dish with two roll to be a center breast bone and the remaining 6 rolls on either side of breast bone in a down - outward angle to represent rib bones.

Intestines Stromboli - I mentioned some of my guests are fans of the 'pizza and beer' menu, as well as there are several 'pizza intestines' recipes, so I wanted something a little unique but that would still satisfy those pizza party cravings. The Intestines Stromboli was born!

Ingredients:

2 cans of refrigerated pizza dough

1 lb. Italian sausage, hot broken up into bite-sized chunks

1 lb. Andouille sausage, sliced into 1/2" chunks

8 oz Canadian bacon, julienne

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

3 leaves fresh basil, minced

3/4 cup pizza sauce

4-6 green olives, minced

12 pepperoni slices, julienne

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp sweet basil

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
In a large skillet over medium to high heat, cook both lbs of sausage meat thoroughly.
Remove from heat
Add in Canadian bacon, both cheeses, basil, pizza sauce (minus 3 tbsp.) and mix with sausages thoroughly.

Pic 1
Roll out first can of pizza dough on a floured surface/ cutting board.
Spoon sausage mixture into one long end in a row onto the dough and roll the dough over it once, see pic 1.
Spoon sausage mixture into a second row along the roll just made, see pic 2.

Pic 2
Fold the opposite side of the dough over to form one large roll.
Transfer to greased deep baking dish (cake pan) and coil into an intestines curl, see Pic 3.
Repeat with second roll of dough.
Brush tops of dough with olive oil.
Season dough with garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and sweet basil.

Pic 3
Sprinkle with pepperoni pieces.
Cut a few slits in the 'intestines' and drizzle reserved pizza sauce near slits to create a 'bleeding' effect.
top with a sprinkle with green olives pieces.
Bake in the over for approximately 30-35 minutes or until the dough is fully cooked and formed, and browning on top.

Shredded Thighs - Served in the equivalent of meatloaf pans, for the Chicken Tenders, I simply picked some up at my local grocery to save some time. However, if you want to make some fried chicken strips from scratch, click here for my Southern-Style Sunday Dinner for my fried chicken recipe. My second 'Shredded Thigh' was composed of Potato Skins (both traditional and vegetarian) and the serving of both options gives both a chopped meat (bacon bits) and a gangrene effect (broccoli covered with cheese) to the dead dude's thigh:

Potato Skins Ingredients (both meat & vegetarian options - GF)
3-4 large Russet potatoes
1 cup steamed/ cooked broccoli (I prefer fresh broccoli but frozen works fine as well) chopped
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Sour cream and/ or GF ranch dressing available for guests to spoon onto skins.

Preheat 350 degrees F
Thoroughly wash potatoes (scrub skins)
Poke a few steam holes in potatoes with a fork.
Cook potatoes in microwave for about 8 minutes or until softened.
Cut potatoes lengthwise and hallow out.
Fill half with cheese and topped with bacon crumbles and the other half with broccoli topped with cheese and lay on a baking sheet.
Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Daryl's String of 'Ears' - Whether you want to use the recipe below, which is pretty simple, or dress it up further, such as with a jerk rub or with coconut, the technique of stringing the ears can be used for any TWD Party theme, no matter your ear-flavor preference.

Ingredients:

1/4 - 1/2 lbs of large shrimp, peeled, tail off and de-veined
1/2 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp Island Spice seasoning - comprised of onion, ginger, mustard seed, garlic, paprika, etc.
4 cups water
dashes of hot sauce
no flavor wax dental floss
toothpick or skewer

Boil shrimp in water in a pot on the stove, with salt, seasonings and hot sauce.
Drain shrimp and allow to cool.
Cut necklace lengths of dental floss to accommodate number of guests.
Wrap one end of floss a few times around the toothpick or skewer and hold in place with your finger.
String the dental floss through 3-4 shrimp and tie ends into a knot and free hang the edible ears.

Decorations

I used an old shirt and pants and ripped them up in order slide my baking dishes inside them to give the illusion that my dead dude had its parts all out.
Other basic decorations were zombie-themed plates, napkins and cups and I also made Survive napkins with silver & black utensils.
I strung up black and red streamers in various places and shredded the ends to make it look like the place was beat up as well as some Zombie Caution Tape.
I was lucky that between myself and another guest we had two anima-tronic little Zombie girls, and I placed them on each end of the table. The one that was an official TWD, the Bunny Slipper Girl even inspired my costume.
See the Zombie-tini for my drink table pics.

Terminus Relay Race:

Governor's Eye Toss - this was a spin of the traditional egg toss, only we made the eggs barely soft boiled in some blue/ black food coloring and slightly cracked the shells before beginning. So they looked like dismembered eyeballs were a lot harder to throw delicately enough to keep from cracking.
Bobbing for Brains - I got some sticky mini-brains and put them in a tub with water. And from there it's a pretty standard bobbing contest and we gave our contestants 60 seconds.

Sticky-brains in a bin of water for bobbing

Contestant participating in bobbing for brains!!!
Dead Legged Race - This was a race over some distance with a cinder-block tied to one of the participants' legs. This can be timed or be a true race depending on if you have enough cinder blocks for all participants.