Throw the Ultimate Halloween Party with These Friday the 13th Recipes from Nitehawk
Considering throwing your very own Halloween party this year? To save you from defaulting to spaghetti “brains” and deviled egg “eyeballs,” the team at Nitehawk Cinemas was kind enough to share the menu for their most recent “Film Feast,” inspired by Friday the 13th. In partnership with the Meat Hook (which serves products easy enough for any Brooklyn resident to get ahold of), chef Kurt Applegate and beverage director Matthew Walker have devised a progression of pun-tastic pairings, from a Crystal Lake Granita, to a Blackout Punch, to the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, scrumptiously skewering the actor’s first dramatic death scene.
Course 1: Frank’s Delicatessen Blood Pork Roll Sandwich
“We see Frank’s Delicatessen in one of the opening scenes of Friday the 13th, and since it’s set in New Jersey, we thought it would be appropriate to start off with a pork roll sandwich. The Meat Hook concocted a product for us that is sort of a cross between blood sausage and Taylor ham, which gets seared on the griddle, smothered with queso, topped with chopped romaine, and placed upon a Martin’s hamburger bun.” – Kurt Applegate
Drink pairing: Milk and Honey On The Other Side
“At the very beginning of the film, we hear campers singing “Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore,” and the lyric “milk and honey on the other side” really sticks out. This cocktail is essentially a Whiskey Fix made with milk washed rye whiskey, fresh lemon juice, and orange blossom honey. Milk washing is a way of filtering a spirit by bonding particulates and flavor compounds to the milk and then filtering out milk curds. In this case we’re only lightly filtering the rye whiskey to pull back on the spiciness somewhat and mellow out the flavor in general. The acidity of the lemon juice should cut through the fat of the pork roll somewhat, making a nice pairing.” – Matthew Walker
2 oz. milk washed rye whiskey
1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2. honey syrup
To milk wash the rye whiskey, you are intentionally curdling the milk. This sounds gross, but the important thing to understand is that curdled milk is not the same as spoiled milk, and none of the curds end up in the finished product. For one bottle of rye whiskey, add 8 oz. of whole milk, the fresher the better. The milk will immediately start to curdle. At this point stir very gently for a few seconds, cover, and refrigerate. As the mixture sits the curds will start to sink to the bottom and you can start ladling the whiskey off the top. Overnight should be enough time to extract most of the whiskey. Honey syrup is simply equal parts honey and hot water. Stir together until honey is completely dissolved. Shake well and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with lemon peel.
Course 2: Snake Three Ways
“Later in the movie, the kids at Camp Crystal Lake kill a snake and chop it into pieces. One of the girls says, ‘Well, at least we know what’s for dinner.’ To emulate the appearance of a chopped up snake, we decided to give our guests a taste of three amazing sausages from Meat Hook’s vast sausage program. The Cougar contains sweet and smoky pork, bacon, scallions, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. With a silly name like Long Dong Bud, I couldn’t resist putting this one on the menu, full of pork, pepper jack, cheddar cheese, roasted jalapenos and my Carolina favorite, Texas Pete. Finally, we have the Lamb Gyro sausage. Pretty much a stellar street cart gyro stuffed into a sausage casing.” – Kurt Applegate
Drink pairing: Snake Bite and Black
“Continuing with the snake theme, we served a Snakebite and Black for this course. The Snakebite is a classic British drink made with half alcoholic sparkling cider and half beer. The Snakebite and Black is its more obscure cousin made with the addition of black currant or cassis. In this case, we decided to use Creme de Mure, which is similar to cassis but made with blackberry. For the beer we’re using a Black Pale Ale made by Braven brewery in Brooklyn. This is their newest beer and has all the flavors you would associate with a stout or porter, but very light in body. It’s delicious on it’s own and even more so with the addition of cider.” – Matthew Walker
6 oz. dry Irish or British cider
6 oz. Braven Black Pale Ale
1/4 oz Combier Creme de Mure
Pour cider into glass, followed by beer, followed by Creme de Mure. If you want to get tricky you can slowly pour the beer over the back of a spoon, letting it run down the side of the glass. This creates a layering effect that is very pretty to look at.
Course 3: Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
“Unfortunately for Kevin Bacon’s character, he gets stabbed through the neck with an arrow while smoking a joint. So for this course, we’re serving up a whimsical ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.’ In this case it’s six different hors d’oeuvres that have some form of bacon involved, like Thai shrimp wrapped in bacon and coated with a sweet chili, soy and sriracha sauce. There’s the classic Devil’s on Horseback—Medjool dates stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped with bacon and deep-fried. We’re slathering Meat Hook’s bacon rillette onto some freshly baked crostini. There will be a small sample of Meat Hook’s lamb bacon, as well as a simple hydroponic bibb lettuce wrap with beefsteak tomato and slab bacon. And finally, I made a sweet bacon jam with onions and maple syrup and spread it on toasted brioche. Six degrees, indeed.” – Kurt Applegate
Drink pairing: Bloody Bacon
“Of course we also went with the Kevin Bacon theme and decided to make the Bloody Bacon. We infused Absolut Vodka with actual bacon and then took our housemade Bloody Mary mix, and smoked it using hickory chips. The smoked tomato flavor works really well with the bacon and all the other incredible meats chef Kurt included with the dish.” – Matthew Walker
1.5 oz. bacon infused vodka
5 oz. smoked Bloody Mary mix
To infuse vodka with bacon: combine one bottle of vodka and eight strips of freshly cooked bacon, cut into small pieces. Let sit in glass jar, at room temperature, for three days. Remove bacon strips. Place jar in freezer overnight and strain twice through coffee filter.
Bloody Mary mix
2 cloves garlic
4 oz. fresh lemon juice
8 oz. Worcestershire
1 Tbsp. black pepper
2 tsp. celery salt
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. Sriracha
2 Tbsp. horseradish
4 oz. pickle juice
92 oz. tomato juice
Combine garlic cloves and lemon juice in a blender and blend on high for about 30 seconds then add the rest of the ingredients. You will need a smoking gun to smoke the mix which most people don’t have at home. To achieve the smoky flavor an alternative way, just add 1/4 oz. liquid smoke to mix. Combine ingredients over ice, stir well, and garnish with pickled vegetables of your choice.
Course 4: Blackout
“Towards the end of the movie, the villain cuts off all power to Camp Crystal Lake. For this course, I served a seared and blackened butcher’s cut from Meat Hook. It will be sliced alongside some cremini mushrooms that have been roasted in brown butter and thyme. And what good is any fine steak without some decadent potato puree? This should be a fitting, final savory course; just be sure to get as much blood on the plate as possible!” – Kurt Applegate
Drink pairing: Blackout Punch
“Our nod to the blackout scene is made from Bulldog gin, basil and plum shrub (which is a vinegar syrup) and oleo saccharum, which is made by drawing lemon oil out of peels with sugar. Finally, it’s topped with soda water as a buffer for that dreaded blackout hangover.” – Matthew Walker
750 ml. Bulldog Gin
300 ml. oleo saccharum
juice of 8 lemons
300 ml. basil plum shrub
To make oleo saccharum, peel 4 lemons and combine peel with 140 grams of superfine sugar. Put into Ziploc bag, remove all air, and let sit in refrigerator for one week. Remove peel.
To make basil plum shrub, heat 8 oz. cider vinegar, 8 oz. champagne vinegar, and three plums cut into eights. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and let simmer for twenty minutes. Add 1.5 cups of sugar and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Strain out plums and add 20 basil leaves. Let sit for 5 minutes and strain out basil leaves
Combine all ingredients and let sit overnight. Serve from punch bowl over ice in rocks glass and add 1 oz. of soda water.
Course 5: Crystal Lake Granita
“The final course is a light one. After being bombarded with meat, sausage, bacon and steak, I decided to make a Crystal Lake Granita using coconut milk, water, sugar and lime zest. A simple and delicate dessert for guests to enjoy just in time to see Jason pop out of the lake for one final scare.” – Kurt Applegate
Drink pairing: Water of Death
“For our final drink, we’re using corn whiskey from Death’s Door, pear eau de vie, fresh lemon juice, and blanc de blanc, which is similar to Champagne but made with only Chardonnay grapes. It’s a boozy and refreshing way to finish the meal and cleanse the palate.” – Matthew Walker
3/4 oz. white corn whiskey
1/2 oz. pear au de vie
1/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup
Shake ingredients well and strain into chilled coupe. Top with 1.5 oz of blanc de blanc or other dry sparkling wine.