Midweek Munchies - A Walking Dead inspired menu

So gearing up for a night of The Walking Dead wouldn’t be complete with some suitably gory, zombie themed nibbles and drinks.

Word to the wise, these are best consumed before or after watching not during.  Don’t be foolish like me and decide to have people round for pizza and zombies. Pizza arrived just in time for the well scene. Yeah THE well scene.  Cue general loss of appetite and nausea all round...

Anyhoo, here’s a few little recipes to get you in the mood for braiiiiiinnnzzzzz:

First up, it’s controversial I know, but what zombie buffet would be complete without a nice helping of sweet fresh brains...

Bloody Brain Shooters

Picture and recipe courtesy of http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/bloody-brain-shooter.html

You will need:

2 parts chilled strawberry vodka

1 tsp Lime juice

1 part Bailey’s Irish Cream

Splash of Grenadine

Directions:

Shake Vodka and lime juice in a cocktail shaker then strain into shot glass.

Using a straw, dip some Bailey's Irish Cream into the shot. Once you submerge the straw into the Bailey's put your finger on top of the straw to hold the Bailey's in the straw. Dip the straw tip into the vodka and slowly release your top finger. The Bailey's will curdle a little bit due to the lime juice and you should be able to make strands of Bailey's.

Repeat the straw/Bailey's process to build a "brain" in the shot glass.

Add a splash of grenadine to the concoction to add the 'blood' to the mix.

Ta da! Your gruesome yet tasty shot is ready for knocking back.

Hmm brains always make me hungry so how about some Pan de Muertos or Bread of the Dead to go with that?

Recipe courtesy of http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pan-de-muertos-mexican-bread-of-the-dead/

You will need:

¼ Cup margarine or butter

¼ cup warm water

3 cups plain flour

 1 ¼ tsps active dry yeast

½ tsp salt

2 tsp anise seed

¼ cup caster sugar

2 beaten eggs

2tsps orange zest

For the Glaze

¼ cup caster sugar

¼ cup orange juice

1 tbsp orange zest

To finish

2 tbsps caster sugar

Directions

1. Heat the milk and the butter together in a medium saucepan, until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add them warm water. The mixture should be around 110 degrees F (43 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
4. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will take about 1 to 2 hours. Punch the dough down and shape it into a large round loaf with a round knob on top. Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven let cool slightly then brush with glaze.
6. To make glaze: In a small saucepan combine the 1/4 cup sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes. Brush over top of bread while still warm. Sprinkle glazed bread with white sugar.

Want more?   

Check out Not Your Momma Cookies for some AMAZING Rick Grimes sugar cookies:

http://notyourmommascookie.com/2012/10/the-walking-dead-cookies/

Or the Homicidal Homemaker for these gruesome severed finger snacks:

http://www.thehomicidalhomemaker.com/recipe-finger-food-zombie-style-or-freshly-severed/