This is a two-part battle blog, since we’re doing a virtual dinner party this weekend, and YOU are invited! Since the game is to guess the movie from the menu, we’re not going to post part two until AFTER the Battle Dinner.

How can you play along?

We’ll broadcast this on IGTV so you can make your guesses and you can even eat dinner with us. We’ll be starting the dinner party at 5:30 PM PST but I’ll start the feed earlier for some BTS stuff.

The genre for this Battle Dinner is 🥁🥁🥁… HORROR and yes, we picked this before safe-at-home became a thing. It was a completely random draw that was fortuitous, eh?

So, if you’d like to cook with us, or you just want to guess the movie from the many clues below… feast your eyes on this!

PART 1 – The Plan

Cocktail

🧟‍♀️The Zombie 🧟‍♂️

2 parts BACARDÍ Superior rum
1 ¾ parts BACARDÍ Black rum
1 part Triple Sec
2 parts orange juice
1 part lime juice
1 part Simple Syrup
¼ part grenadine

Yes, this is a less-boozy version, but seriously… THIS is less boozy? Our thought was we need to stay coherent through dessert so it’s simplified and is a little easier to make if you don’t have a well-stocked bar.

If you want to make a serious zombie that knocks you on your butt… Check out this recipe for the classic version from Distinguished Spirits:

1 oz (30 ml) 151-proof Demerara (Guyana) Rum
1.5 oz (45 ml) Dark Jamaican Rum
1.5 oz (45 ml) Gold Cuban-Style Rum
0.75 oz (22 ml) Lime Juice
0.5 oz (15 ml) Falernum
0.5 oz (15 ml) Don’s Mix (2 parts Grapefruit Juice, 1 part Cinnamon Syrup)
1 tsp (6 ml) Grenadine
1 dash Absinthe
1 dash Aromatic Bitters
Garnish Mint Sprig

Shake with 6 oz (180 ml) of crushed ice. Whack mint on the rim of the Mug/Glass. Pour unstrained into Zombie Mug/Glass. Top with more crushed ice. Garnish with Mint Sprig. Start eating brains.

Appetizer

Blood Orange Avocado Crostini from Lively Table

Main

Cider Vinegar-Braised Chicken Thighs from Cotton Row chef James Boyce via Food & Wine

Buttered Noodles from @elohel on AllRecipes

Side

Crispy Salt-and-Pepper Chicken Skin Recipe from Bon Appétit

Dessert

Brains from Food Network… CANADA? Yep. Our neighbors to the north have their own channel because poutine is that good.

PART 2 – The Reality

It’s Tuesday (we had the Battle Dinner on Sunday) and yesterday was Memorial Day, so yes… I took a little break! We woke up to a MESS of a kitchen on Monday AM, but after an hour of clean-up, we were ready to celebrate the holiday. Let’s rewind ⏮

This was our first live broadcast of a Battle Dinner and while I felt prepared, it was amazing how many little things take up your time right before flipping the switch. On top of the mandatory stuff like lighting and audio, we were holding to the 5:30PM PST deadline. I realized at about 5:00 that I needed an hour just to cook everything…

Discover & share this Apollo 13 GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

This certainly wasn’t the most complex menu I’ve constructed. The only item requiring advanced planning was the dessert, so no excuses. Seriously it felt like I was on a cooking show, knowing that the timer was counting down. The reality is that it was kind of fun to chat through the chaos with Bev & Dan and those who tuned in live (thanks!).

BTS, I had told Bev that I was making a change to the dessert and that she should feel free to make any personalizations. Her son said “Nope–we’re sticking to the plan.” So Bev, you win on this one… However, I’m super pleased with how the dessert turned out.

As a gringo from MN, I didn’t grow up exposed to anything close to true hispanic food. We didn’t even have a Taco Bell… we had Taco John. Yes, that is a real fast-food place, and yes, this is a real commercial from Taco John’s…

Whiplash rides his steed like the wind through the city and countryside spreading delicious and surprising taco joy to seemingly unsuspecting people... enjoy!

I just happened to have this brain-shaped silicone mold begging to be used, and I had this vision of a jiggly semi-transparent, somewhat disgusting yet delicious desert. Standard Jell-O just wouldn’t do. I wanted some dimension in this, both in flavor and color, so the reveal would be more of a WTF!?!.. This is delicious!

*If you want your own, just type “brain mold” into Amazon and prepare to be amazed. I got this one at Michael’s last Halloween because… IT”S A BRAIN MOLD!*

Gelatina de Leche–Milk gelatin might sound gross but if you love cinnamon and vanilla, you’ll love this. The texture is silky smooth and the flavor is like a tres leches cake or horchata. Also, it’s REALLY easy to make. But this would have been just a white brain and I needed some gore, so my secret ingredient was raspberry Jell-O.

I used a technique (recipe?) known as gelatina de mosaico which is simply cubing a previously made batch of gelatin. You then place these jiggly cubes inside the mold and pour in the other gelatin, in this case, raspberry Jell-O. The result was exactly as I hoped!

Check out the fun time-lapse and some other BTS footage of un-molding the brain on IG @battledinner–look for the WW Z highlight on our profile.

The brain sat in the fridge overnight, waiting to come to life, but the main course was about to kick my ass…

As I told you, I didn’t have enough time to have it ready for our live time so I made it as we were having the cocktail and appetizers. Laura is the candles & cocktail queen and did another beautiful job assembling the drinks and the appetizer while I wrestled with the main course. This bought me a little time, but then… disaster struck.

In the oven, I was crisping the chicken skin on two racks, which Bev told me needed the full hour and would be very greasy. So I needed to do everything on the stove-top, even though the recipe called for it to be done in the oven. Now I’m more frazzled with 30min still needed on the skin.

This is how much a half pound of chicken skin gets you…

I was in a hurry and glancing at the recipe while trying to look like I knew what I was doing on live video. It looks so easy on YouTube… nope. Turns out that adding a cup of flour was too much for this roux. It calls for two tablespoons. I read the amount for the next ingredient, cider vinegar, and transposed it to the flour. My roux turned into goo. Does that make me a goo-roux?

Meanwhile… everyone is getting a little buzzy and munching on the appetizers, so I had to scramble. I used all of the leek so I started over. Dumped the goux (right?) and put the chicken back in the dutch oven to braise a little more. Luckily, I hadn’t scraped down the bottom yet, so there was some flavor saved. I added olive oil and the veg to tenderized them. Now I was back in the groove, making the roux correctly and finishing the dish with buttered fettuccini.

Somewhere along the way we ran up against our hour IG Live time limit and the feed cut off. Apologies if you are watching and it looks unfinished… but we had a ton of fun and it was a new experience for everyone. Dessert was amazing and it was great to compete against Bev to see who’s looked better (and who managed the clock better!). She nailed the dessert to the recipe spec, and having my offshoot version was terrific.

If you tried any of these recipes or just enjoyed the process, let us know! DM us on Instagram @BattleDinner.