[MUSIC PLAYING] When the early colonists arrived on American shores, they brought with them bushels of food traditions.

As the cultures mixed in this young United States, new music, new traditions, and new holidays arose.

One of those holidays is Halloween.

More than 100 years ago, the pranks and witchcraft of All Hallows' Eve took a little turn toward parties, community, and neighborly fun.

That's what we're celebrating on this special Halloween episode of Iowa Ingredient.

I'm Charity Nebbe.

Here's something you may not know.

Our fantastically fun foodie friend, Chef Terrie Kohl, is here to help us prepare for a festive get-together.

And we'll learn a little bit more about the history of the sweet side of this harvest time holiday.

All that and more coming up next on Iowa Ingredient.

Funding for Iowa Ingredient is provided by the WT And Edna M. Dahl Trust, Chef Lisa LaValle of Trellis Cafe and the River Center, and Chef Michael LaValle of the Des Moines Embassy Club.

For more than 100 years, the Des Moines Embassy Club has provided a place to dine, celebrate, and do business, located in downtown Des Moines and in West Des Moines.

And Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.

[MUSIC PLAYING] A big proponent of trying to use what you have at home.

You can buy it fresh grated.

So add that.

Go ahead.

For brown sugar, that's always a little deeper.

Really good.

I love that roasted carrot.

If you've ever congratulated yourself on eating healthy for a good, long stretch of time and then run smack dab into October and found yourself consuming handfuls of candy or pumpkin spice drinks and treats galore, then you know what I'm about to say.

Halloween is chock full of treats.

They're everywhere.

So how did this sweet Halloween madness begin?

[SCARY MUSIC] [THUNDER] Like many modern holidays, Halloween is a blend of cultural, regional, and religious traditions.

Halloween's roots start in the Celtic festival of Samhain, a pagan ritual that happened during the fall.

It welcomed the harvest and ushered in the dark half of the year.

The souls of the deceased were thought to return to the physical world on Samhain Eve.

By the 8th century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor saints.

In Northern Europe, All Saints' Day incorporated some of the pagan traditions of Samhain, including that evening before, All Hallows' Eve.

Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of costumes, Jack-o'-lanterns, parties, and most importantly, eating treats.

The American Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating probably dates back to All Souls' Day in medieval England.

During the holiday, the poor would beg for food, and families would give them pastries called soul cakes, which is a shortbread biscuit with sweet spices.

The recipients would then say prayers for the family and their deceased family members.

The practice was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.

That tradition eventually became the modern-day trick-or-treating we know and love.

Food is as much a part of the Halloween season as costumes and ghosts.

Whether it's candy for kids, desserts for a party, or just a fun dinner to celebrate the fall harvest, there is no shortage of ways to celebrate this festive tradition.

[SCARY MUSIC] [THUNDER] And now I'm here in the kitchen, getting ready for Halloween with my friend, this bee, Chef Terrie Kohl.

And Terrie, what are we going to make?

We're going to have a Halloween party, and we're actually going to start with something healthy, right?

It is healthy, and it's tasty.

It's very versatile.

It's a pumpkin carrot bisque.

And so we're using carrot and apple juice and curry and some warm spices.

Yum.

And we have to start with these carrots.

With these carrots.

And here's something you may not know.

Don't peel your carrots when you're roasting them.

You've paid for it.

It's healthy.

And it's one less step.

All right.

And it's not going to affect the soup.

Not at all, because we're going to immersion blender it.

So one of the tips that I love to promote is because they cook at different stages for their-- Right.

This carrot's really fat up here and skinny down there.

So it's called oblique.

So you cook it at an angle, and that gives it more exposure.

And then what the ultimate is that they are the same weight.

And they're going to cook or roast, shall we say.

So let's put these in a bowl.

I think we have a bowl.

We do.

And we're going to just put them in and drizzle some oil.

That.

Little bit of salt.

Kosher salt.

Fresh cracked pepper is the best.

Not necessary.

But if you have it, it does add a burst of flavor.

And texture too.

Yeah, nice crunch.

Yeah.

So just toss these.

Get the oil on everything.

And if you have a blank or parchment-free sheet pan, then the roasting is better when it connects with the metal.

Gets a little more roasting.

And just kind of shake it out so that everything connects.

All right.

And then we're going to roast it at 450 for 25 minutes.

All right.

I'll put that in the oven.

Yeah.

Our carrots are roasted, so it's time to put the rest of the soup together, right?

Let's do this nice, warm, creamy bisque soup.

So we're going to add-- we've got a vegetable broth.

OK. And you can use any kind of stock?

You can.

Chicken or vegetable.

And we can go ahead and turn the burner on if you want, just to get things going and piping hot.

Let's put in the pumpkin.

This is sort of-- I loosely say a dump recipe.

This is a little healthy for my Halloween, but we're going to put some heavy cream in it, so that'll offset that.

We can stir as we go.

All right.

Little heavy cream.

This is for body.

Again, if you want to use evaporated milk or half and half, that's an idea as well.

Going to put the maple syrup, so we're combining recipes with ingredients.

And that's a sweetener, as is apple juice.

Oh, OK. Yeah.

I don't think I've ever put apple juice in a soup before.

Yeah.

So we'll add that.

Go ahead and mix.

So these are our warm spices.

And with this, we're going to put a little bit of cracked pepper, just to give it some backbone.

That offsets everything with the spices, as does the salt.

Kosher salt.

And that's it for ingredients.

We'll bring that up to temperature.

We're going to add the carrots and that immersion blend, garnish, and we'll be able to put it in a bowl and taste.

Wonderful.

So we'll just wait till we see some bubbles.

Exactly.

Around the edge.

All right.

It's bubbling away, Terrie.

So that means we're ready to add the carrots, right?

Yes.

Let's do.

And I'm going to move this closer to you so that it's a little easier to get in there with that immersion blender.

That would be great.

And we've got our roasted carrots.

They've got color and that's flavor.

Do you want to kind of help me?

I don't want those to jump.

Yeah, we don't want to-- oop.

We may splash a little.

[LAUGHTER] There we go.

Perfect.

So we'll just stir those in.

And then we've got our immersion blender.

These are priceless.

This just avoids having to go into a blender or a food processor and do it in different batches.

I also prefer texture.

So you can make this just as creamy as you like, or if you still want some bites of carrots.

Thing to remember is to keep the blade under.

[LAUGHS] Whoo!

Yeah.

So we'll just get this going.

[WHIRRING] All right.

That looks really good.

It's all heated through.

And save all that goody.

We're going to just give it one more stir, and we can serve it up and garnish.

Well, it smells wonderful.

Looks delicious.

Oh, yes.

You could use it.

That's wonderful.

Yeah, yeah.

So we'll all just get some of this yumminess.

So we'll just go like that.

And you're going to dress it up just a little bit.

I have to.

Yes, I do, before I can let it go.

So we're going to try and put a little bit of the sour cream in it.

Or you could drizzle it, but that looks nice.

A little quenelle and some roasted pumpkin seeds to further enhance the pumpkin.

Nice.

Well, it looks beautiful.

Let's give it a try.

We can take a taste.

See.

All right.

Blow blow blow.

It is really good.

I love that roasted carrot flavor that comes through.

And there are little bites of carrots, and that really sets it up.

And there's the sweetness, but it's savory.

And I think the pumpkin seeds add a really nice crunch, a texture.

Yeah, for sure.

Well, this is wonderful.

I'm glad you like it.

It was fun to create and to bring to you today.

Thank you, Chef Terrie.

Thank you.

[SCARY MUSIC] [THUNDER] Clever cocktails are sometimes the most memorable part of a Halloween party.

Here are some spooky, spirit-filled drinks.

We're going to start with a cocktail that's both festive and deadly, the poisoned apple.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC] For each drink, you'll need two ounces of apple cider, one ounce of cranberry juice, and two ounces of tequila.

Fill your martini shaker with ice and add the juices and tequila.

Give it a good shake and strain into a glass.

You can add some drama with a few chips of dry ice, but be sure that the dry ice has disappeared before you take a sip.

[THUNDER] [SCARY MUSIC] The black martini is a classic cocktail with a Halloween twist.

For this one, you'll need orange sugar, a lime wedge, two ounces dark rum, a half an ounce dry vermouth, blackberries, and black food coloring.

Before you start mixing the cocktails, you'll want to rim each glass with a lime wedge and dip in the orange sugar.

Fill your martini shaker with ice and add the rum and vermouth.

Shake and strain into your glass.

Gently stir in the food coloring until you achieve your desired level of darkness.

Garnish with blackberries and enjoy.

[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC] And finally, the blood of Dracula is a concoction that will conjure up the creepy conduct of the count.

You will need red wine ice cubes that you made ahead of time, prosecco, raspberry preserves, and fresh raspberries.

Put a dollop of raspberry preserves in the bottom of your glass, add one or two of the red wine ice cubes, and top with prosecco.

It's the garnish that will really haunt your friends, a few fresh raspberries impaled on a wooden stake and dipped in gooey preserves.

[SCARY MUSIC] [THUNDER] All right.

We have already had our delicious and nutritious-- mostly-- [LAUGHS] carrot pumpkin bisque.

Now it's time for dessert.

What are we going to make?

This is going to be a maple pumpkin with a snap.

Ooh.

And that's a ginger snap in the crust.

Yum.

Yeah.

So you can use any shortbread, any graham cracker, be it chocolate.

Change up your bases for your fillings.

Make the crust you love.

But ginger snaps and pumpkin, that is-- that's a winning combination.

I love that.

The warm spices.

So let's mix up the crumbs.

All right.

And you just pulse those a little bit.

Yep.

Or you can have your kid beat on them.

There you go.

Oh, yeah.

And this is-- I love texture, so it doesn't have to be super fine.

Sugar and a tad bit of ginger, just to add a little bit more warm heat.

And a pinch of salt.

Every sweet dish needs a pinch of salt.

It's like the yin and the yang.

It balances.

Yeah, it just really brings out the flavor.

It does, and it highlights it.

Give it a little stir.

Get everything incorporated, just like that.

And then the melted butter.

Ooh, watch this.

So good.

Get that done.

And it just-- this really comes together simple.

And it wants to be refrigerated overnight, just to set up, like any pie or cheesecake would.

So we're just going to get this all incorporated.

And then we're going to just pour it in.

I enjoy-- whoopsie doodle.

I enjoy making crusts in springform pans.

You can always use a pie pan.

This just gives it a little heightened elegance, can I say?

Because you can take it out of the pan.

You have to take it out of the pan.

And texture and presentation is everything, don't you think?

I do.

I do.

Yeah, me too.

OK. You've got a little bit here.

Scoot that over there.

And we just bake it up.

And then bake it up.

350 degrees.

Yeah.

For 10 minutes.

So we've got our crust out of the oven.

Now it's time to make the filling.

Where do we start?

We're going to do eggs first.

And we say when you're blending sugar and eggs, go ahead and whip the eggs first.

They incorporate better than adding anything to them that gets in the way.

So just like that.

And we'll whisk them, break the yolk, and just get them incorporated within each other.

And then add your sugar.

And actually, sugar is considered-- and you may not know this, but it's considered a liquid because it melts.

Oh.

And so get those incorporated, and they will form the base or the custard.

OK.

Break that guy up.

Then we're going to add some heavy cream.

Oh, yeah.

[LAUGHS] Oh, yum.

Heavy cream, maple syrup.

Good for fall.

Yeah.

Nutmeg.

I love to fresh grate a nutmeg.

It's sort of a special touch, I think.

Well, the aroma is wonderful.

Do you find that when you fresh grate your nutmeg, it has more flavor?

Yes, it really does.

I always say if you have spices in your cupboard-- I've had people ask, how long does it last?

And I always say, if you can't smell it, you can't taste it.

Yeah, that makes perfect sense to me.

So then it has fresh grated ginger.

And actually, this is in the produce section.

And you can buy it fresh grated.

Comes in a plastic tube that you just squirt, and it's very friendly to use.

And then we have-- Vanilla.

--vanilla.

The vanilla.

Yeah.

So here's our custard base.

If you don't want to use heavy whipping cream, use evaporated milk.

If you're watching your intake, there's ways to do that, and it still makes for a great dessert.

So then we'll-- And that's just plain pumpkin puree.

Plain pumpkin puree.

We've got all the warm spices in.

And it's going to marry well.

[MUSIC PLAYING] And then we'll just pour this straight in.

Wonderful.

You want me to hold the bowl?

Oh, that would be wonderful.

Thanks, Charity.

And it will climb up the sides, and that's OK. And make sure to scrape all of that goodness.

And let's go with that.

All right.

Wonderful.

And that goes back in the oven.

Back in the oven, 350, for almost an hour.

And I like to rotate it halfway, because no matter, convection or not, if it's too far to the back or the front or the right or the left, it's not going to bake evenly, so that gives it a second chance to do so.

All right.

OK?

Whoo!

All right.

Our pie is out of the oven and cool, because you do need to give it a little bit of time before cutting into it, right?

Overnight, yes.

Avoid the temptation.

Make it ahead.

Then you've got it when the guests come and you're ready to present it on a pretty pie plate as we've done here.

Wonderful.

And now if you had a number of guests coming to your party, do you have any pie cutting strategies to try to make the most of it?

I do.

We can do the wedge, but then also just a little visual here.

If you cut this way-- and cut it in half, and then half again, and the same way this way-- you're going to get more slices, and people can get a tasting.

Oh, nice.

So it may just be a sliver.

Or lots of times if you have two desserts and everybody wants some of each, you can pacify everyone.

Right.

Well, and making those tiny slivers, that gets really hard.

[LAUGHS] You're always breaking off tips.

Well, let's try this.

OK.

I'm ready.

So we've got our delicious ginger snap crust, and we're going to-- oh, I don't know.

Is that big enough?

What do you think?

It'll have to do.

[LAUGHS] OK.

It's perfect.

OK, good.

Let's slip this onto a pretty plate.

Adorn it with whipped cream.

Can't beat that.

Wonderful.

Yep.

And you've just whipped up a little bit of whipped cream.

Yeah, it just takes about a minute.

How much do we want, like that?

I think that's perfect.

OK, good.

Me too.

[LAUGHS] And I've got forks.

Oh, yay.

So let's dig in.

Let's do.

Wonderful.

All right.

Come on over, Terrie.

I'm going to get a little bit of whipped-- There you go.

Oh, I like that.

Nice.

Scoot it over.

Mm.

Oh, that is really delicious.

And I can taste the maple coming through.

It doesn't taste like a typical pumpkin pie.

It's better.

And then that ginger snap crust really sets it off.

Yeah.

The warm spices really enhance the-- Yeah.

This is a winner.

Makes something good even better.

[LAUGHS] Absolutely.

So Happy Halloween.

We're all ready for our party.

Happy Halloween.

We are ready.

I'm ready, as you can see.

Right.

Buzzing around.

[LAUGHS] Chef Terrie, thank you so much.

Thank you, Charity.

I love to be with you.

And you can join us next time for a less spooky episode of Iowa Ingredient.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Keep in mind that circumstances are always changing, so please take a moment to check ahead if you're planning to visit a restaurant, farm, or event featured on the show.

Funding for Iowa Ingredient is provided by the WT and Edna M Dahl Trust, Chef Lisa LaValle of Trellis Cafe and the River Center, and Chef Michael LaValle of the Des Moines Embassy Club.

For more than 100 years, the Des Moines Embassy Club has provided a place to dine, celebrate, and do business.

Located in downtown Des Moines and in West Des Moines.

And Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation, generations of family and friends who feel passionate about the programs they watch on Iowa PBS.