Your Next Halloween Party Menu is Covered with These Spooktacular Recipes

A beer and a sandwich sit in front of the Blue Sparrow food truck — Photo courtesy of Blue Sparrow

Food trucks travel all across America, bringing new tastes and dishes to food-lovers. In Pittsburgh, several food trucks circulate the city at different breweries, markets, and events. They carry various cultures right to the streets and parking lots of the cities, providing easy access to cultural cuisine. The food trucks of Pittsburgh provide citizens with a different way to enjoy meals and with quick timing, too.

Caribbean Vybz

Authentic Jamaican cuisine is flavorful, homely, and fills the soul. Caribbean Vybz brings all these elements to customers through their spicey curry, tasty jerk chicken, and pan-fried plantains. Each dish comes with steamed cabbage, coconut rice, and peas to make it a proper Jamaican family meal.

Blue Sparrow

The truck is permanently parked at Dancing Gnome Brewery, where you can delight in globally inspired foods. Blue Sparrow is known for their specialty wood-fired pizzas that combine flavors like roasted wild mushrooms and roasted garlic citrus oil in the Fungus Amongus pizza. Besides pizza, the menu includes dumplings and handheld sandwiches with the same global infusions.

Mr. Bulgogi

Korean BBQ has come to Pittsburgh on the side of the road. Get Korean marinated beef over rice with fresh fried dumplings. Or maybe you’d prefer a vegan option of marinated tofu over rice with a side of kimchi. No matter what you choose, make sure to finish with a traditional dessert of Hotteok, a deep-fried sweet pancake.

Pittsburgh Tortas

A torta is a crunchy sandwich made with crusty bread and an array of toppings. The sandwich is served hot or cold and is the staple of Pittsburgh Tortas. Try fried eggplant, grilled chicken, pork, or shredded beef packed with cheese, sauce, and plenty of veggies. All tortas are served with a side of homemade chips, so you’re sure to leave full.

Revival Chili

Gourmet chili is the perfect dish for when the temperatures dip, and now you can get it from a food truck. Revival Chili moves around all of Pittsburgh in a cabin-shaped trailer. Order a classic chili for a traditional experience with all the fixings. Or, try something new with their Chili Con Pollo featuring chicken or their Godfather Chili over rice and cornbread.

Haskel’s Delicatessen

A Jewish deli on the go answers your sandwich wishes. This truck has Pastrami on Rye and Fried Chicken Schnitzel ready for lunch or dinner. Plus, add on a side of falafel, potato latkes, or humus and pita to get a variety of flavors in one meal. Finally, finish up with a homemade pickle spear. It’s a staple of any deli.

Stunt Pig

Stunt Pig takes BBQ to an elevated level with their locally smoked and cured meats. The Mr. Orange includes smoked and pulled chicken with spicy piri piri sauce and cucumbers, all topped with chimichurri aioli. It’s one of their signature sandwiches and can be combined with their deli-style macaroni salad as a side. It’s just one small fraction of the bites available.

Check out the video below, a collaboration between TABLE Magazine and The Andy Warhol Museum‘s Pop District, to discover more tasty food trucks in the city!

Story by Kylie Thomas

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Jungle Bird

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October 22, 2023

Two red and orange drinks in hurricane style glasses. Jungle Bird Cocktail

This wild drink of Rum, Campari, pineapple, and lime over ice with garnishes like tiki swizzles and pineapple fronds livens up any gathering. The Jungle Bird cocktail not only gets the party started, but typically looks like one too!

Where Does the Jungle Bird Cocktail Come From?

The Jungle Bird cocktail originates in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Aviary Bar, a luxury hotel bar at the city’s branch of the Hilton. Jeffrey Ong, the hotel’s beverage manager, mixed the very first one in the 1970s. Curiously, Og, who died in 2019, didn’t drink alcohol himself. He apparently said that he used his nose to smell the aromas, and simply tasted the drinks but did not fully consume them. An impressive feat given how iconic his recipe became! At the original Aviary Bar, you could sip cocktails while looking at actual birds, so they served the drink in a bird-shaped glass. This iteration no longer exists, but the celebratory drink has endured long since its early years in Malaysia. For another take, try the Flyaway from bartender Darelle Canada.

Jungle Bird

Author: Emma Riva

Ingredients

Scale

For the cocktail:

1 ½ oz Goslings Black Seal Black Rum
¾ oz Campari
1 ½ oz fresh pineapple juice
½ oz fresh squeezed lime juice
½ oz demerara syrup (recipe below)
Garnish: tiki swizzle, pineapple frond, Luxardo cherries

For the simple syrup:

½ cup water
½ cup demerara sugar

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Instructions

For the cocktail:

Add all the liquid ingredients into your cocktail shaker over a scoop of ice cubes and shake vigorously until the shaker is chilled.
Fill a hurricane-style glass with crushed ice and strain and pour your cocktail over the ice.
Add the Tiki swizzle, pineapple frond, and Luxardo cherries as your garnishes.

For the simple syrup:

In a small saucepan, heat the water and sugar over a medium heat, whisking until the sugar completely dissolves. Do not bring to a simmer! You just want to heat through until the sugar is dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
Allow the syrup to come to room temperature. Then pour into a container. This Simple Syrup will last a minimum of 2 weeks as is in the refrigerator or if you add a ½ tablespoon of vodka or rum it will last longer.

Recipe by Sarah Cascone
Photography by Dave Bryce

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Pickled Veggie Salad with Mustard Dressing

By

Kylie Thomas

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October 22, 2023

A pickled vegetable salad plated on white plates with silverwear.

Are you a lover or a hater of pickled veggie salads? Either way we bet we can win you over with this Pickled Veggie Salad featuring Mustard Dressing. The earthy, sweet-yet-tart zing of pickled beets and other cold weather vegetables like cauliflower is loved by many, though admittedly not all. If you’re on the love-it side of this fence, pick up some pickled beets and stone-ground mustard from The Pickled Chef, and plate up a healthy, beautifully flavorful winter salad. The infusion of vitamins, minerals, and deliciousness is good for you! Try adding some pickled cauliflower too.

What is Stone-Ground Mustard?

Stone-ground mustard often offers a distinct flavor profile compared to its store-bought counterparts. Crafted through a traditional method of grinding mustard seeds between stones, this artisanal mustard retains its natural oils and complex flavors. The result is a mustard that is both smooth and robust, with a depth of flavor that elevates any dish. We use it to compliment the dressing and add a silky texture to the salad. But, you can use stone-ground mustard as a condiment, a marinade, or an ingredient in a recipe like we do below.

Pickled Veggie Salad with Mustard Dressing

Author: Anna Franklin

Description

A new way to enjoy a winter salad.

Ingredients

Scale

For the dressing:

1 tbsp stone-ground mustard
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 shallot, minced
1 tsp pink peppercorns, whole
Salt and pepper to taste

For the salad:

Pickled beets
Ruby Red grapefruit, sliced
Red onion, sliced
Fresh apricots, quartered
Fresh dill sprigs
1 fennel head, roasted

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Instructions

For the dressing:

Add everything to a Mason jar and shake well. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

For the salad:

Add everything to a bowl and mix well. Add dressing to taste.

Recipe and Styling by Anna Franklin / Photography by Dave Bryce

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Sweet Potato and Pork Belly Hash

By

Abdul Rafay

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October 20, 2023

A delectable brunch dish featuring a savory combination of sweet potato and pork belly hash, creating a satisfying and flavorful meal to start the day.

Chef David Haick of Glendorn shares recipes for a holiday brunch. His Sweet Potato and Pork Belly Hash is a homey side you may well find yourself making again and again across the colder months. The savory fattiness of pork belly infuses its goodness into the perfectly cooked sweet potato, setting the stage for a wonderful feast. Use this simple recipe as a last-minute addition to any meal.

Print

Sweet Potato and Pork Belly Hash

Author: Chef David Haick
Yield: 2 cups 1x

Description

What’s missing from your holiday dinner!

Ingredients

Scale

4 oz uncured pork belly, small dice
1 sweet potato, peeled, small dice
1/2 onion, small dice
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp kosher salt

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Instructions

In a cold pan, render pork belly until crisp.
Add sweet potato and onion; follow with butter, and slowly cook until the potato is cooked.
Turn the heat up to high to brown and caramelize the ingredients.
Add thyme and season with salt.

Recipe by David Haick
Photography by Laura Petrilla
Styling by Keith Recker

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Easy Twix Cake (No Bake)

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October 19, 2023

An aerial view of a candy cake with two pieces cut out and put on brown plates

Often the cooler weather means a switch to hot food and desserts. But our easy Twix No Bake Cake recipe, which doesn’t require you to turn on the oven, is a sweet treat you’ll find yourself turning to again and again throughout the year. Although, the Halloween season is an especially good time to whip up this simple Twix cake dessert, since you’ll find candy overflowing grocery aisles, Twix are always on the shelves. It’s really a year-round dessert.

What Makes This Cake No Bake?

It’s so easy to make this cake. All you’ll need is an electric mixer to put the ingredients together. Rather than baking, this cake will get its shape and texture from a spell in the freezer. So, it’s perfect for a weeknight “baking” project when you don’t feel like turning the oven on.

Easy Twix Cold Cake (No Bake)

Author: Jordan Snowden

Ingredients

Scale

1/2 box cinnamon graham crackers
1 pack of Snack Pack Chocolate Vanilla Flavored Pudding
1 tub of Cool Whip
2 cups Twix Bars, chopped
1 containers (8oz) milk chocolate frosting, room temperature
1 package (8oz) creme cheese, room temperature
⅓ cup caramel

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Instructions

Place entire tub of cool whip and 3 of the 6 pudding cups in a mixer, blending on mix until well incorporated.
Cover the bottom of your baking dish with graham crackers, and cover graham crackers with half of pudding mixture.
Add another layer of graham crackers, then the rest of the pudding mixture. Layer half of chopped Trix on top.
Take milk chocolate frosting and blend with cream cheese until smooth.
Add final layer of graham crackers. Top with frosting and cream cheese blend. Top with other half of Twix. Finish it off with a generous covering of caramel.
Freeze for at least two hours, slice and serve cold!

Recipe by Jordan Snowden, adapted from Butter with a Side of Bread
Photography and Styling by Keith Recker

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Lion’s Dream: A Cocktail Inspired by The Wiz

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October 19, 2023

Two cocktails very light orange in color, sit in two rocks glasses. garnished with golden gooseberries and raspberries. The Wiz Cocktail

Groundbreaking musical The Wiz is currently on tour across America for the first time in 40 years. As the cast eases down the road to their final stop on Broadway, we felt it appropriate to toast to the iconic twist on The Wizard of Oz with a mixed drink fit for a king. (Or should we say witched witch?)

The below recipe allows you to enjoy our The Wiz-inspired cocktail one of two ways: frothy or chilled.

Why Does This Cocktail Get Frothy?

Empress Gin, which we’ve used in this cocktail, gets frothy due to its unique ingredients and the presence of botanicals like butterfly pea flower. When you shake or mix it, the air gets incorporated, creating bubbles that lead to that frothy texture. Additionally, if you mix it with tonic water or citrus juices, the reaction can enhance the frothiness. It’s visually striking and adds a fun element to cocktails!

Lion’s Dream: A Cocktail Inspired by The Wiz

Ingredients

1.5 oz Bacardi White Rum
3/4 oz Empress 1908 Gin
A few dashes of Absinthe
3/4 oz simple syrup
1/2 lemon squeezed for juice
2 heaping bar spoons of Bonne Maman Orange Marmalade

Instructions

If you want a frothy cocktail

Use a glass cocktail shaker to watch the magic of the Empress Gin! Add gin, rum, simple, absinthe, lemon, and marmalade to your cocktail shaker.
Dry shake (no ice) for a minimum of 30 seconds until a froth forms. Then add some ice and shake again for another 30 seconds to create a silky cocktail.
Strain pour this into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with golden gooseberries and raspberries.

If you want to serve over ice

Use a glass cocktail shaker to watch the magic of the Empress Gin! Add ice, gin, rum, simple, absinthe, lemon, and marmalade to your cocktail shaker.
Shake for 30 seconds minimum to create a silky cocktail. Strain pour this into a rocks glass over ice.
Garnish with golden gooseberries and raspberries. For additional garnish, use your bar spoon and scoop some of the marmalade orange peel out of the shaker and lay it on top of the ice in a small pile.

Recipe by Sarah Cascone / Photography by Dave Bryce

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Pittsburgh Happenings: October 24-30

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October 19, 2023

An abstract painting. Pittsburgh art and culture events — What do you Remember?, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 60”

As Halloween festivities come to a close, let us enrich and cleanse our creepy, orange and black palettes with some local creativity. This week’s featured happenings focus on Pittsburgh art and culture events, ranging from dance to architecture.

Light in the Dark

Byham Theater, October 27-28
Opening Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s 2023-24 season is the mixed repertoire program Light in the Dark. Featuring four contemporary works from acclaimed choreographers, including Jennifer Archibald, Barak Marshall, Sasha Janes and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, each ballet showcases a powerful, passionate story of human emotion through dance.

Inside the newly renovated Greer Cabaret Theater. A theater with a modern art deco look — Inside the newly renovated Greer Cabaret Theater. Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

Cosmopolitan Pittsburgh

Greer Cabaret Theater, October 28
This year’s annual Cosmopolitan Pittsburgh fundraising bash, an evening of art, music, and local food tastings, is taking place in an old venue with a new look. Greer Cabaret Theater has been renovated to emit a modern, intimate atmosphere with an art deco-inspired feel. (Think, The Great Gatsby.) Cocktail attire aligning with a modern or vintage take on the upscale renovated theater is encouraged.

Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer

David L. Lawrence Convention Center, October 28
What unexpected treasure will you discover at this year’s Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer? Returning for its 11th year, browse some of the best local and regional sellers of authentic vintage furniture, fashion, home goods, and beyond.

Skyline Ink Animators + Illustrators, designers. Project for Civic Center at Point Park for the Allegheny Conference, 1947, digital illustration, 2021. This image was prepared with material kindly made available by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. All rights reserved.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Running through January 14
Last week marked the opening of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania exhibit. In collaboration with Fallingwater, the exhibition presents video animations and 3D models of never-built Wright residential, commercial, and civic projects. For those visiting on Sundays, the museum offers free, docent lead, Cantilever Tours at 1 p.m. for a deeper look at the exhibit.

What do you Remember?, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 60”

Fugue State

James Gallery, Running through December 8
“I am interested in memory deficits, personal and cultural dysfunction, and how we piece together not only our personal stories but the myths and cultures created over millennia,” says Catharine Fichtner, the artist behind James Gallery’s latest exhibition, Fugue State. Fichtner utilizes fabrics on panels layered with acrylic paints to tell “fragmented” stories in “glimpses that must be deciphered.”

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Pittsburgh Food News: Spooky Bourbon, New Chicken Spot & Wine Shop

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October 19, 2023

The interior of a restaurant, multiple wine glasses sit on the tabletop. Pittsburgh Food News — Photo by Klara Kulikova

Openings, expansions, and new products: there’s no denying that the Pittsburgh food industry is doing well. See just how well with the following local industry happenings…

Wigle Whiskey

Spooky season just got spookier — local small-batch craft whiskey makers, Wigle Whiskey, recently announced the release of a new adult beverage. Their Vampire Bourbon, which is crafted with yellow corn and malted barley, is said to have notes of butterscotch, brown sugar, and leather (yes, leather). We’re already thinking of Halloween cocktail creations…

Tepache Mexican Kitchen & Bar

Several years after debuting in Mars, Tepache Mexican Kitchen & Bar is now bringing its authentic cuisine to the other side of the city. Owners and brothers Jesus and Jovanny Segoviano opened a second location in Fox Chapel last week at the former Atria’s location to great fanfare — the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review cited guests started arriving long before the 5 p.m. opening time, with the bar pretty much full a half hour later.

Wigle Whiskey bottle with cocktail setup in craft distillery environment — Photo courtesy of Wigle Whiskey’s Facebook

Allegheny City Brewing

Speaking of expansions, Allegheny City Brewing is set to open a new tap room and beer garden on the North Side’s East Ohio Street. The local craft brewery has already broken ground on site and previously used the location as a live music space and temporary beer garden over the summer. The project should be finished by the spring of next year.

Raising Cane’s

If you’ve ever craved Raising Cane’s Southern fast-food chicken, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana chain just opened its first Western Pennsylvania location right here in Pittsburgh. WTAE reported that on the day of the launch in Oakland on October 10, customers stood in line for hours before the 8:30 a.m. open time. Maybe early-morning chicken just tastes better!

Solera Wine Co.

Coming early next year to 4839 Butler Street is wine shop and restaurant Solera Wine Co. Lead by Tyler Borne and Aaron Gottesman, former Meat & Potatoes general manager and executive chef, respectively, the duo plans to offer wine dinners and education alongside their selections of wine that can be purchased by the bottle or glass. The food menu aims to be a complement to the wine, with offerings like sandwiches, veggies, small plates, and charcuterie.

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Painkiller Cocktail

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October 18, 2023

Two white yellow frozen drinks in tall, skinny glasses, PainKiller Cocktail

Even the darkest of winter days are bright with the Painkiller cocktail. Rum is mixed with pineapple, orange, and coconut to take you from the bar to Barbados.

About the Painkiller Cocktail

The Painkiller cocktail originated in the 1970s at the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands (which, by the way, is totally still around and advertises itself as “a sunny bar for shady people”), from the mind of bartender Daphne Henderson. The idea was to create a cocktail that could serve as a “hair of the dog” for hungover sailors who’d had a few too many the night before. Whether hair of the dog is a legitimate hangover cure is up for debate, but the Painkiller took off and has been a bar staple since then.

Painkiller Cocktail

Author: Sarah Cascone