Human Hand Halloween Snack

Several years ago, I made this Baby Foot Halloween Appetizer, it was a big success and my family has wanted it at our Halloween party ever since. This year, I decided to make a change and prepare a human hand that would be more of a snack rather than an appetizer. So the inside of the arm is very different from the baby foot, but equally repulsive to the eyes ;-)

The base for the arm is my Zucchini Roulade, just with a different filling than in the original recipe, and the hand is a duck pate.

For the arm:

1. 300 g/10.6 oz of zucchini (peel it and remove any seeds)
2. 33 g/1.15 oz of flour
3. 1 egg
4. 1 tbsp of sour cream or white yoghurt
5. 50 g/1.75 oz of cottage cheese
6. 1 garlic clove
7. 50g/1.75 of baked ketchup or any other ketchup
8. optional: nutmeg, dried parsley

For the hand:

1. aprox. 200 g/7 oz of duck pate

To cover:

1. 200 g/7 oz of serrano ham or similarly looking ham

The zucchini roulade is a perfect summer dish and I have a recipe here, although this time, we'll be making it a bit differently and only half its size.

Grate the zucchini finely, salt and let rest for 20 minutes. The vegetable will release some water, pour it out.

Add egg, sour cream, flour and a pinch of pepper and mix well.

Place a baking sheet on a baking tray and spread the zucchini mixture evenly on it.

Preheat the oven on 180 °C/356 °F and bake for 20 minutes. Then let it cool down completely.

Mix the cheese with crushed garlic and smear it on the zucchini dough. Sprinkle with a little nutmeg and some parsley.

Smear a layer of baked ketchup on the layer of cottage cheese.

Use the baking sheet to roll the roulade. The seam should be facing down.

Pack the zucchini roulade in the baking sheet and foil and let it rest for at least 2 hours in the fridge. Then transfer it to the tray you'll serve it on.

To make the hand, place the pate in small pieces at one end of the roulade and shape it carefully with your hands (don't forget to wear gloves) and a knife. Don't forget about the knuckles. You can use your own hand as reference.

To hive the hand and arm the realistic aspect, we need to cover it in ham to make it look like the skin has just been torn off and we're looking at flesh. I recommend tearing small pieces of ham (not cutting) and start covering from the fingertips. Use a knife to "tuck" the meat under.

Make sure you cover everything, make the pieces of ham overlap.

Take a napkin and clean the serving tray around the hand. There might be smudges of pate or fat from the ham. Decorate with garnish. And enjoy the look on everyone's face!