Spooky Good Dishes and Craveable Candy Pairings

When the fall hits and the weather gets cold, we here in Faribault get super excited about Halloween.  Why just celebrate one day when you can celebrate the whole month?  Halloween is not just about tricks and treats, costumes and scary movies; it’s a whole vibe.  Here are some ways we are celebrating all month long!

Ghoulish Gastronomy

Since the weather is colder, we like to experiment with heartier meals when cooking in our cauldron.  Nothing says “warm, hearty” food to us like pasta!

If you need to “carbo-load” before hitting the streets to trick or treat or heading to a Halloween party, we have the perfect recipe from the Betty Crocker Test Kitchen.  Their Penne with Caramelized Onion-Gorgonzola Cheese Sauce is a dreamy pasta dish, with decadent flavors sure to please any crowd.  We are sure the folks at the Test Kitchen would agree that it is best made with AmaGorg (they are from Minnesota after all 😉 ).  To make this pasta dish eerily enticing for Halloween, skip the penne and try the Black & White Farfalle from Antico Mulino we found at World Market.  Word on the street is they make an orange and black version of this farfalle as well!

If carving pumpkins is your thing, make sure you are serving up the right food to kick-start your creativity!  Whether you are carving pumpkins with friends, family, or even solo, the Pumpkin and Sage Baked Gnocchi from the website delicious. will inspire you to carve the scariest (or cutest) of Jack-o-Lanterns.  Don’t worry; this recipe relies on store-bought pumpkin gnocchi so you can spend more time carving than in the kitchen.  We suggest using our St. Pete’s Select with this recipe. The piquant, acidity of the Blue will cut the rich flavors in this dish.

Petrifying Pairings

As you all know, we love mixing chocolate, caramel and Blue cheese together.  Though we love fancy chocolate, we also know our cheeses pair perfectly with Halloween candy as well.  Whether you are trick or treating, rummaging through your kid’s candy bags, or enjoying some treats as you hand out candy, remember to put some aside for a Halloween-inspired dessert plate.

Cherubic Gouda & Heath Bars

Our Cherubic Gouda is rich, with sweet, caramel-like notes.  The milk chocolate in the Heath Bar, as well as the toffee, highlight the sweet, caramel flavors while the crunchy texture of the toffee also helps to cut the fat of the Gouda.

St. Helga’s Swiss & Whoppers

St. Helga’s Swiss is notoriously buttery, sweet and fatty.  The milk chocolate in the Whopper highlights the sweet flavors in the Swiss, while the drier texture of the malted milk balls adds a much-needed crunch to this blubbery cheese.

AmaBlu & KitKat Bar

As you can tell, we love a texture difference when pairing different foods with our cheeses.  Because the milk we use is so high in fat, adding some crunchiness to the pairings helps cut the richness in the cheese.  Enter the KitKat Bar.  The sweet milk chocolate in the KitKat helps to ease the tanginess of our AmaBlu, while the wafer adds a necessary crisp bite to the pairing. 

AmaGorg & Werther’s Original Cinnamon Caramels

AmaGorg is the sweetest of our Blue cheeses, and we love how it pairs with the Werther’s Original Cinnamon Caramels.  The caramel makes the sweetness in the cheese more pronounced, while the well-balanced spice of the cinnamon helps spotlight the slightly sharp flavors that linger on the finish.

St. Pete's Select Blue Cheese & Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

St. Pete’s Select and Reese’s’ PB Cups are a great combo!  The bitterness in the chocolate helps to mellow the piquant flavors in the Blue while the roasted, savory flavor in the peanuts compliment the overall flavor of the cheese.