In this fun and spooky video tutorial, we'll show you how to create a Horrible "Hand" Ham & Cheese Board that's perfect for Halloween gatherings. You'll learn step-by-step how to shape ham and cheese into a creepy, yet delicious, hand-shaped platter. This eerie appetizer will be the centerpiece of your party, and it's sure to impress your guests. Watch and learn how to make this ghoulishly delightful snack for your next Halloween bash!
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Hello this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with the horrible hand ham and
00:07 cheese board. That's right not only would this be ideal for Halloween but if a
00:13 friend of yours calls you up and they're having a party and they're looking for
00:16 some help with the food and they ask you if you can give them a hand this would
00:21 be perfect. Oh yeah edible puns are the best puns. And to get started the first
00:27 thing we'll do is mix up our cheese spread which will start with some room
00:30 temperature cream cheese to which we will add some salt, some freshly ground
00:35 black pepper, plus a little bit of granulated garlic, and then of course
00:39 we'll also sneak in a few shakes of cayenne. And then I'm gonna finish up
00:43 this relatively simple spread with some freshly chopped Italian parsley
00:47 followed by some finely chopped roasted red peppers which of course you could
00:52 fire roast yourself which we've done many times or like I did in this case
00:56 we'll just use something nice out of a jar. And that's it once everything's in
01:01 there we'll give this a mix. And if your cheese was actually at room temp like
01:05 this was supposed to be this will mix together much faster and you won't have
01:10 to wrestle with it like I did. But anyway once we eventually get that mixed we'll
01:14 go ahead and clean off the spoon as well as clean up the sides of the bowl a
01:18 little bit since what we want to do next is wrap this and pop it in the fridge so
01:23 it's nice and cold when we go to use it. And then what we'll do once our cheese
01:27 spread is chilling in the fridge is move on to the drawing of our hand. Although
01:32 we're not gonna draw it, okay I have no drawing skills, but I do have world-class
01:37 tracing skills. So we'll place our hand on a piece of parchment or wax paper and
01:43 we'll take a pencil and trace all the way around. Oh and pro tip we will want
01:48 to angle the tip of the pencil a little bit under the finger and arm. Okay if you
01:51 hold it straight up and down you're not gonna get an accurate size and you'll
01:55 end up with fingers looking fatter than they really are. So by angling that tip
01:59 under a little bit you'll get a more accurate template. And that's it once our
02:03 hands been drawn, sorry I mean traced, we will transfer that onto a sheet pan. But
02:09 we should probably flip it over so we're not placing our food on those lead
02:12 pencil marks. But anyway suit yourself. And that's it now that we can see where
02:17 that cheese is supposed to go. We can pull our chilled spread out of the fridge. But
02:22 before we start filling this in I like to put a small dot of cheese underneath
02:26 each corner of the parchment which will keep it from sliding around as we work.
02:29 So I went ahead and did that to all four corners. And then using a teaspoon and a
02:34 finger or two teaspoons we can start filling in between the lines. And as we
02:40 do this we have to keep in mind that we are gonna wrap this in prosciutto. So we
02:44 don't really have to worry at this point about getting things perfectly shaped.
02:47 What we should really be concentrating on is trying to stay within the lines.
02:51 And also and just as importantly we only want to build the cheese up to the same
02:56 height or thickness of the finger or the hand or the wrist or whatever part we're
03:00 working on. Which should not be too challenging since you have a great model
03:04 in the kitchen with you. Well actually you probably have two of them. So when in
03:09 doubt stop and look at your finger or your hand or your wrist and try to
03:13 portion that cheese up to about the same height or I guess slightly under. Since
03:18 like I said we're gonna wrap this. And then once we feel like we have the right
03:22 amount everywhere we can go ahead and do some fine-tuning. Right maybe smoothing
03:26 out some rough spots or maybe adding a little bit of detail. Although I'm not
03:31 sure why I'm wasting too much time doing that. Since once we cover this with the
03:34 flesh we're probably not gonna be able to notice that stuff. But anyway I
03:38 couldn't help myself. And then what we'll do once we've completed the shaping is
03:42 go ahead and cover this in plastic. And then pop it in the freezer for about an
03:46 hour. So it's nice and cold and firm to work with. Since unlike most of the
03:50 horrible hands out there we are not gonna drape. We are gonna wrap. Which I
03:55 find so much faster and easier. And to do that once this comes out of the freezer
03:59 we're gonna need to amputate the fingers. As well as the hand from the wrist. And
04:04 we are not gonna be able to do this if the cheese is soft. But if you do pop it
04:09 in the freezer like we did. We will be able to sever off those body parts nice
04:13 and cleanly. And besides that they're gonna be much easier to work with as we
04:17 wrap them with our thin slices of prosciutto. Which is the next step. So
04:21 we'll go ahead and take one thin piece for each finger. And we'll go ahead and
04:25 wrap that up. Ending up with any seams on the bottom. And again don't worry about
04:30 perfection at this point. Okay once we assemble this all back together on the
04:34 board. We can do some final shaping. And add a few more pieces of flesh as needed.
04:38 And how this kind of thing is usually done. Is people will make the shape right
04:42 on the board they're gonna serve. And then they'll try to drape over the meat.
04:46 And sort of tuck it underneath. Which I think is way messier and way harder. And
04:50 takes way more time than this divide and conquer method. Plus this is called a
04:55 horrible hand after all. So that we get to see it with all the fingers amputated
04:59 at this point. I think fits better into the whole theme. Oh and by the way what
05:04 Irish movie does this remind you of? Anyway once our fingers have been wrapped.
05:08 And our hand and wrist have been covered. We will cover this and pop it back in
05:12 the freezer for another hour or so. So that once again it's nice and cold and
05:16 firm to work with. Before we move on to final assembly. Which is going to happen
05:21 right on the board we're gonna serve it. And what we'll do after unwrapping. Is
05:25 transfer that hand portion on first. Yes palm side down. And then once we're happy
05:30 with how that's positioned. We can start attaching those fingers. Sort of tucking
05:35 them up under that skin. Coming off the top of the back of the hand. And after
05:40 placing on the pinky finger. And then arranging the ring finger. I skip to the
05:44 thumb. Since once we have that into the proper position. I think the middle and
05:48 index finger will be easier to place. And space. And again feel free to stop anytime
05:54 you need. And look at your hand for reference. In case you forget what order
05:59 the fingers go. Or how they should be positioned. But keep in mind this is
06:03 called a horrible hand. Not a handsome hand. So a few imperfections here and
06:08 there might make this even more perfect. And that's it once the hands been
06:12 fingered. We can attach the wrist. At which point we can take some extra
06:16 pieces of prosciutto. And we can place those wherever we think they're needed.
06:19 And as far as a tool for fine-tuning. I find that a small paring knife does a
06:24 great job. And besides covering any of the spots we think need more flesh. And
06:29 of course covering up the seams between the sections. We can also take some
06:33 extra strips. And add some details like tendons on the back of the hand. Oh yeah
06:38 it's been a while since I cut off someone's hand and skinned it. But I do
06:41 remember some tendons. And for your average party goer. I think this would
06:45 look fine if we didn't do this extra detail. So exactly how much time and
06:49 effort you put into this is going to be up to you. I mean you are after all the
06:52 Russell Crowe. Of how far you should go. Which reminds me. You don't have to do a
06:57 hand. Right you could use this exact same technique and do a foot. In which case
07:02 you would be the Russell Crowe's. Of whether you should eat toes. But having
07:06 said that. I think the hands gonna be a little more interesting. And probably
07:10 easier to trace. But either way like I said. We will add flesh until we're happy
07:14 with how it looks. And by happy of course I mean horrified. Oh and I do recommend
07:19 doing this ahead of time. So that your horrible hand has plenty of time to
07:23 chill in the fridge. Okay I just think the taste and texture are gonna be
07:26 better that way. And I'll go into more detail about that in a minute. Since I
07:31 did not rechill mine before serving. Nope I just went ahead and placed some of my
07:35 famous Black Magic Sesame Seed Crackers on the board. Along with a little bowl of
07:40 Green Goblin Eyeballs. Or if those are out of season use olives. And then we'll
07:44 plunge a dagger right into the back of the hand. Except I don't have a dagger. So
07:50 I used a cheese knife. But I forgot the blood. So I pulled the knife out and
07:55 applied some to the cut. Oh and pro tip. Keep your blood in a hot sauce bottle.
08:01 In case the police come by to search your property. And that's it. Our horrible
08:08 hand Ham and Cheese Board is ready to enjoy. So let me go ahead and pull out
08:13 the knife and cut off a piece. And I decided to start with the thumb. Since
08:18 it's the meatiest of all the digits. And as you probably know. The ability to make
08:23 fake thumbs out of cheese and ham is what separates us from all the other
08:26 animals. But anyway that my friends was some delicious thumb. I mean really good.
08:32 As in two thumbs up. And again I'm pairing this with my famous Black Magic
08:38 Black Sesame Seed Crackers. Also known as the most delicious, most addictive
08:43 homemade cracker ever invented. Which I'll show you how to make in an upcoming
08:46 video. Oh and as I work my way through these fingers. Let me go back to
08:51 something I mentioned earlier. For best results you should make this ahead of
08:54 time. So that this is thoroughly chilled and nice and firm when you serve it. If
08:59 you serve this relatively warm and soft like I did. And use a really really dull
09:04 knife. Alright this cheese spreader has no edge. And if you put those two things
09:09 together. You end up making this much harder to serve than it needs to be. So
09:14 make this ahead if you can. And also possibly use an actual knife or dagger
09:18 if you have one. Which I've heard you do. And believe me your guests will
09:23 appreciate it. And I know not everybody's into these horror themed Halloween foods.
09:28 Right they consider them silly and unnecessarily contrived. But you know
09:34 what I don't. So to all the haters out there. Let me finish up this video by
09:39 saying. Talk to the ham. And to everybody else I'll say. I really do hope you give
09:45 this a try soon. So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts. A
09:50 printable written recipe and much more info as usual. And as always enjoy.
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