Posted on October 17, 2016 by Diana L.
Themed dinner parties are so much fun! Planning this Harry Potter inspired dinner party was no exception. I decided to make arachnid balls with Parmesan mashed potatoes. The name of these meatballs may be gruesomely deceiving. They are more commonly known as porcupine meatballs – ground beef meatballs with rice. I used long grain wild rice to make them look extra creepy and hairy.
Cristina from I Say Nomato and I discovered Food in Literature’s Harry Potter’s themed dinner party she hosted for some friends. Oh. My. Goodness! You NEED to head over there to check out what a spectacular job she did with her party decorations. Cristina and I were SO inspired we decided to host our own virtual Harry Potter themed Dinner Party with some other fabulous food bloggers. We also sent a special request to Bryton Taylor, the content creator of Food in Literature to participate in the party!
What started as a single recipe evolved into a full blown meal including beverages. I can’t wait to see what everyone else created for their Harry Potter inspired recipe. Porcupine meatballs were a dish my mom used to make all the time when I was a child. I love the look of the black long grain wild rice. I feel it makes my meatballs look hairy.
As I was preparing my arachnid balls, I kept thinking of the scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where Harry and Ron followed the trail of spiders into the forest. I would never, ever, EVER go into a dark cave following all those spiders. Looking for a larger spider. But the scene was a great inspiration for these arachnid balls. Spiders are a common element in all the Harry Potter movies, but this scene in particular still haunts me.
As I mentioned, my intention for this post was to make arachnid balls, but it slowly evolved to include parmesan mashed potatoes, unicorn blood (Blue Lagoon co*cktails) and co*ckroaches (candied pecans). Don’t you just love those blue unicorn blood drinks?? My children were very disappointed to find out they were adult only drinks.
As Halloween is just around the corner, I was super excited to pull out my decorations and have a bit of fun. Christmas was usually my thing until one of my friends invited me to her Halloween party. Wow! Her house looked spectacular. It also made me realize Halloween is just as fun to decorator for as Christmas.
I also found my “sorting hat” on one of my more recent trips to Homesense (don’t you just love that store? Especially around the holidays). Ok, so it’s not the official sorting hat but I thought it looked pretty darn close. I added in a selection of potion bottles, some owls and black birds, spiders and some other Hogwart inspired décor to finish the look. What do you think? What would you include in your Harry Potter inspired dinner party?
Ingredients
- 1 ½poundground beef
- ¼cupblack rice
- ½cupwater or more
- 1egg, beaten
- 1teaspoononion powder
- 1teaspoonsalt
- 1/2teaspoonpaprika
- 1/2teaspoongarlic powder
- 1/4teaspoonground black pepper
- 1(15 ounce) can tomato soup
- 1(15 ounce) can water
- 2teaspoonsWorcestershire sauce
- ½teaspoongarlic powder
Instructions
Soak your rice for 10 minutes then rinse. In a small pot, partially cook your wild rice until just tender. Add more water to the pot if required. Drain your rice of any additional water and set aside.
Mix the ground beef, rice, egg, onion powder, salt, paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper together in a bowl. Roll the mixture into meatballs. I used an ice cream scoop to get the perfect portions.
Place the meatballs in square baking dish, 8X8X2 inches. Mix the tomato soup, one can of water, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder together. Pour over meatballs. Cover and cook in 350 F oven for 45 minutes or until rice is tender. Add additional water if the sauce gets too thick. When the rice is fully cooked, uncover and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
Looking for other Harry Potter inspired recipes to host your own themed dinner party?
- Sorting Hat Cupcakes from I Say Nomato
- Canary Creams from the Bluenose Baker
- Hagrid’s Pumpkin Patch Rock Cakes from Peppers & Pennies
- Arachnid Balls from 365 Days of Easy Recipes
- Steak and Kidney Pies from Food in Literature
VisitFood in Literature’s Harry Potter’s themed dinner partyfor more decorating ideas!
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