Watching 'The Addams Family' this Halloween? Make this menu, including Blood Orange Tongue Toasts and Squid Ink Calamari, inspired by the movie

Ever since Christina Ricci haunted the big screen as the cheerless and macabre Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, she's been the anointed Queen of Halloween. Now, Ricci is back, playing Miss Thornhill in Netflix's Wednesday, making this Halloween a perfect time to revisit the spooky, off-beat family over dinner and a movie.

Inspired by the delightfully wicked foods that appear in The Addams Family, I teamed up with Chef Heather Pelletier of Sicily Osteria in New York City, to create a dinner menu fit for your next Addams Family viewing party. Our menu includes orange marmalade-covered tongue toasts, spooky squid-ink calamari and a Morticia-inspired drink that can be made with or without alcohol.

Read on for more about the parts of this iconic film that inspired us to get creepy ... and made us hungry.

The inspiration

The original Addams Family first appeared in 1938 in a cartoon by Charles Addams for The New Yorker. In 1964, The Addams Family television show premiered on ABC, running for just two seasons and airing a grand total of 64 episodes. But the show ran in syndication extensively — well into the ’90s — transforming it into a cult classic and making the franchise prime fodder for a new generation of Addams Family fans.

When Angelica Huston graces the screen as the smoldering Morticia Addams in the 1991 Addams Family adaptation, opposite Raul Julia as Gomez Addams, the couple redefines what it means to be "madly in love."

In the movie, Grandmama welcomes guests and immediately offers them a platter of "entrails" served on toast as canapés. While entrails aren't really our thing, tongue toasts, topped with blood orange marmalade, are both a creepy and delicious way to get your guests in the spirit.

The main course is also inspired by Grandmama's home cooking. "What is this?" Fester asks enthusiastically when Grandmama serves him a plate of dark and wriggling tentacle-like slop. "Mama's 'special de la maison'," answers Morticia with a delicate French accent, inciting a sensual reaction from Gomez.

"Start with the eyes," Grandmama tells Fester, leaving everyone to dig in. Pelletier referenced the traditional Venetian dish, seppie al nero, to mimic the wriggling dish. It consists of calamari cooked in a squid ink sauce for a shiny black finish, served over risotto — looking lethal and tasting divine.

The final party scene in the movie finds Morticia holding a bubbling and smoking bright green concoction, which we absolutely had to recreate. Our Poisoned Apple Martini is laced with fresh ginger for a little heat, paired with vibrant sour apple schnapps and finished with dry ice pellets for the full effect.

The Addams Family recipes

Feeling a little timid? For each recipe, we've offered serving suggestions and variations to help you plan a sinister meal everyone can enjoy while you get reacquainted with The Addams Family.

Blood Orange Tongue Toasts

by Chef Heather Pelletier

Ingredients:

• 1 pound veal tongue (approximate weight)

Brine - 48 to 96 hours

• 2 quarts water, divided

• 3 ounces kosher salt

• 2 ounces sugar

• 1 teaspoon allspice

• 1 teaspoon coriander

• 1 piece star anise

• 2 pieces clove

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 sprigs rosemary

• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

• 3 cloves garlic

To Cook

• 1 onion

• 1 carrot

• 3 stalks celery

• A mix of the same spices as in the brine

• 1 cup white wine

• 1 quart stock (chicken, vegetable, or water in a pinch)

Instructions:

Brine: Refrigerate 1 quart of water and bring the other quart to a boil with the sugar, salt and spices. Cook until sugar and salt have dissolved, awakening the spices.

1. Remove from heat and mix with the chilled water to cool.

2. Once brine is at room temperature, fully submerge the tongue, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook. (Note: The longer it rests in the brine, the better the flavor will be. If the tongue brines for longer than 4-5 days, it may become too salty.)

3. Cook: Rough chop onion, carrot and celery into similar-sized pieces.

4. Sweat vegetables with the spices in a large skillet until tender and fragrant.

5. Deglaze with wine and add stock. Pour liquid over the tongue into a baking pan, making sure tongue is fully submerged.

6. Cover the pan with foil or a lid. Place in a 300 F oven for 2 to 3 hours until super tender when pierced with a fork or skewer. Cool down in the liquid.

7. Once cool, peel the outer layer off the tongue and thinly slice.

Blood Orange Marmalade

Ingredients:

• 12 ½ ounces blood orange cut in quarters, seeds removed, thinly sliced (approximate weight)

• 10 ½ ounces sugar

• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

• Big pinch salt

• Pinch allspice (or cinnamon)

Instructions:

1. Add oranges to a pot and cover with water. Simmer until the rinds are soft, about an hour.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the marmalade has reduced, thickened and become shiny.

3. Adjust the acid to taste.

To Serve:

Cut slices of baguette and grill on each side. Add one slice of tongue to each toast and top with a small spoonful of blood orange marmalade.

Alternatives:

Not sure if you can stomach some tongue? Consider using tender braised short ribs instead. Additionally, the marmalade toast would also be great served with sliced plant-based sausage for a similar spooky effect.

"Mama's special de la maison" — Squid Ink Calamari

By Chef Heather Pelletier

Serves four

Ingredients:

• 1 pound calamari, tubes and tentacles (or rings, if preferred)

• 1 onion, sliced

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 2 tablespoons squid ink

• 2 cups red wine

• 2 cups seafood or vegetable stock

Instructions:

1. Split tubes lengthwise and cut into strips; cut tentacles in half.

2. Sweat onions until they start to soften; add squid and continue to cook.

3. Add tomato paste and cook a few minutes to develop the flavor, then deglaze with red wine and cook out alcohol.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients, adjusting slightly to yield the best black color. Simmer until the liquid is almost completely reduced and coats the calamari in a silky black sauce.

To Serve:

Add a splash of olive oil just before plating. Serve over risotto, polenta, potatoes or pasta.

Alternatives:

If your diners are squeamish around squid, feel free to substitute shrimp in its place. If forgoing seafood entirely, consider replacing the calamari with shredded oyster mushrooms and replace the squid ink with a few dashes of activated charcoal for a similar (vegan) visual effect.

Poisoned Apple Martini

by Jenny Kellerhals

Makes two cocktails

Ingredients:

For Ginger-Infused Apple Juice:

• 10 ounces apple juice

• 1-½ inches ginger, peeled and sliced into medallions

For Cocktail:

• 2 ounces ginger apple juice

• 3 ounces vodka

• 4 ounces green apple schnapps

• ½ ounce fresh lemon juice

• Dry ice pellets for serving (optional)

Instructions:

1. Combine apple juice and ginger slices in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Allow ingredients to infuse for 30 minutes while cooling. Strain juice and chill.

2. Measure all ingredients into a glass and stir with ice.

3. If serving with dry ice, strain into wine glasses or goblets, add a couple of pellets of dry ice just before serving (with tongs, never bare hands). Can also be served in a traditional martini glass or rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with a thin wheel of granny smith apple.

Non-Alcoholic Alternative:

Simply replace the vodka with sparkling cider, and the schnapps with green apple syrup.

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