Craft Along with GIY: Food and Beverage (Meat Head)

Yay!  My first Craft Along with Goth It Yourself!  And this one is right my alley. :)  Since my favorite time of year is right around the corner, I wanted to share with you my recipe for making your own dinner guest!  This is something I have made for numerous parties, including my sister's engagement party!

My sister's horror movie themed engagement party buffet

The head is pretty massive so it's best for parties or large family gatherings.  But you could also make everyone their own individual shrunken heads!

From my old cooking blog, Get Off The Couch And Cook

My full recipe is below but you can also use your favorite meatloaf recipe as well.

Start by sculpting 3-5 lbs of ground beef mixed with the seasonings, etc.  Be sure to embed large pieces of onion for the eyeballs and little pieces for the teeth.  It doesn't need to be perfect but should at least resemble a face.

Place it in a roasting pan on top of some rolled up foil to help get it out of the pan when it is done cooking.  I'd also recommend using a baking rack underneath it.  Then cover the face with tomato sauce, avoiding the eyes and teeth.

Cover the tomato sauce with broken up slices of mozzarella or provolone cheese (I like how provolone chars up better.).

Bake, bake, bake until the meat is cooked through and the skin is charred. :D

Hack and enjoy!

To make the shrunken heads, the process is the same except in smaller scale and the cooking time is a lot shorter.

Meat Head Recipe

For the head
3-5 lb ground beef
1/2 c thick and chunky tomato sauce
1/2 c panko breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp jarred minced garlic
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 egg

For the face
1/2 large sweet onion, peeled, ends cut off and layers separated
1 – 1 1/2 c thick and chunky tomato sauce
8 thin slices Provolone or mozzarella cheese


Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the meatloaves.
Shrunken head: Divide into 4 parts if making shrunken heads.  

3. Pinch off a small piece of the meat and set aside. Form the larger piece into an oval head shape.
Shrunken head: do this for all 4 parts

3. Cut 2 pieces of the onion to look like teeth and press into the meat where the mouth will be. Press 2 more pieces of onion where the eyes will be.

4. Divide the reserved meat into 8-9 parts.  Roll 6 little pieces into tubes and place where the onion and meat meet on the head.

5. Smooth the tubes to cover the onion partially.

6. Form the last 2-3 pieces of meat roughly into a nose shape and place on the head. Smooth the edges.
Shrunken head: Repeat the head making process for the other 3 portions of meat mixture. 

7. Place the head(s) on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan.  For the large head, I recommend putting it on a baking rack inside the pan and using rolled up foil like in the pictures above to help lift it.

8. Spoon tomato sauce over the meat, being careful to avoid the onion pieces.

9. Break up the provolone slices and cover the tomato sauce, again avoiding the onion pieces.

10. Bake at 350°F for 90-120 minutes, until the “skin” is dark brown and the meat is done in the center.  The cooking time seems to be the same for 3-5 lbs of ground beef.
Shrunken heads: 45-50 minutes