Let me tell you something about Zandalar. The place is gorgeous. It’s hot. All the animals are huge and you are very small. Among the huge animals are the crawfish. You ever see a Zandalari crawfish? They’re crazy big, big enough to snip-snip off parts that you’d like to keep on.
That’s why I like to grind them up and serve them in a cheese sauce. Boo-yah, top of the food chain!
Continue reading “Zandalari Crawfish Fondue”
When I was living on the streets, food was hard to come by. I would go days without eating, and even when I did get a chance, more often than not it was scavenged from rubbish bins. A memory I’ve held very close was my first cheeseburger. I remember the sauce running down my chin, the cheese and grease exploding with flavor in my mouth, the crunch of the onion, the sourness of the pickle. It was so foreign to me, fluffy buns and thick crumbly meat. I hadn’t eaten much Human food before that and elves don’t really have anything quite like it.
The only pain is that it’s a bit hard to take on the go. While making the Pandaren egg rolls, I was stricken with an amazing idea. All the deliciousness of a cheeseburger in the convenient package of an egg roll.
Continue reading “Cheeseburger Egg Rolls”
Working at the Golden Keg, I’ve gotten to talk with a lot of brewers from wine to mead to beer and ale. And one thing I learn is that you can ask five brewers how to brew the same drink and get six different answers. So I decided I wanted to try it myself. And halfway through getting my supplies I realized “Huh, if I want to try my hand at brewing, maybe there are others who do too!”
There is a LOT of information out there and it can get REALLY overwhelming. But I’m going to walk you through what I’ve been doing, warts and all, so that you can try it yourself. It’s not as expensive to start as I thought it was.
MEAD
I think it’s fair to say I stand by everything I make. If I ever plan a dish to share with you guys and it turns out sub-par, I scrap it until I can perfect it.
I honestly thought this was going to be one of those projects. Boy was I wrong.
Eggrolls have always been elusive to me. Crunchy outside, savory inside, deliciously filled, folded like some complex origami. It intimidated me. But when it was suggested that I make them for Pandaren month, I decided to give it my best.
It was not hard. I should not have waited. And everyone needs to try this.
When I made my first batch of 12 (the yield for this recipe), I decided to let them cool while I cleaned up and did the dishes. There was only one other person around at the time, I told them they could try one if they’d liked. Do you want to know how many I got to sample?
One. I had one. And only because I took it in the kitchen with me while I worked. I returned to a very full Alexi and an empty plate. Apparently once he had taken a bite of the first one, he simply couldn’t help himself. I’m a bit cranky about that… Because my reaction was the same. The moment I bit into that crunchy, flavorful goodness, I needed more.
And someone had eaten them all…
sigh
So for the kickoff of Noblegarden, my friend and fellow Knight Initiate with the Argents, Denarys Deneres Denarus Senechal (swear to Light, humans have hard names) invited me to join his family for their traditional wild boar and egg hunt.
I’ve never hunted a wild boar before, and there’s an art to it. An art I don’t really understand. It consists of some very fast, very strong horses that take their job very seriously, dogs in armor, and a very pissed off boar. To be fair, from past experience, ‘pissed off’ is the default for wild boars, and the moment you’re in their territory, one of you is going to become dinner. We just decided to make them dinner first.
It was intense. It completely rattled my initial image of these prim, proper nobles who stand with their backs so straight and their head angled in such a way that they seem to be peering down the bridge of their nose. His mother’s hands were so soft as she kept insisting on clasping mine. I thought the rest of them was soft too.
But oh no. Oh man. No. The moment there is danger, that softness gives way to an intensity that is beyond my ability to put them into words. They are graceful, powerful. Lethal. And I am very glad that they’re on my side.
Afterwards, while the meat was curing, we enjoyed a lot of his family’s mead and hunted for eggs. Those at least, didn’t fight back.
Good times all around. I don’t always do well with big groups, so it was refreshing to get to slip into the kitchen with their personal chefs to help them prepare this ham. Trust me, the hardest part was killing the thing.
H A M !
In the past year, I’ve come a long way. I’ve gone from being a homeless nobody to basically running a tavern. I’ve become a Knight Adept with the Argent Crusade. I haven’t had to steal for food, and in fact, I’ve found myself in the situation more than once with too much food and no way to store it.
That’s why I love this week’s recipe. It combines two of my favorite things – not letting food go to waste, and feeding my fellow Knights. …And the secret third thing being that it’s also a play on words that I’m very proud of. The Silver Hand being an order of paladins that has overlap with the Argents, and of course…
…We’re making hand pies.
Continue reading “Meal of the Week – Silver Hand Pies”
One of my favorite things to do here in Stormwind is to bring tastes of home to people who have never experienced it. Most of you know I’m originally from Silvermoon, but I spent a lot of time in both Brill and outside of Orgrimmar. And sometimes, man do orcs know how to eat.
On Durotar, one thing that there are plenty of is boar. So pork is a huge stable in Durotar orcish cuisine. When you head a bit south though, you come to Razor Hill, a perfect melting pot of Darkspear Trolls and Orcs. With it, comes a delicious mix of trollish spices and orcish meats that everyone needs to experience at least once.
Mmmm pig…
(This recipe is courtesy of my dear friend and brother Seratoph. Thank you for always being there for me)
Hey guys! Seratoph here. If you don’t know me, I’m a Kaldorei druid that’s also been doing a bit of bartending at the Golden Keg for a little while now. My life’s been pretty crazy but it just might be stabilizing soon. Not sure. But for now, I’m living in the woods and letting everything play out. And so far, so mixed. Mostly good though!
I’m filling in for Jax today because he’s been really busy and he is finally getting the rest he deserves. I thought during that time, why not make a little something to add to the menu?
Continue reading “GUEST! Meal of the Week: Lemon-Lime Stormwind Shrimp”
So I dunno if you guys have noticed, but it’s getting cold. Winterveil was pretty cold. Like, bundle up and stay in side watching the snow with someone you love cold. Like snuggle up in a blanket with hot cocoa cold. But First-Month?
First month is ‘it’s too cold to get out of bed to pee’ cold. Like, seriously considering the repercussions of not getting out from under the warm blankets ever. How long can you live without eating?
A while, but it’ll be worth getting up when there’s a hot bowl of Gorgrond Clam Chowder waiting for you.
Continue reading “Meal of the Week – Gorgrond Clam Chowder”
Feed the Horde 