Summer is finally starting to wind down! Finally. I don’t know about you, but it’s been as hot as Hellfire Peninsula in Stormwind lately. So of course, when you get out of the hot sun after working all day, you don’t want a hot meal. No no, you need something to help you cool down. That’s why I love a good, cold pasta salad.
Continue reading “Stormsong Valley Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad”
Miss Jean, a druid and an avid gardener, got me hyped up last winter to try and grow my own veggies. I planted a few different types of tomato plants, some little cherry tomatoes, some big ol’ slicing tomatoes, and some felberries, which are sorta similar to tomato but they taste a bit like tingling.
At first it was great! Every day there were a few cherry tomatoes, or a felberry. And then all at once EVERYTHING came into season at the same time. I realized that even with cooking for the Keg, putting some in the chicken pasta salads (tune in next week!) a lot of these tomatoes were going to go bad if I didn’t figure something out. I’m not a fan of most tomato sauces (I know, I’m weird) but there is one thing I can’t get enough of.
Salsa.
Continue reading “Easy Summer Salsa”
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”
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
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…
Ah, love is in the air. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told. I’m not exactly an authority on romance lately. What with my girlfriend having more and more trouble staying grounded in reality, the confusion and selfishness of finding someone to fill the void and the realization that now I’m not being fair to two people instead of just one. Or with trying to understand what you’re supposed to do when everyone has an opinion that they insist is the Correct one, but everyone’s opinion is equally Correct and vastly different.
But Love is in the air, and it’s everywhere, from the pink and red heart-shaped pastries and cookies that the bakers lay out with the dawn, to the heart decorations and pink candles that seem to be mandatory for every building to be dolled up with, or the couples holding hands and sneaking kisses and the questions it raises and the prickling fear in your chest what if you’re doing it wrong what if everything is wrong and you’re hurting everyone and maybe you shouldn’t ever have come to Stormwind in the first place.
But we’re not going to think about that.
Tonight we’re going to think about Love!
For just one day
So two very important things: Don’t expect anything that comes with instructions from a Laughing Skull Orc to be easy. And don’t expect it to come out pretty. This week’s recipe was Ravager Dogs from a good friend of mine, Korgraath Crotchgore, and it comes all the way from Gorgrond. Don’t ask him the story behind that sirname. Just trust me.
These dogs were ugly as fel, but man did they taste good. Unfortunately Korgraath’s instructions left a lot to be desired, so hopefully I can help you learn from my mistakes for this delicious dog. Crunchy with just a little bit of spice and an interesting fresh flavor, these are definitely worth it. I hope to revisit it later with a better method once I’ve experimented a bit more.
Continue reading “Meal of the Week: Ravager Dogs”
So, while Pryn and I were struggling to make money last summer, we came up with the idea to try and scavenge interesting artifacts from the newly discovered island of Zuldazar. Long story short, she has an amazing tiara that doubles as an illusion-disguise, my pale ass got a nice tan (somehow my blond hair got blonder?), and we came back with a lot of really neat but essentially useless things. With the exception of these weird green tree eggs.
Now, I have a lot of troll friends, some of the most important people in my life are trolls (Love you, Zan!) but elf throats are NOT designed to speak Zandalari. So I can’t pronounce the name of this egg for the life of me. Avokoto? Avkato? I have no idea. But! My buddy Zan’juul DID show me how to make this AMAZING green egg paste stuff. It doesn’t taste anything like you’d expect and I’m told it’s very healthy, so what a great way to start the New Year.
And it’s going to be a happy and healthy New Year! Remember you’re not alone, you are amazing and I love you.
Seriously. You, person reading this, maybe on your little mage-square avoiding your actual work — maybe in your underwear winding down for bed or maybe trying to wind up for the day — I love you. You are why I do this. And I hope when you’re feeling down, you remember that Jax loves you.
And since this got weirdly emotional, I’m also here for anyone who needs it, just leave me a comment, find me on Twitter @jaxkol, or even shoot me a private email through the Contact page. For real. Does not expire.
Moving on…
Feed the Horde 