Sunday 13 December 2015

Red Bean Bun

World of Warcraft Cooking: Red Bean Bun



2 sec cast
Reagents:
Red Beans


With only one ingredient I decided to take a few liberties with this recipe, cause I can tell you without a doubt that just red beans will not get the job done. Like pie, there are two parts to making a bean bun: the filling and the bun. The cooking time of the bun is fixed but the prep work for both the bun and the beans is enormous. Like most bean recipes you will have to allow for soaking the beans in water, so if you think you want to try this, start the bean part the night before. Here is the recipe I will attempt:

3hr.  cast - movement will not break cast. 
Reagents:


Filling

  • 8 oz (about one cup if you don't have a scale) Adzuki beans
  • Water for soaking and boiling (approx 3-5 cups)
  • 1/2 cup of sugr
  • 2 tbsp butter
1. Wash the adzuki beans and soak them at room temperature for 8 hours, or over night.



2. Remove any floaters and rinse the beans.

3. Toss the beans in a pot and cover with fresh water. Bring the beans to a boil, then simmer for an hour or until the bean smooches easily between your fingers.

4. For a smooth paste, press the beans through a sieve/ricer to remove the skins or you can toss em into a food processor. Don't freak out if they look dry and completely unpaste-like. The next step will make everything better.



5. Transfer the paste to a pan or pot and add sugar and butter. The original recipe I pulled the sweet red bean paste from wanted 2 cups of sugar and I used 1 cup. 1 full cup was way too sweet - like cake icing sweet. The next time I make it I am going to reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup, or I will try to substitute dates or a non-sugar sweetener. My dry sieve-pressed beans went from dry, fluffy bean bits to a goop by the fifth stir. Heat up the mix over medium heat and, stirring constantly, reduce the liquid content until the mix resembles a paste rather than runny porridge.

6. Allow the paste to cool and transfer to a container. You can now store the paste in the fridge for about 2 weeks, or use it right away. I found it was easier to roll the paste into little balls if it was cold.



Now for the Buns.

  • 3 cups flour (plus another 3 cups on standby for kneading)
  • 1/2 tbsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm milk to activate the yeast
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 3 tbsp warm butter
  • 1 tbsp oil
1. In a large bowl, add flour, salt and baking powder and mix with a whisk.

2. In a small bowl or measuring cup warm 1/4 cup of milk. Not hot, but not tepid either. When you stick your finger in it should like "oh, that's really warm," you know, just this side of uncomfortable. If the milk is too hot it will kill the yeast. Add the yeast and allow it to activate, about 5 minutes.

3.  Add the egg and the yeast to the flour mix and stir with a wooden spoon. Once combined, add the 1 cup of warm milk (same temp as the milk you used to activate the yeast) and the butter. Mix your heart out.

4. Once combined, pour/dump the dough onto a floured surface. Have a container (or two) standing by with extra flour for kneading. Knead the dough, should take about 15 minutes or so. I was actually interrupted while I was kneading and I had to run out of the house and pick up the kids. I was terrified that the dough would never forgive me and I'd have to start all over, but no, apparently the dough can be left to it's own devices for 20 minutes without becoming unusable. Full disclosure: I probably used another 3 - 4 cups of flour on the kneading step. That dough did not want to let go of my hands, nor the table. Why? Beats me, maybe I'm still too much of a bread n00b to get it yet, maybe it's cause I left it alone. Maybe it was the milk.

5. Take a very large bowl and coat it in oil. Take the ball of dough and place it in the bowl. turn the ball around to coat the outside with the oil, then cover with plastic wrap and let it rise. You are looking for it to double in size. How long, you may ask? Again, I apologize, who knows. A lot depends on heat, so if you have your house set to 17 degrees Celsius like I do, then it takes about an hour and a half to two hours. If your place is warmer, it may alter the rising time.

6. Now your dough is huge. Excellent. Take it out of the bowl and punch it down. Literally, punch the hell outta it. To divide the dough you grab it with your hands and pinch a piece off, approximately the size of a ball that will fill your hand.

Assembly

1. Take the balls of dough that you have created. Flatten a ball out on the counter and place about a tablespoon of red bean paste into the center of the dough. Close the dough around the paste and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper isn't necessary, but it makes clean up so easy that I don't really know how I lived without it.



2. Repeat step one until all your dough balls are paste filled and ready to be baked. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.



3. Brush the top of the balls with melted butter. Let the balls rest for 15 minutes, then pop them in the oven and bake until they are golden brown, approximately 20 - 25 minutes.

4. Let the buns rest for another 15 minutes. You can brush them again with melted butter if you like.

5. Volia! Red Bean Buns a la World of Warcraft!





Special Thanks to Sandra's Easy Cooking for the bun recipe and China Sichuan Food for the red bean paste recipe.

Monday 23 November 2015

Shrimp Dumplings

 

Shrimp Dumplings

2 sec cast

Reagents:
Giant Mantis Shrimp


With only one ingredient I decided to take a few liberties with the companion recipe. Sadly, it was only after I began placing the tiny packets of goodness into the frying pan that I realized that this World of Warcraft recipe is part of the "Way of the Steamer" recipe pack from Mist of Pandaria. Oops. I have to say, the following recipe was such an enormous hit in my house that no one is sad that I have to make it again, in a steamer. The cast time listed below assumes that your Giant Mantis Shrimp are already out of the shell and deveined. It was my first experience deveining shrimp and I blew 25 minutes on just that step. Also, wrapping 36 won ton wrappers by yourself will add another 25 minutes or more, depending on your dexterity. Here is the recipe I will attempt:

25 min.  cast - movement will not break cast. 
Reagents:
  • 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and diced
  • 8 ounces/1 cup ground pork
  • 1 cup shredded green cabbage
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon mirin (Mirin is not something I can find in my small town. I used icewine as a substitute)
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 36 2-inch won ton wrappers
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • Soy sauce, for serving

  1. In a large bowl, combine shrimp, pork, cabbage, green onions, ginger, sesame oil, mirin, salt and pepper, to taste.
  2. To assemble the dumplings, place wrappers on a work surface. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the shrimp mixture into the center of each wrapper. Using your finger, rub the edges of the wrappers with water. Fold the dough over the filling to create a half-moon shape, pinching the edges to seal.
  3. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add dumplings in a single layer and cook until golden and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side.
  4. Serve immediately with soy sauce, if desired.
  5. Voila! Shrimp Dumplings!



Special Thanks to Damn Delicious for the Shrimp Dumpling recipe.

Tuesday 17 November 2015

Peach Pie

 

Peach Pie

2 sec cast
Reagents:
Pandaren Peach (2)


The WoW recipe only involves two peaches, so I stripped my recipe down to the bare bones in the hopes that the seasonal peaches would be sweet enough to carry the dish. Turns out, the pie needs sugar. I did not hold back on the pie crust since the WoW recipe ingredients suggests to me that you should already have a pie crust in the bank - unless of course it is possible to make a pie with only one ingredient. I cooked this recipe in the oven instead of over open flame because my b.b.q ran dry. I will try to do better in the future. Here is the recipe I will attempt:

20 min.  cast - movement will not break cast. 
Reagents:




Crust
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/3 lbs Tenderflake
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1/3 cup frigid water
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 egg

Filling

  • 3 cups peeled and sliced peaches
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 ounce butter
  • 1 1/2 tbsp sugar (optional)

1. Peel and slice the peaches. Toss with cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and butter. Set aside.

2. Making the crust: Combine flour, butter and tenderflake with a pastry knife or fork. Work the mix until moist, this will take some time but it will be worth it. When I say "moist" I mean, you look at the mix and think to yourself, "I don't know if I really need to add liquid to this." Now you add the liquid.

3. In a small bowl, crack the egg and scramble. Add about half the egg to a measuring cup. Reserve the rest to brush over the crust. In the measuring cup, add lemon to the egg and enough frigid water to make your combined liquid equal to 1/3 of a cup.

4. Add the liquid to the tenderflake mix and combine. Divide the dough into two balls and chill.\

5. Preheat oven/bbq to 350 degrees.


6. Roll out the bottom pie crust, place in pie plate and fill with the peach mix.

7. The top crust. To make it resemble the WoW Peach Pie icon, roll out the top crust, then cut into strips. Place the strips in a lattice formation on top of the pie.

8. Brush the top crust with the reserved egg, you can add a little bit of frigid water to the egg if it doesn't spread nicely.

9. Bake until golden brown and crust is crisp, approx 30-40 minutes.

10. Voila! Peach Pie!



Special Thanks to Natural Awakenings Las Vegas Blog for the Peach Pie recipe.