Dragonbreath Chili

World of Warcraft Cooking: Dragonbreath Chili

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Reagents:
Mystery Meat
Small Flame Sac

Use: Occasionally belch flame at enemies struck in melee for the next 10 min. 
Whoa, lemme tell ya, it will happen.

Chili is pretty straight forward in my house - saute onions and garlic, brown the meat and toss in the slow cooker with diced tomatoes, spices and your choice of veggies. For this recipe I used:

2 onions, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, flattened
Lean ground beef
one sweet orange pepper
one sweet yellow pepper
13 hot teeny peppers (Hot Thai "very hot")
2 cans of diced tomatoes


Chili powder
Savory
Cayenne pepper
Oregano
Thyme leaves
Italiano Spice
Hot chili powder
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt
Lemon juice

Normally I would add a can for kidney beans and a can of brown beans, but I feel like the "belching of flames" listed in the use of the dragonbreath chili would come from the wrong end, if ya know what I mean.

The recipe calls for mystery meat, so I think you could make this with whatever you had on hand - chicken, stewing beef, pork of some kind, hell, even tofu - but braise that bad boy first or it will be mush. I like to slice the onions and saute them in olive oil with garlic until they begin to brown, then I toss em in the slow cooker. For the garlic cloves I like to crush the clove under the flat side of a large knife, it helps to release the garlic juice and increase the nums factor. That's what my husband says anyway. I will also brown the meat on it's own in the pan after the onions and garlic are done. This is less for flavour and more to get rid of the fat. I don'y care how lean the cut of meat is, I would rather de-grease it in the pan than have to skim it off the top of the slow cooker mix.

Add the meat to the onions and garlic in the slow cooker and add two cans of diced tomatoes. Alternatively you could use beef/chicken/veggie broth if tomatoes aren't your thing. Now add the spices. I do not have quantities for the spices because I really have no idea. First I place a generous carpet of chili powder over the contents of the slow cooker, followed by a sweep of cayenne and savory, a speckling of oregano and thyme, a few shakes of Italiano, a layer of salt etc. I will also re-season half way through the cooking process, since the meat is already cooked the slow cooker is used less for "cooking" and more for "flavour infusing device."  Mix it up, cover it and walk away.

Now for the veggies - I like my veggies to have a bit of firmness, which is why I add them half way through. I didn't use celery or tomatoes or any other nummy veggies because they were not in my fridge. I also enjoy large chunks of veggies, it saddens me if I take a bite of chili and I don't know if I've just eaten zucchini or pepper.

I can't stress enough you need to be careful with hot peppers. To de-seed them I cut off the top, hold it upside down and roll it between my thumb and finger to get the seeds out. If possible, wear gloves. I, being use to dealing with peppers, forgot how to be careful. I thought I kept a "clean hand" and my day ended in the washroom trying to flush my face with ice water. The next day I still have hot pepper residue under my thumb nail.

Add the veggies and hot peppers to the chili, mix and cover. Why 13 peppers? Because it looked nice in the picture. I like hot, so does the rest of my house, but heat is a subjective thing. My iron-stomached teenager devoured two bowls whilst calling me a wimp for breaking into a sweat during my first bowl. My husband found it just this side of painful, and loved every bite. I figured, since the dish is called "Dragonbreath Chili" it really couldn't be too hot. A bland chili would be a disappointment, and even if you amped up the heat I don't think it would be a disappointment because anything that gets you closer to breathing fire is a success.

About an hour away from dinner, taste the chili. I really like a squirt of lemon juice in the chili, but too much will have you scrambling to add more spices to temper the acid. This should be the last time you add spices to the chili. Good luck.

Spicy Vegetable Chips

World of Warcraft Cooking: Spicy Vegetable Chips

Reagents: Jade Squash
Pink Turnip
Juicycrunch Carrot

I was pretty nervous to try this - I mean, chips are made from potatoes for a reason - they are delicious! I found a nice recipe (credits at the end of the post) and I thought I would try out that version before I tried crazy foods like squash chips. 

2 parsnips (Juicycrunch Carrot)

1 sweet potato (Jade Squash)
1 raw beet (Pink Turnip)
olive oil
hot chili powered 
salt



I used a mandoline to slice my ingredients - be careful if you are using this contraption for the first time - it will take parts of your hands before you can say whoops. You can slice the ingredients with a knife, but the mandoline will take moments where as slicing will take considerably more time. 

On with the show. Slice the ingredients - if you are using beets you will need to rinse the area and tools you are working with or there will be beet juice *everywhere*. Use parchment paper to line pans and set the veggie slices out to dry a bit. Toss the sweet potato and parsnip with olive oil and place them on a baking sheet - I line everything with parchment paper for easy clean up, but it is not necessary. Sprinkle the veggies with salt and chili powder. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, flip your chips and bake for another 10 minutes. Once all the parsnips and sweet potatoes are done, repeat the process with the beets. 

I baked my chips on the barbecue and I would not recommend this cooking method. The temperature fluctuated based on wind direction and strength and all the chips on the outer edges were blacked while the chips in the center were moist. yuck. 

Still, it is a recipe I think I will try again, maybe with actual carrots, turnips and squash - in the oven.

Cheers

Special thanks to Delish for the recipe.

Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops

World of Warcraft Cooking: Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops  

2 sec cast

Reagents: Goblin Rocket Fuel
Deeprock Salt
Chimaerok Tenderloin

For the Deeprock Salt, we shall use good ol' salt. The Chimaerok will be replaced by pork shoulder steaks. Now the fun part: Goblin Rocket Fuel!

1 tbsp garlic powder

3 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp dried thyme or about 1 tsp ground thyme

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger

3 chili peppers

Rum.

Set the rum aside. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Place your meat into a container for marinading. Put the meat in the pan, rub both sides with the mix. Now soak those puppies in rum! Cover and refrigerate for an hour or so. Something to note with hot peppers - for those that are inexperienced with these deliciously hot little delights - use caution when you are handling them. The pepper juice will get on your hands. Resist any urges to: lick your fingers, scratch your nose or rub your eyes. You've been warned.
























Now it's time for grillin'!


It took about 20 minutes or so, about 10 minutes per side around 425 degrees on the barbeque. The next time I do this I would use pork chops, as the pork shoulder steak was less than ideal for grilling.

Please leave any comments, questions or concerns below!

 

Red Bean Bun

World of Warcraft Cooking: Red Bean Bun

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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:

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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.

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.

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.

Skewered Peanut Chicken

2 sec cast
Reagents:

Farm Chicken

The WoW recipe only involves farm chicken, so I selected the most basic recipe for peanut chicken that I could find. 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:

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Reagents:

• Chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup Catalina salad dressing
• 3 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

1. Cut the chicken into strips. Soak the skewers in water so they won't ignite in the oven. Toss the ingredients into a bowl large enough to hold the chicken. Mix ingredients together, add chicken and mix to coat the chicken. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. 






2. Heat the broiler. Skewer chicken. Get rid of any left over marinade. I originally placed my skewers over a pyrex baking dish, but after 4 minutes you need to turn the skewers to get the chicken to cook evenly and the silly skewers just would not flip. I transferred the skewers to a baking sheet.








3. Bake  with the chicken 6 inches from the heat in the broiler for 4 minutes per side or until the chicken is cooked. My chicken took 12 minutes.





4. Voila! Skewered Peanut Chicken!

Special thanks to Kraft for the recipe.