Red Bean Buns

From the World of WarCraft Cookbook comes this lightly sweet and absolutely delicious recipe for Red Bean Buns.

 

This recipe is rated skill level: Master, and takes a while to prepare as it uses a yeast dough that requires more than one rise time.  It is not a simple recipe, but it honestly isn't too hard to make either, just work intensive.  Particularly if you are, like me, unlucky enough to have no Asian grocer near you.  

I had no easy access to the red bean paste called for, nor could I even find the Azuki beans needed to make it from scratch, and I didn't want to order online for a single item, so after a bit of research I discovered that White Bean Paste is an acceptable substitute for sweet bean buns, and that white beans I had access to (I chose navy beans) were suitable. I took one can of low sodium navy beans, rinsed them well, and then put them into a food processor with 1/4 cup sugar (which I worked out was 2/3 the weight of what 15oz of cooked beans would have been when dried). After processing until smooth, I cooked on the stovetop for 15 minutes until the mixture became thick and stiff.  Then I spent quite a while pushing this product through a fine mesh strainer to get a very smooth, lustrous white bean paste.

I followed the rest of the Bean Bun recipe closely, and the dough came together very nicely.  I only had white sesame seeds on hand, so those ended up decorating the buns before baking. 

These came out perfectly.  Crusty on the outside and tender inside with a perfect amount of filling. Everyone rated these a 5 out of 5, which made all that work very worth it. They do take more than 2 hours or so to make, as they require a total of 1.5 hours of rising, but wow, what a treat!  We paired these with Spiced Blossom Soup, a very good pairing. I look forward to making these Bean Buns again!  Maybe next time I can get my hands on the red bean paste....

Spiced Blossom Soup

From the World of WarCraft cookbook, page 103, comes this lightly sweet and spicy vegetable soup.

This recipe is rated skill level: Apprentice, and indeed it was a very simple recipe that comes together very quickly.  Could easily be made vegan by subbing in veggie broth for the chicken broth.

I wasn't sure how well this unusual soup would go over with the family, but really wanted a new and different way to prepare cabbage in the winter months.  Surprisingly, everyone loved it!  My daughter put together the Ancient Pandaren Spices, and we decided to leave out the anise and fennel, and sub in coriander instead.  I'm personally a fan of anise flavor, but everyone else in my household not so much. Other than that small substitution, I followed the recipe exactly, including the chamomile tea broth, and this soup is both subtle and bursting with flavor.  There is a touch of heat at the end from the peppercorns, but all of the flavors meld together beautifully. Daughter rated it "yummy", and hubby gave it a 4 out of 5, which is very high for a simple veggie soup from him.  

The broth and cabbage are more pink than the vibrant purple shown in the book, but I cooked it a few minutes longer as well, as my family wanted the veggies a tad softer than what 5 minutes suggested in the recipe produced.  

This is a very good staple for winter and spring to use up a head of purple cabbage, and warm your insides!

Ogri'La Chicken Fingers

 From the World of WarCraft Official Cookbook, our family recently tried the Ogri'La Chicken Fingers.

This is a very straightforward recipe, skill level: apprentice, and total prep and cook time at around 30 minutes.

I actually had our 14 year old daughter, who has gotten a little selective about food in recent years, help me select recipes she'd be willing to try from all of these fantasy cookbooks.  My husband is a big fan of chicken, but our daughter not so much.  She was, however, willing to try these.

Daughter rates the finished product a full 5 stars out of 5.  I agree.  Husband rates them as a 4 out of 5 and said he'd like a bit more seasoning in the batter.  Your milage may vary.  I don't think they need any additional salt, but I may try some smoked paprika or a pinch of cayenne in the batter next time.

We used local chicken breast, and served with homemade honey mustard sauce, a simple caesar salad, and the herbed boiled potatoes from the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.

I was a bit skeptical about browning the breadcrumbs ahead of time, as directed in the recipe.  I was afraid they would become overdone, maybe even burnt, but that was not at all the case.  These came out a perfect crunchy golden brown, and the chicken inside was surprisingly tender and moist. Far better than anything you can get at your local drive-through, these are well worth the effort.

I think the batter under the breadcrumbs, as opposed the normal routine I've done in the past of egg wash, seasoned flour, then breadcrumbs, make these extra tender and delicious. Honestly, the best breaded baked chicken recipe I've ever tried. I will 100% be adding this recipe to a monthly rotation. And because they are baked and not fried, I don't even feel guilty for serving my family chicken fingers for dinner!

Junglevine Wine

Whew, this packs a punch!  Pun intended.

This recipe is from page 203 of the World of WarCraft Official Cookbook

I don't know quite why this recipe is listed as skill level: Expert. It seemed fairly simple to prepare. 

Ingredients include sugar, brandy, pomegranate juice, triple sec, diced fruit of choice, and red wine.  It's pretty simple, aside from peeling, coring and dicing some fruit, it mostly involves mixing the ingredients and dissolving the sugar into them.

I chose pears and apples for the fruit, and also decided to serve it warm as opposed to iced, as it is the middle of winter.  Both options are given in the recipe.  I also halved the recipe, as I'm serving it just for my husband and I.  This still made enough for a few evening's worth of drinks.  We selected E&J VS Brandy as it is very smooth and I think it worked well. For the wine, we found a local Garnacha for it's fruitiness, and because

I must say, the pears really soaked up the mixture and were absolutely delicious to fish out and nibble on while drinking.

This drink was a delight, and both my husband and I give it 5 stars out of 5.  Sweet, smooth, fruity and delicious, this drink will be a big hit for any party, and any season, or just for a weeknight cocktails at home.

Greatfather's Winter Ale

This recipe is on page 199 of the World of WarCraft Official Cookbook.  It is listed as Skill Level: Master, and I agree.  I think tempering the eggs in a safe manner is fairly difficult, but if you are comfortable trying that, this recipe is certainly unique.

This recipe includes apples, oranges, a variety of holiday spices, eggs, ale, apple cider, brandy, brown sugar and maple syrup. Quite a variety of ingredients!

(Alternatively, we also tried this using prepared eggnog instead of of the eggs and Holiday Spices, and it was actually pretty similar in taste.)

I made this for my husband and myself to enjoy a few days before Christmas.  We made 1/3 batch because there were only 2 of us, and I used a local holiday ale. I also omitted the baked fruit since we weren't serving it for guests.

The taste is really unusual.  Not quite eggnog, not quite grog, but both of us found we liked it more as we sipped on it. A touch creamy, a touch fruity, a touch bitter, a touch spicy, a lot sweet; this drink has a lot going on. It certainly would make an impression at a party!

I give this recipe a 3.5 out of 5 stars.  It is a bit difficult for a mixed drink, and some folks might not enjoy the unusual and complex flavors. All the same, it is very fitting for the winter holidays!

World Of WarCraft, Official Cookbook Review

World of WarCraft is more than a video game, more than an MMORPG.  It has become a cultural phenomenon.  Even if you have never played, you have surely heard of this juggernaut.

The World of WarCraft Official Cookbook is an impressive, hefty tome.  From the same authors as A Feast of Ice and Fire, this beast of a cookbook is over 200 pages of recipes on glossy pages with sumptuous photographs of each dish in theme appropriate settings. Each offering is broken down by skill level, cook time, and suggested pairings, and also contains bonus material about in game origins and other fun factoids.  The book is well organized into seven main categories, from spices to soups, main courses to drinks, everything is covered.  There is even a section that contains full suggested menu's for a variety of special occasions.

The recipes themselves are laid out in a very neat and easy to read format, and there is even a dietary chart in the back for those with food allergies or other special dietary needs to find recipes that fit those needs at a quick glance.

As a stand alone cookbook, this really is top quality.  Although it contains a few truly fantastical recipes for items that might be hard to find or not made only on special occasions, it also contains many recipes that one can use for every day cooking. 

Honestly, of all of my fantasy cookbooks, this one stands out for having the most recipes my family was interested in trying and including in a regular weeknight meal.  Fantastic while also being down to earth, this book has it all

  

Check out some of my reviews from this cookbook:

Greatfather's Winter Ale

Junglevine Wine

Ogri'La Chicken Fingers

Red Bean Buns

Spiced Blossom Soup