Over the weekend, I attended a BarCraft event at my friend’s home. We’ve had BarCraft events here before (with the occasional karaoke involved), but none of this caliber. Blizzard, being the awesome folks that they are, sent Ray some StarCraft swag to help with the festivities.

PRESENTS!! A GSL calendar, TONS of coasters, authenticators, stickers, and lanyards!

To prepare his bar for eSports, Ray put decorations honoring all of the international StarCraft teams.

Unlike Joeyray’s Bar on Mar Sara, Ray’s Bar in California does not stock Benson Cognek or Scotty Bolger’s Old No. 8, but there is a plethora of other fine spirits…

No shortage of refreshments here. 

In order to have a proper BarCraft, we had to have proper bar food and that was my job. I created a menu full of finger food that could be easily enjoyed with a beer-in-hand. Each race is proudly represented here in a very foodie fashion:

For Terran, I’ve created the Hellbat Sliders, turkey sliders with a spicy BBQ base and apple coleslaw. These hellbats won’t damage your economy.

For Zerg, I’ve created Swarm Host Bites, stuffed mushrooms with mozzarella cheese and Italian sausage. Warning, unlike in-game swarm hosts, these swarm host bites cause major splash damage!

Finally, for Protoss, I’ve created Tempest Croissants, prosciutto, spinach and mozzarella stuffed croissants. Let these croissants siege your taste buds.

These recipes are meant to be very simple and I will be taking some shortcuts in order to reduce the prep time and the ingredients list.

UNIT COMPOSITION: HELLBAT SLIDERS

For the Burgers

1. 1 tablespoon of olive oil
2. 1 lb of ground turkey
3. 8 mini hamburger buns

For the BBQ Sauce

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke
4. 1 tablespoon of worchershire sauce
5. 2 tablespoon of chiptole paste
6. 3 tablespoon of ketchup

For the apple coleslaw

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar
4. 2 tablespoons of white vinegar
5. 1/3 cup granny smith apple, sliced thinly
6. 1/3 cup of shredded cabbage
7. 1/3 cup of shredded red cabbage

(If you can find a ready made bag of shredded cabbage and red cabbage, I suggest getting that)

I recommend making the apple coleslaw and BBQ sauce ahead of time, especially if you plan on traveling to a friend’s house to make these. It will save you a ton of time and it’ll be easier for you to bring a container full of cole slaw or sauce instead of bringing each individual ingredient.

BUILD ORDER: HELLBAT SLIDERS

Prep time for this will take about 20 minutes. Cook time is roughly 12 minutes. This makes 4 servings.

Calories per servings: ~300 calories

1. Thoroughly combine your BBQ sauce ingredients (salt, pepper, liquid smoke, worchershire sauce, chiptole paste, ketchup) in a bowl.
2. Pour your 2/3 BBQ sauce over your ground turkey and stir the sauce through the turkey. Reserve the 1/3 of the BBQ sauce for the burgers.
3. Shape your ground turkey into small patties. You should create about 8 patties.
4. Set a pan on high heat and add your olive oil. When the pan becomes hot, place your patties in the pan. You may have to cook them in separate batches. Cook the patties for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove patties when done.
   
5. Place chopped apples and both shredded cabbages in a bowl.
6. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, vinegar, and sugar. Stir to combine to create the dressing.
7. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.
8. Place 1 patty on each of the burger buns (optional: place 1/2 teaspoon of BBQ  sauce over the patty) then top with some of the apple slaw.

UNIT COMPOSITION: SWARM HOST BITES

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 1 teaspoon of olive oil
4. 12 large mushrooms, stems removed
5. 1 Italian pork sausage, casing removed
6. 1/2 cup of marinara sauce
7. 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded

BUILD ORDER: SWARM HOST BITES

Prep time for this will take about 10 minutes. Cook time is roughly 15 minutes. This makes 4 servings.

Calories per serving: ~120 calories

1. Pre-heat an oven to 350° F (~176° C).
2. Add olive oil and heat a pan on high heat. Once the pan comes up to temperature, add in your sausage. Cook the ground sausage for about 6 minutes.
3. Dry the inside of your mushrooms with a paper towel. Season with salt and a little pepper.
   
4. Add in a spoonful of marinara sauce into each mushroom.
5. Add in a spoonful of ground sausage to each mushroom and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

UNIT COMPOSITION: TEMPEST CROISSANTS

1. pepper
2. pre-made croissant dough (usually comes in a tube)
3. 8 slices of proscuitto
4. 1/4 cup of spinach
5. 8 slices of mozzarella
6. Butter

BUILD ORDER: TEMPEST CROISSANTS

Prep time will be about 20 minutes and cook time is about 18 minutes. This makes 4 servings.

Calories per serving: ~380 calories

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F (~176° C).
2. Unravel your croissant dough and separate the triangles.
3. Wrap 1 slice of prosciutto around mozzarella and a 2-3 leaves of spinach. Season with pepper.
   
4. Place your wrapped prosciutto on the bottom of the triangle (opposite the point).
5. Roll your dough towards the point of the triangle. Pinch the edges of the rolled croissant.
6. Grease a baking dish and place your croissants on the dish. Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden brown.

If you have a large enough oven, you should be able to cook the mushrooms and the croissants at the same time.

If you’re cooking for a large party, feel free to double or triple the ingredients in order to increase the serving sizes.

GG!

With WCS Season 2 finals coming up (August 23 – 25th) in Cologne, Germany, these BarCraft bites would be a perfect snack if you’re watching the action from home!

BONUS: SLUSH OF THE SWARM

It wouldn’t be a BarCraft without some sort of alcohol! Since it’s summer, we decided to create a very simple and refreshing drink — all you need is 3 ingredients: watermelon, ice, and coconut rum. Just throw 1 cup of crushed ice, 1 cup of watermelon, and 2 (or more…) shots of coconut rum into a blender and blend. This simple slush is great alcohol-free as well!

We kind of drank a lot of these…

I had a lot of fun watching the WCS America finals — the games were very entertaining Even some of my friends who don’t particularly follow StarCraft were chanting for their new found favorite players!

Great StarCraft games, great food, and great friends. That’s how you hold a BarCraft. GG!

Today, we’re serving up fresh burgers straight from the master Zealot chefs of Aiur! All aboard the bad pun train because we’re making Cyburgnetics Cores. Yes, I went there.

shirt available at Jinx.com 

The Cybernetics Core is an early game structure necessary to many standard Protoss build orders. Of course, if you’re rushing (i.e., cannon rush or proxy Zealot rush), you probably won’t need a Cybernetics Core since your game will be over in 5 minutes or less.

However, assuming that you want to actually play towards the mid game and beyond, it’s probably in your best interest to place a Cybernetics Core sometime after your first Gateway.

While we’ve given some insight on why you need a Cybernetics Core, we haven’t answered the most question of them all: how does it taste? Hopefully like shrimp satay!

And I hope they actually look like this:

Seems legit.

Anyway, enough pictures and talk about Protoss… Let’s start cooking!

UNIT COMPOSITION

FOR THE BURGERS

1. salt
2. pepper
3. cilantro (fresh coriander)
4. 2 teaspoons of olive oil
5. 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
6. 2 teaspoons of sriracha sauce
7. juice from 1/2 of a lime*
8. 1/2 tablespoon of turmeric (be careful, tumeric will stain)
9. 1/2 tablespoon of cumin
10. 1/2 tablespoon of coriander
11. 1/4 of a cup of coconut milk
12. 1 stalk of lemon grass, chopped
13. 1 egg
14. 1 cup of red cabbage, shredded
15. 1/3 cup of red bell pepper, chopped
16. 4 hamburger buns
17. 1 lb of raw shrimp, peeled, shelled, and deveined

FOR THE PEANUT SAUCE

1. salt
2. 1 teaspoon of honey
3. 1 teaspoon of sriracha
4. juice from 1/2 a lime*
5. 1/2 cup of peanut butter
6. 1/2 cup of coconut milk

*not shown in the photo

BUILD ORDER

Total prep time will be about 35 minutes. Total cook time will be roughly about 12 – 15 minutes. This will make 4 servings.

Calories per serving: ~610 calories

OPENING

1. Combine salt, pepper, turmeric, coriander, cumin, garlic, coconut milk, lemon grass, lime juice, and sriracha in a food processor (or blender). Pulse the mixture for a few seconds or until combined. 
2. Add your shelled shrimp into the food processor. You will want to add the shrimp in batches and process after each batch. Process until combined (it’s okay to leave larger shrimp chunks in the mix).
3. Remove shrimp mixture from the food processor and place in a large bowl.

MID GAME

1. Crack an egg into the shrimp mixture and combine.
2. Add in chopped red pepper and some chopped cilantro.
3. Divide the mixture into four parts. Take one each of the four sections and shape them into patties. Set patties aside.
4. Set a large skillet on high heat and in 1/2 of your olive oil. Once your skillet becomes hot, place 2 patties in the skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side, then reduce the heat to medium allow the patties to cook for an additional 2 minutes.
5. Remove cooked patties and set aside. Repeat the previous step for the next two burgers.

LATE GAME

1. In a small bowl, combine coconut milk, salt, honey, sriracha, lime juice, and peanut butter. Stir to combine the mixture. If your sauce is too thick, add in a little bit more coconut milk. The sauce consistency should be similar to ranch dressing. 
2. Place a spoonful of peanut sauce on bottom half of the hamburger bun.
3. Place a shrimp patty on top of the peanut sauce. Place another spoonful of peanut sauce on top of the shrimp patty. Add shredded red cabbage and cilantro on top. Finish by placing the top of the hamburger bun over the patty.
4. Eat!

And that’s a GG WP. My dinner for Aiur!

From my understanding, Protoss don’t eat food. That’s quite a shame because they’re missing out on these delicious burgers inspired by their own buildings.

Oh well! Guess that just means more Cyburgnetics cores for Terran and Zerg. Om nom nom nom.

The most legendary of all hamburgers is located somewhere in Sanctuary. Only the luckiest and hungriest of Nephalems will ever find the famed Horadric Hamburger.

That sure is a lot of lost DPS…

Since I never found the mythical Horadric Hamburger in the magical pony land, I decided to check the auction house for it. The lowest price was 800,000 gold! WHAT! 800k for a burger?

That’s a little extravagant for a burger that isn’t even Kobe beef. So, I’ve decided to make my own Horadric Hamburger. It’s so delicious that even Diablo wants a bite…

To keep with the Diablo lore, we’re making this burger sans cheese since the Hell Bovine had struck the traveler down before he could gather the final ingredient: cheese.

And since it’s comprised of Hell Bovine beef, I’d assume it would be pretty spicy. Thus, we’re lacing these babies with jalapeño peppers. If you’re not a fan of spicy foods, you can always wash the jalapeño pepper interiors very thoroughly and throw away the seeds in order to get rid of most of the capsaicin (the chemical compound that causes the spicy irritation in the mouth).

Feel free to crank these burgers up from Hell mode to Inferno mode by increasing the amounts of jalapeño and cayenne pepper (at most double it).

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 2 teaspoons of olive oil
4. 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (add more if you want more heat)
5. 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce
6. 2 jalapeño peppers, diced (reserve some slices to place on top of the burger patties)
7. 2 lb of ground beef (I’m using 90/10 beef; if you use 85/15 beef, use less oil when you begin to grill the patties)
8. 1/4 of a red onion, cut into slices and seperated into rings.
9. 1 steak tomato, cut into slices
10. 8 lettuce leaves
11. 4 hamburger buns
12. OPTIONAL: ketchup

BUILD ORDER

Prep work will take about 20 minutes. Total cook time will be about 10 minutes per burger (~40 minutes total assuming you’re cooking 2 patties at a time). This recipe will make 4 servings.

Calories per serving: ~540 calories (without ketchup)

OPENING

1. Place ground beef in a bowl. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne.
2. Add in your worcestershire sauce.
3. Add in your diced jalapeño peppers and combine with the meat.
4. Take palm sized balls of meat from your bowl. Shape them into burgers. Try to get a consistent size for all of the patties.

MID GAME

1. Heat a large skillet on high heat and add olive oil.
2. Cook your burgers (try not to over crowd your skillet) for about 4-5 minutes* on each side, or until the burger begins to bleed a little bit. Do not flip your burgers more than twice.
3. Remove your burgers and set aside to rest for 2 – 3 minutes.

*4 minutes per side should yield medium-rare burgers.

LATE GAME

1. Build your burger: place 1 hamburger patty on a bun.
2. OPTIONAL: Add ketchup.
3. Then, place your lettuce, tomato and onion on top of the first patty.
4. Follow with another patty and lettuce, tomato, and onion on top of the second.
5. Finish by placing the other half of the bun on top.
6. Eat!

And that’s a GG WP. This burger is the perfect companion to MP1 inferno runs.
I mean c’mon, check out the stats on this thing:

SEEMS LEGIT.

Who knows? Maybe when you make this burger, you’ll get a better roll than I did.

Just remember: Keep calm and FARM MORE because brawling is coming. Oh snap!

By the way… On Feb 8th, 2013, this happened:

Woohoo! Thanks Diablo team.

I’m glad to see that the Banshee is being used more often in TvZ. Gone are the days of the 1-1-1 Banshee all in because it’s become incredibly predictable — it’s so faux pas and unfashionable now. It’s been a thousand times and everyone’s sick of it. It’s like wearing parachute pants and crab dancing.

Stop! 1-1-1 all-in time!

The strategies have definitely changed in the past few months.

Recently, it has been all about massing up hellions, running into the Zerg base and then having a delicious Drone BBQ. Then, the Banshee happily flies in and starts ruining the Zerg’s day even more. She’s like the icing on your birthday cake. Happy Birthday, your Zerg opponent is down by 20 workers! Yay!

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. olive oil
4. 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce
5. 2lbs of ground beef
6. 1/2 of a yellow onion
7. 1/4 lb of mushrooms
8. 4 slices of swiss cheese
9. 1/4 lb of arugula
10. 4 hamburger buns

BUILD ORDER

Prep work should take about 15 minutes. Cook time should be about 20 minutes. This will serve 4 people.

OPENING

And you’re done! GG WP.

This recipe is quick and easy — perfect for an IPL5 meal.  Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be any more Terrans in this year’s final season of GSL. That’s OK though; Zerg needs their time to shine. So, sit back, throw some burgers on the grill (or in a pan), and enjoy the weekend tournament.

The Marauder: he’s a big tanky guy who shoots rockets from his arms. He may act all tough on the battle field, but I’m pretty sure he’s just a squishy guy underneath all of that gritty armor. I’m even sure that he owns a little cat named “Mr. Sniffles” and enjoys a good soap opera now and then.

I actually have no idea what I’m talking about, but I do like having marauders in my army composition. When I was laddering nonstop, my standard go-to build against toss was SeleCT’s 2 Rax Pressure into expand. It was definitely a good build, however, it’s become a little outdated now. Now it’s all about the 1 rax or the CC first into tons and tons of marines. But what about the marauders? Don’t leave them hanging! 

Let’s pay homage to the chubby little marauder with this sandwich.

Load up your marauders into your medivac sandwich and shift queue this medivac sandwich directly into your mouth.

UNIT COMPOSITION

meat meat meat meat!

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 1 tablespoon of oregano
4. 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
5. 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce
6. 3 cloves of garlic
7. 1/2 white onion
8. 1 egg
9. 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef (85% /15% beef)
10. 1 cup of arugula
11. 1/2 cup of marinara sauce
12. 4 slices of mozzarella cheese
13. 4 rolls of whole wheat bread

BUILD ORDER

Total prep time will be about ~30 minutes. Total cook time will be about 45 mintuess. This recipe will serve 4 people.

OPENING

1. Set oven to 375° F (190° C).
2. Mince garlic and onion into fine pieces.
3. Place ground beef in a bowl.
4. Combine salt, pepper, oregano, parmesan, onion, worcestershire sauce, and garlic with the ground beef.
5. Add in egg.
6. Combine thoroughly.
7. With a table spoon, portion out the meat and shape into balls.
8. Place meatballs in a baking dish.
9. Cook for 45 minutes or until golden.

These instructions for meatballs might look familiar… If they do, it’s because they are! They’re the same instructions used in Winter Meatbomb Soup.

MID GAME

1. Slice your sandwich rolls in half.
2. Set your oven to broil (or 500° F / 260° C).
3. Place sandwich rolls in the oven and let them toast for a few seconds.
4. Remove from oven.

LATE GAME

1. Place marinara sauce in a pan and set on high heat. Allow sauce to warm and then remove from heat.
2. Spread sauce onto warm sandwich rolls.
3. Slice your meatballs in half and place them on the bread.
4. Place mozzarella slices over the meat.
5. Place sandwich in the oven (at broil or 500° F / 260° C) to allow mozzarella to melt. This should take about 40 seconds.
6. Remove sandwich from the oven and drizzle marinara sauce over the cheese.
7. Place arugula over the cheese and finish with the sandwich top.
8. Eat!

Om nom nom nom. GG WP!

I would not suggest eating this sandwich while microing your marauders because this sandwich is extremely messy. You will need impressive stutter-step to prevent this sandwich from dripping everywhere. However, it’s totally worth it.

So enjoy!

Greetings, travelers! I recently finished gearing up my Siren with fancy legandaries in Borderlands 2. If you haven’t already tried the game, I suggest you take the time and take it for a spin.

This burger is an ode to the devilish antagonist, Handsome Jack. While this burger isn’t as snarky and conniving as Handsome Jack himself, it definitely does pack a whiskey infused punch.

I did a little research about Jack Daniel’s burgers prior to crafting this recipe. A lot of them used the store-bought Jack Daniel’s sauce to just baste burger while it cooked. That’s all fine and dandy, but personally, I’m not a big fan of basting burgers. That’s why I devised this plan to just inject these burgers with a healthy dose of whiskey — and I guess some other ingredients too.

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 1 teaspoon of paprika
4. 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
5. 1/2 can of tomato paste (3oz can)
6. 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke
7. 1 tablespoon of worcestershire
8. 2/3 cup of Jack Daniel’s whiskey (if Jack Daniel’s isn’t your thing, feel free to use any other whiskey)
9. pepper jack cheese
10. 1 red onion
11. 2 tomatoes
12. lettuce
13. 2 lbs of ground beef
14. hamburger buns

BUILD ORDER

Prep time should be about 20 minutes. Cook time is about 9-10 minutes per burger. This recipe will feed make 6-8 burgers. You can scale the ingredients to accommodate more people.

OPENING

1. Mix the following ingredients in a small bowl: salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder.
2. Add in your tomato paste.
3. Add in your worcestershire and liquid smoke. Stir to combine.
4. Add in your whiskey.
   
5. Stir to combine ingredients.
6. Add this mixture to your ground beef. You may need to use your hands to properly combine the ground beef and this sauce mixture.

MID GAME

1. Set your grill to high heat (if you don’t have a grill, place a pan on high heat).
2. Begin shaping your ground beef into round balls (about 1/4 lb). Gently press the balls flat until it forms an even hamburger patty.
3. Place your hamburger patties on the grill. Let cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side.
4. Place a piece of jack cheese on the patties. The cheese should melt after about 30 seconds. When the cheese has melted, remove patties from grill and set aside.

There were also chicken wings on the grill! Om nom nom nom.

LATE GAME

1. Slice tomatoes and onions.
2. Assemble your burger on top of your hamburger buns: lettuce, onion, tomato, cheese burger (feel free to change the order!)
3. Eat!

And that’s all you need to craft these dangerous burgers. So, be a good minion and start cookin’ up some burgers for you and your vault hunter friends.

Oh yeah, I’ve also created this handy-dandy Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/eatgamelive

I’ll be updating the Facebook page with previews of upcoming recipes. So please give a big “like” for Eat Game Live on Facebook.

Thanks for reading!