Pepe is the adorable little bird who lives in your Garrison. You can bring him out on peaceful adventures like running around Draenor destroying your greatest enemies. Hooray!

“Let’s go rekt people, Pepe!”

I thought it was time to immortalize Pepe into a delicious and delectable treat. I had experimented with recreating Pepe as a meringue cookie, but it didn’t work out. When I stumbled upon Maqaron’s tutorial on how to create a no-bake bunny cheesecake, I knew that was the answer!

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. 1 pinch of salt
2. 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
3. 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
4. 2 teaspoons of coconut oil
5. 1 tablespoon of chocolate powder (decoration)
6. 2 tablespoons of agave nectar
7. 1 cup of walnuts
8. 1 cup of pecans
9. 2 cups of mascarpone cheese
10. 3 cups of greek yogurt
11. zest from 1 orange
12. 5 – 6 drops of red and yellow food coloring
13. 1 square of white chocolate
14. 4 squares of dark chocolate

BUILD ORDER

Total prep time for this is about 45 minutes – 1 hour. Chill time for this is 4 – 6 hours.
This makes about 8-10 servings!

OPENING

1. Add the nuts into a food processor. Add in your coconut oil.
2. Season with your nutmeg and cinnamon. Pulse the nuts until they form a fine paste.
3. Using foil, create the outline of Pepe. Basically, you’ll want to take a large sheet of foil and fold it horizontally until the sheet is about 4″ in height. Create a sheet that is about 10″ in length. This will be the body.
4. Create another one that is about 6″ in length and 3″ in height. This will be the head. Shape the foil to a pointed tip.
5. Tape the two pieces of foil together and place them into a baking dish. I used a 15×10″ glass baking dish. Adjust the foil to the size of the baking dish.
6. Where the two foil shapes combine, make a cut into the foil. You’ll want to cut a rectangle that is 2″ high and 3″ across. You’ll want to leave a 2″ “bridge” that holds the two foil shapes together. See this portion of Maqaron’s tutorial for better clarification.
7. Tape down the entire foil mold to your baking dish.
8. Slowly add in the ground nuts to the base of the mold. Firmly press the ground nuts into place. This will be your crust.
   
9. Place the entire thing in the fridge and allow it to cool.

MID GAME

1. Place your mascarpone cheese and yogurt in a large bowl. Add in your agave and a pinch of salt.
2. Whisk gently until combined. Take about 1 cup of the mixture and set aside. This will be the white parts for Pepe’s eyes and stomach.
3. Zest the orange over the cheesecake filling. Fold in the orange zest.
4. Slowly add in the red and yellow food coloring. Continue folding the cheesecake filling until orange. If the color isn’t bright enough, add in more color.
   
5. Remove your mold from the fridge.
6. Spread the orange cheesecake mix over the crust.
   
7. Place it back in the fridge for about 5 minutes.
8. Take your white cheesecake mix and spread portions over the orange part like so:
   
9. Place it back in the freezer and allow it to cool for at least 4 hours.

LATE GAME

1. Slowly cut away the foil mold from Pepe.
2. Using two spatulas (highly recommend getting some help with this!), gently lift Pepe from the baking dish and place him on a large dish. Use a butter knife to smooth out the edges.
3. Using a double boiler, melt your dark chocolates and white chocolate separately.
4. Gently pour “V” shapes with the dark chocolate on a piece of parchment paper. This will become Pepe’s feet.
5. Pour a triangle shape to create his beak and two circles for his eyes.
6. Place the chocolate in the fridge and allow it to cool for about 2 minutes.
7. Remove the chocolate from the fridge. Using the white chocolate, draw two white circles on top the dark chocolate eyes. Place them back in the fridge.
8. Using a sifter, dust the dark chocolate powder over the tip of Pepe’s head.
9. Place the chocolate decorations on Pepe.
10. Eat!

GG WP!

The super talented Meru came by and took these awesome photos of my Pepe cheesecake! Did I mention she is AMAZINGLY talented when it comes to food?  SERIOUSLY!

Chirp chirp!

Since cheesecake is so decadent, I highly recommend that you share it with friends.

Selama Ashal’anore!

Everyone’s favorite vengeful Blood Elf mage, Kael’thas Sunstrider made his way into the Nexus a few months back. I’ve had a chance to play him several times in ranked, but honestly, I’m not super comfortable with his play style.

I’m more of a Jaina kind of gal (awwwwkward). However, Kael’thas is still a super fun hero to play! I mean, c’mon, FREE living bombs?! YOU GET A LIVING BOMB. AND YOU GET A LIVING BOMB. EVERYONE GETS A LIVING BOMB!

And it’s all thanks to those magical Verdant Spheres. Those Verdant Spheres are his signature accessory. A powerful fashion statement only worn by most haute blood mages!

I’ve immortalized these iconic artifacts in food form: edamame falafels! These falafels are packed full of nutrients which will surely keep you fueled during your quest for vengeance.

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 1 cup of tahini sauce*
4. 1 tablespoon of cumin
5. 1 tablespoon of coriander
6. 3 tablespoons of olive oil
7. 5 – 7 cloves of garlic, diced
8. 1/4 cup of cilantro, roughly chopped
9. 1/2 cup of parsley, roughly chopped
10. 1 1/2 cups of edamame, shelled
11. 1 onion, roughly diced
12. 2 jalapeños, diced

*To make homemade tahini sauce, combine: tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice, water and salt.

BUILD ORDER

Prep time for this recipe is roughly 15 minutes. Cook time is about 35 minutes. This makes about 3 servings (about 3 falafels each).

OPENING

1. Put your onion, edamame, onion, cilantro, 1 jalapeño, and 1/4 cup of parsley in a food processor.
2. Add in your salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander.
3. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and pulse to combine.
4. Continue until it forms a smooth paste.
5. Remove and set aside.

MID GAME

1. Set your oven to 375° F.
2. Line a pan or baking dish with parchment paper.
3. Using a spoon, scoop out golf ball sized balls of the falafel dough. Roughly shape them into a sphere and drop them onto the parchment paper. Use a butter knife to smooth out the balls.
4. Bake for 35 minutes or crispy. In order to keep them green, I decided not to flip them.

LATE GAME

1. Place tahini sauce, jalapeño pepper, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and your remaining parsley in a food processor.
2. Process until it’s a smooth paste.
3. Dip a spoon in the sauce and place the back of the spoon against a plate. Drag the spoon up and lift carefully to create a smear affect (or the flame for the verdant spheres).
4. Place one of the falafels on top of the sauce.
5. OPTIONAL: Sprinkle parsley over the plate.
6. Eat!

GG WP!

Now you can embrace AND eat the power of Verdant Spheres! ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ GLORY TO THE SIN’DOREI! ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ

I’ve been wanting to make Gorgrond Chowder for a while… So I finally had a chance to sit down and hammer out the recipe. I wanted to do it right, so was a lot of research involved. There’s something very special about enjoying a creamy seafood soup in a toasty sour dough bread bowl on a chilly day.

It’s a hearty soup, and it has to be since Gorgrond is a pretty rough neighborhood.

GUYS…GUYS WE CAN TALK THIS OUT. MAYBE OVER A BOWL OF CHOWDER?

You could probably make this meal while doing runs of Blackrock! Just don’t die and upset just don’t upset your raid lead.

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. 1 tablespoon of olive oil
3. 1 cup of water
4. 2 cups of fish stock
5. 3 cups of milk
6. 1/2 onion, chopped
7. 1/2 lb of carrots, chopped
8. 1/2 lb of celery, chopped
9. 1/2 lb of red potatoes
10. 1/2 lb of italian sausage
11. 1 lb of cod, chopped
12. OPTIONAL: 1/2 lb sour dough bread rounds
13. OPTIONAL: parsley

BUILD ORDER

Total prep time for this dish is about 20 minutes. Total cook time is about 35 minutes. This makes about 6 servings.

OPENING

1. Set a large pot on high heat. Add your tablespoon of olive oil.
2. Cook your Italian sausage until golden brown (roughly 5 – 7 minutes).
3. Remove from the pot and set aside.
4. Add in your chopped onions, celery, and carrots. This blend of ingredients is called a mirepoix.
   
5. Reduce the heat to medium and allow the mirepoix to sweat. Stir it occasionally to prevent it from burning.

MID GAME

1. Slice the Italian sausage and re-introduce it into the pot. Make sure you pour in any juices left over from the sausage.
2. Bring the heat back up to high.
3. Add in your fish stock, water and potatoes. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

LATE GAME

1. Add in your chopped cod.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and pour in your milk.
3. Allow the cod to cook for another 10 minutes, stirring often.
   
4. OPTIONAL: to make a bread bowl, cut off the top of the round of bread and scoop the insides out.
5. OPTIONAL: garnish with parsley
6. Eat!

GG WP!

Now, the bread bowl is totally optional. You can serve this chowder in a bowl if you’d like!

As always, I try to replicate the in-game appearance. Here’s what it looks like in-game:

And here’s how it turned out with the bread bowl:

Close, I think!

Yessss….

We’re headed back to Draenor for another delicious treat! This time, we’re looking to the skies for our meal… It’s RYLAK CREPES!

As a Hunter, it’s always awkward to create a dish from a beast that could have easily been one of your own companions.

LOOK AWAY, MOCHI! JUST… LOOK AWAY.

 However, I’ve gotta eat somehow… You can’t fight the Iron Horde when your stomach is rumbling. Besides, those Rylak crepes do look mighty tasty.

In Draenor, Rylak crepes only require five Rylak eggs. Unfortunately, since I couldn’t find any Rylak eggs where I live, I had to improvise with a few more ingredients.

Rylaks are predators, so I would assume that any dish made from them would be packed full of lean protein. My version of Rylak crepes features chicken breast and Quest protein!

UNIT COMPOSITION

FOR THE CREPE

1. salt
2. 2 tablespoons of olive oil
3. 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
4. 1 scoop of Quest protein powder
5. 2 eggs
6. 1 cup of milk

FOR THE FILLING

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 3 tablespoons of olive oil
4. 1 egg
5. 1/2 cup of whole wheat powder
6. 1/2 scoop of Quest protein powder
7. 2 bags of Quest BBQ protein chips
8. 1 lb of chicken breast, cut into strips
9. 1/2 cup of arugula or baby spinach, washed
10. 1/3 lb of asparagus
11. 2/3 lb of fingerling potatoes, cut into fries

FOR THE SAUCE (optional)

1. 1 tablespoon of honey
2. 2 tablespoon of mayonnaise
3. 2 tablespoon of mustard

BUILD ORDER

Total prep time for this dish is about 45 minutes. Total cook time is about 35 minutes. This will make about 4 servings. Each serving contains about ~57g of protein.

OPENING

1. Preheat your oven to 350°.
2. Open your bag of chips to let out the air. Then, crush the chips in the bag to create the crispy coating for your chicken.
3. Place your sliced chicken, 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, mixed egg and crushed chips into separate dishes. This will be your dredging station.
   
4. Add in 1/2 scoop of protein powder to your whole wheat flour and mix to combine.
5. Take your chicken breast and dip it in the whole wheat flour. Then, dip it in the egg. Then, lightly coat it with the crushed chips. You will want to different hands for this to avoid getting the flour and egg mixture stuck to your hand (something that Alton Brown refers to as “club hand”).
   For example, use your left hand for the flour to egg portion. Then, use your right hand for the egg to chips portion.
6. Place the coated chicken strips on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
   
7. Lightly drizzle 1 table spoon of olive oil over the chicken strips.
8. Bake them for about 14 minutes. While your chicken is baking, prepare the rest of the filling.

MID GAME

1. In a medium sized pan, add in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Set it on medium high heat.
2. Once your olive oil comes up to temperature, place your sliced potatoes in the pan.
   
3. Let them cook for about 2 -3 minutes on each side or until browned.
4. Once they’re crispy, remove them from the oil and let them dry on over a paper towel. This paper towel will be used to absorb any extra oil.
5. Steam your asparagus or boil (you can cheat by throwing them in the microwave for about 2 minutes in a dish with water!).
6. Carefully wipe your skillet with a paper towel. You will be using this same skillet to make your crepes.

LATE GAME

1. In a bowl, whisk together 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, 1 scoop of protein powder and 1 cup of milk. Add in salt for seasoning.
   
2. Set your pan to medium heat.
3. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a small bowl. Dip a paper towel into the olive oil and use it to coat the pan with olive oil. You will be doing this between each crepe.
4. Use a ladle or measuring cup to add your crepe batter to the pan. Quickly swirl the pan to ensure that the batter evenly coats the surface of the pan.
   
5. Allow the crepe to cook for about 1 1/2 minutes. Then, flip it over.
   
6. Continue cooking for another minute and a half. Remove the crepe and repeat the process. Be sure to wipe down the pan with olive oil.
   
7. Once you’ve finished making all your crepes, it’s now time to assemble them. Place a fresh crepe on a plate.
8. Place your asparagus, spinach/arugula, chicken, and potatoes in the center of the crepe.
   
9. Then, roll the crepe up and use a toothpick to hold the crepe in place. ‘
10. OPTIONAL: Create a honey mustard dipping sauce by combining mayonnaise, honey and mustard.
11. Eat!

GG WP!

As you can see, I had a lot of fun making this recipe. Hopefully you’ll have as much fun as I did!

Happy travels, adventurer!

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This recipe was created with support from Quest Gaming. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to learn more about how other gamers eat healthy and #CheatClean.

I’ll admit that I am a horrible fisher in World of Warcraft. Since I started so incredibly late, my fishing skills are insanely sub-par. I basically can only catch the dinky little fish. However, on the rare occasion when I can catch a normal sized fish, it’s pretty exciting.

AWW YEAH, NOW I ONLY HAVE TO CATCH 9 MORE OF THESE INSTEAD OF 19 MORE SO I CAN COMPLETE THIS GARRISON DAILY! 

I’ve been trying to simultaneously level up my fishing and cooking, so I’ve been spending a lot of time sitting in my garrison next to a roaring fire.

When I first stared cooking in WoW, I thought that Sturgeon Stew looked amazing and I had to recreate it somehow. So, I did some research and looked around at my local grocery stores for a fish that would vaguely replicate the appearance of the actual in-game item.

However, I honestly didn’t expect that I would find sturgeon at my local grocery store…

But lo and behold, there it was! STURGEON!

If you can’t find sturgeon, you can substitute another fish such as swordfish or cod.

Since the Sturgeon Stew in game has a reddish broth, I decided to create a tomato-based soup. This is similar to a bourdeto, which is basically a Greek fish stew similar to the Italian cioppino.

Let’s get cooking!

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 1 teaspoon of olive oil
4. 1 cup of white wine
5. 2 cups of fish stock
6. 2 bay leaves
7. 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
8. 5 sprigs of basil, roughly sliced
9. 5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
10. 4 red potatoes, quartered
11. 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
12. 1/3 lb of dandelion greens
13. 1 1/2 lbs of sturgeon, deboned

BUILD ORDER

Prep time for this dish is roughly 30 minutes. Cook time is about 45 minutes. This makes about 4 servings.

OPENING

1. Set a large pot to high heat.
2. Once the pot is up to temperature, add in your olive oil and sautee your garlic and onions.
3. Reduce to medium heat and add in your tomatoes and basil.
4. Stir the ingredients gently and allow the vegetables to sweat.

MID GAME

1. Add in your white wine and fish stock.
2. Add in your bay leaf and stir.
3. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add in your chopped potatoes.
5. Let this cook for about 30 minutes.

LATE GAME

1. After about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft, add in your sturgeon.
2. Gently ladle liquid over the sturgeon.
3. Add in your dandelion greens.
4. Cover the pot with a lid and cook for ~15 more minutes.
5. Remove your 2 bay leaves.
6. Eat!

So my goal was to try to make the stew look exactly like the in-game item. I think I got pretty close?

I didn’t actually serve the dish like that though. I’M A LIAR! I cut the sturgeon into more manageable pieces:

GG WP!

I’m sure if you sit there and eat this sturgeon stew for at least 10 seconds, you’ll gain some sort of haste buff… or at least, you’ll feel well fed for a while.

There’s nothing better than coming to your garrison from a long raid and enjoying a hearty home cooked meal. Even before I started playing WoW, I was always fascinated by the robust recipe options offered throughout the game. Choosing to level up the cooking profession was definitely a no-brainer for me  because of my interest of mercilessly killing virtual wildlife and throwing their meat over a roaring flame. MEAT GOOD.

LOOK AT ALL THIS POTENTIAL MEAT!

 I guess that it’s fitting that I rolled as a hunter in this game.

Appropriate title: the Butcher

Since my local butcher doesn’t offer River Beast, I had to choose a substitute. I decided to go with lamb as my meat of choice. I personally love lamb and its slight gamy flavor. If you’re not a fan of lamb, feel free to use beef. You may have to adjust the cook time and quantity of liquid since typically larger than lamb shanks.

There’s something special about red wine and red meat. That enchanting aroma that gently wafts through your home as the meat slowly cooks in a bath comprised of its own fatty juices and wine is just magical... Excuse me while I get a bucket for all of this drool.

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 6 cloves of garlic
4. 1/2 tablespoon of butter
5. 1 cup of red wine
6. 1/2 cup of beef stock
7. 2 lbs of lamb shank, french trimmed (~4 lamb shanks)
8. 2 carrots, sliced
9. 3 parsnips, sliced
10. OPTIONAL: parsley

BUILD ORDER

Prep time for this is about 25 minutes, or up to 45 minutes if you plan to french trim your lamb shanks. Cook time is ~1 hour, 45 minutes. This makes 4 servings.

Just to note, french trimming is completely optional! It’s really only for presentation purposes.

If you’re going to french trim your lamb shanks on your own, you’re going to want a very sharp paring knife. Here’s a tutorial I used.

Basically, you’ll want to make an incision around bone at the very end of the shank. Then, cut into the meat, and remove about 1″ of it. Scrape off any excess fat/tendon away from the bone until it’s fairly clean. When cooking, the meat will slide down from the bone.

OPENING

1. Season your lamb with salt and pepper.
2. Put a pan on high heat and add in your butter.
3. Sear the lamb for about 30 seconds each side, or until brown.
4. Place lamb in a large baking dish. Pour in your red wine and stock. You should have enough liquid to cover 3/4 of the lamb shanks.

MID GAME

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F.
2. Place your garlic in the baking dish.
3. Place the entire baking dish in the oven and bake for 1 hour.

LATE GAME

1. After an hour, flip over the lamb shanks.
2. Add in your chopped vegetables and continue baking for the remaining 45 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and plate the lamb shanks and vegetables.
4. Pour the remaining liquid into a pan and reduce on high heat for about 5 minutes.
5. Drizzle the reduced red wine sauce over the lamb. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the plate.
6. Eat!

I took some photos of the lamb shank without the vegetables since I wanted to replicate what it looks like in-game:

Image from WoWhead

 But, to have a balance meal, you need to throw in some vegetables!

GG WP!

Hopefully this dish has satisfied your Draenor cuisine cravings for now. Until next time, happy hunting!