Update will be tomorrow

Today's update will be postponed until tomorrow because - I got a great job today and am going to celebrate! Much as I love this blog, I love telling everyone I know that I'm starting on my dream career just a little bit more!

Also, to all the people who responded to the '5 facts about me and GW2' post: thanks for your great reactions (especially those recommending guilds/groups), I've read them all, I'll be responding to them individually tomorrow as well.

So check back tomorrow for the recipe for a very tasty yam soup!

5 Facts about me...

... and Guild Wars 2

1) I am not a lvl 400 chef

I haven't found every recipe, and am currently floating somewhere between lvl 325 and 350. So don't expect to see any recipes involving ghost peppers or lemon grass for a while yet! It doesn't speed things up that I don't look recipes up on the internet, I just sit here and mess about with combinations of ingredients and keep lists. Yes, lists, on paper, with tables and little lines going from one ingredient to another and crossing out ingredients for which there are no new recipes etc.

2) My favourite area is Caledon forest

It's a newbie area and there is no challenge whatsoever for me there, but it was the first region of GW2 I saw and I absolutely love it. I've been known to just go there, sit my character down under a tree and just look at the view while knitting.

3) I haven't completed a single dungeon

I used to play the original Guild Wars, and I had a lot of fun with it for years. Unfortunately, several times when I teamed up with others to go do X (I wasn't in a guild), I was berated for either not having good enough gear, or for not being good enough at the game. I know that's not the typical experience (at least, I sure hope not!), but it's made me nervous of joining groups for dungeons. I'll jump in straight away when people are trying to kill dragons or take the temple of Balthazar or whatever (does anyone ever succeed in taking Balthazar's temple? See point 5), but when I see a 'lfg' or party join request, I chicken out. Doing MMORPG's wrong and missing out on loads of content, I know.

4) My favourite NPC is Tybalt Leftpaw

Poor, poor Tybalt Leftpaw.

5) I absolutely hate Balthazar's Temple

All I need to get 100% on the Strait of Devastation is the skill point at Balthazar's Temple. I've tried to sneak in and get the skill point under the enemy's nose, but those fire balls keep interrupting me. I have participated in over a dozen runs on the temple and I am now utterly convinced it is impossible to conquer it. I still check every time I log on, though. 

Feel free to share! What's you're favourite area? What's your favourite actually-not-the-point-of-the-game-at-all thing to do?

Week 14: Mushroom risotto

This week, we're making mushroom risotto!

For a while, I thought I wasn't going to bother with a mushroom risotto recipe until I started running out of recipes. Mushroom risotto is one of those things that are served everywhere as the easy vegetarian option, and practically everyone has a recipe for it. The reason I decided to post one anyway is because I absolutely adore risotto. There's something soothing about risotto: lots of chopping, then lots of stirring. If you've never made risotto, now is absolutely the time to start, as I've made sure this recipe explains exactly what to do and is illustrated with in-progress pictures. So let's start!

The GW2 recipe calls for 'mushrooms', which judging by the picture I always took to be champignon or button mushrooms, and portobello's. In fact, you can use almost any mushroom or combination of mushrooms. I do recommend using more than one type of mushroom, as it will give the dish more flavour. Some of the mushrooms are mixed into the risotto, the rest is served on the side, as you don't want to clutter up the risotto too much. Mushrooms you can use for this include, but are not limited to, button mushrooms, portobello, chanterelle, shimeji, nameko (Pholiota), shiitake, oyster mushrooms, or horse mushrooms (which, oddly enough, taste of aniseed).

Note that this recipe is for 2 servings as a main course, or 4 servings as a starter (as risotto originally is). Also note that Parmesan cheese is not, and cannot be, vegetarian (if it's not made with rennet, it's not Parmesan). As risotto requires some form of fat to really be a creamy risotto, you can replace Parmesan cheese with butter. Or you can just use butter if you don't like Parmesan. Most recipes add a lot more Parmesan than I do, but you can just add more to taste!

Mushroom risotto

Ingredients (2 servings as a main course, 4 servings as a starter):

180-200 g risotto rice

350 g mixed mushrooms

1 medium-sized onion

2 shallots (or another medium-sized onion)

2-3 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried rosemary*

1/4 tsp dried sage*

1 bay leaf*

50 ml sake or white wine*

1 liter chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegetarian version)

25 g grated Parmesan cheese + more cheese to taste (or 25 g butter for a vegetarian version)

4 tblsp olive oil

Finely dice the onion, shallots and garlic. Remove the hard stems from those mushrooms where it's necessary. Divide the mushrooms in two parts: chop one half quite finely, and cut the other half in rougher pieces. Bring the chicken stock to the boil.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion, shallots and garlic and sauté on low to medium heat until they are soft (5-10 minutes). Add in the rice and sauté for another minute, stirring constantly. Add in the sake or white wine and turn the heat to high. Keep stirring until all the moisture has been absorbed. Add the herbs and one ladle (125 ml or 1/2 cup) of the hot chicken stock to the rice. Keep stirring all the time: this makes the risotto nice and creamy. When all the stock has been absorbed by the rice, add another ladleful.

Top left: Rice-onion mixture before adding stock. Top right: After adding first ladle of stock. Lower left: After first ladle of stock has been absorbed. Lower right: After adding in finely chopped mushrooms.

When about half the stock has been added to the rice (this should have taken about 10 minutes), turn the heat down a bit. Add the finely chopped mushrooms to the risotto along with another ladleful of stock and give it all a good stir. From now on, only stir when adding stock. Keep adding the stock as instructed. When you're nearing the end of your stock supply, really only add a little bit of stock at a time: it's easy to add more moisture when it's needed, but it's hard to take it out again! You may not need all the stock, or you may need a bit more than 1 liter. Taste a few grains of rice occassionaly to check if they're done. If they're not done yet when you've run out of stock, just use hot water until the rice is done. When the rice is done (after about 20 minutes), turn off the heat. Add the butter and/or Parmesan cheese and stir until this is melted. Now taste the risotto and adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover the pan and leave to rest for 5 minutes. If you're running late with other cookery things, transfer the risotto to an ovenproof dish, cover the dish and place it in an oven at 100 degrees centigrade until you're ready for it.

In another pan, heat the other 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the coarsely chopped mushrooms to the pan and fry over medium heat. When the mushrooms have turned a nice golden brown, turn the heat way down, just enough to keep the mushrooms warm.

Remove the bay leaf before serving. Serve the risotto on warm plates with the mushrooms spooned unto it. Let every person add more grated Parmesan to taste. Enjoy!

*: If you don't have this, don't fret: the recipe works without it too

Tip: I like to fry mushrooms in a shallow pan to prevent me overcrowding them. Putting too many mushrooms in the pan will make them 'sweat' and you'll end up with a pile of soggy mushrooms. It's better to fry them in two portions if you have too many to fit in a single layer in one pan.

Tip: To warm plates, you can either put them in an oven at 75-100 degrees centigrade, or place them over a pan with boiling water (don't forget to wipe them dry if you take that last suggestion!). Be careful when handling them!

What to do with leftovers

When I'm cooking just for me, I often end up making a two-person meal anyway because some ingredients just don't come in small quantities. If you have left-over risotto, you can make a tasty luncheon bite the next day. Let the risotto cool down completely, then store in the fridge overnight. The next day, make little balls of the risotto (no larger than a table tennis ball). If you want, you can put a little something inside each ball - a piece of cheese or ham or something - or you can leave them plain. Mix some grated Parmezan with breadcrumbs. Roll each ball through the mixture and pat the crumbs unto the balls. Fry in a bit of oil. Enjoy! 

Week 13: Sugar cookies

This week, we're making sugar cookies!
 

Fun fact: The American word 'cookie' comes from the Dutch 'koekje', whereas the British 'biscuit' comes from the French 'biscuit'. However, in Dutch, both 'biscuit' (pronounced the French way) and 'koekje' are used, with biscuit denoting those, uh, biscuits/cookies that have been baked twice and are therefore harder and more dry than koekjes.

This is a great, basic cookie recipe. With this recipe, you can have a batch of cookies in twenty minutes start to finish. Seriously. Although you may want to wait a minute or two for them to cool down before sticking them in your mouth. It is therefore also an excellent recipe to make with kids, particularly if you have cute cookie cutters!

If I had my way, by the way, these would be called 'vanilla cookies' rather than 'sugar cookies'.

Sugar cookies

Ingredients

75 g cold butter, diced

75 g table sugar

225 g flour

1 egg

1 vanilla bean

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Centigrade.

With the tips of your fingers, rub the butter, sugar and flour together in a bowl until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the egg. Cut the vanilla bean open and scrape the insides with a knife to collect all the pulp. Add to the dough. Continue mixing the dough until it is firm. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it is approximately 5 mm thick. Use cookie cutters up to 7 cm in diameter to cut out cookies, or cut rectangles of ca. 6x4 cm. Knead all the leftover bits together, roll out again and repeat until you run out of dough or you're tired of the whole thing. Place on a baking tray covered with baking parchment. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 12 minutes, or until the edges start to turn a golden brown. Remove from the oven. Leave to cool for 1 minute on the tray, then dust with confectioner's sugar. Move the cookies to a rack to cool off completely. Keep in an airtight container - or just eat the lot now. Enjoy!

Tip: Don't discard the vanilla pod after you've scraped out the marrow! Vanilla beans keep their scent and flavour for quite a while. You can use the empty pod to give flavour to, for example, rice pudding; or you can keep it in a small jar with sugar to make your own vanilla sugar.

Tip: Instead of vanilla, try some grated lemon or orange zest, or cinnamon!

Week 12: Orange cake

This week, we're making orange cake!

What can I say about orange cake? This is a dense, rich cake made with butter and plenty of eggs. I prefer to make my cakes with less sugar than a lot of recipes call for, which in my opinion puts the emphasis more on the ingredients that give a cake taste - vanilla, cocoa powder or as in this case, orange. Great to serve with tea, or take into work to leave by the coffee machine. Everyone will love you for it!

Orange cake

Ingredients

250 g self-rising flour (or flour with baking powder)

125 unsalted butter, melted

150 g castor sugar

3 eggs

100 ml orange juice

Finely grated zest of 2 oranges

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Centigrade.

Beat the eggs and sugar for 10-12 minutes, until very thick. Keep beating while pouring in the butter, then the orange juice and zest. Sift the flour and salt into the mixture. Using a spatula, fold the flour into the batter until it's smooth (but no longer!). Pour the batter in a well-buttered gugelhupf. Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean and dry. Leave to cool in the gugelhupf for 15 minutes, then tip unto a rack and leave to cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!

Tip: Make an orange syrup from orange juice and sugar or orange juice and honey and sprinkle this over the cake before serving.

Extra recipe: Saffron-mango ice cream

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear che-ef, happy birthday to me! 

As you probably guessed from that, today is my birthday! And because it's my birthday, I've decided to cheat a bit and share a recipe with you that I actually haven't discovered yet in-game. On my request, my lovely sister figured out a delicious recipe for saffron-mango ice cream!

[this is where the GW2 recipe for saffron-mango ice cream would be if I had discovered it]

Hmm, mango. Who doesn't like mango? There are a few things you should know before trying to start this recipe. First off, you should start making this two days before whenever you want it finished. You will need an ice cream machine. This recipe contains raw eggs. For practical purposes, snow has been left out of this recipe, although you're more than welcome to add it if you think it will do any good.

My sister was also kind enough to add imperial measures and in-progress pictures! What more can you ask for!

Mango-saffron ice cream

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1/2 cup (100 g) sugar

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream (Dutch: slagroom)

1 cup (250 ml) half and half (Dutch: koffieroom)

1 vanilla bean

2 large or 3 small mangoes, peeled and stone removed

3 saffron threads

Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Bring the heavy cream, half and half, saffron and the vanilla bean and seeds to a boil and let it simmer on a low heat for approximately 20 min. Let the mixture cool completely, then cover it and refrigerate overnight.

Finely dice the mango

Puree the ingredients

Remove the vanilla bean from the cream mixture. Put the cream mixture, eggs and sugar in a blender and mix for about one minute, until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Add three quarters of the mango and blend until smooth. Cut the remaining mango into small dices. Stir in the diced mango and pour the mixture into an ice cream maker. Follow the instructions of your ice cream maker from here on. Enjoy!