Everybody get in here! It’s Hearthstone Cookbook day!
As of today, the Official Hearthstone Innkeeper’s Tavern Cookbook is released out into the world for your snacking and imbibing enjoyment. It’s about 50 recipes with lots of delicious pub-style snacks and appetizers, plus a wide variety of cocktails and mocktails to satisfy just about everyone’s palate. This book was SO much fun to put together, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. You can read a bit more about it here.
To celebrate, I’m fixing up some festivities and prizes for next week. I’ve got some fun Hearthstone/WoW items as well as several cookbooks to gift out, and the entry period is from now until the end of next week! I’ll do a rolling list of winners, one a day starting Monday, for the various prizes, so be sure you get your names in the virtual hat!
I’m also planning a super fun weekly drink-along using recipes from the cookbook and beyond. Stay tuned for more on that soon- Do you prefer #ThirstyThursday or #StonebrewSaturday? Weigh in here!
To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below telling me what food or drink you’d put on the menu if you were in charge of your own tavern.
Authentic Cottage Pie would be a staple at my tavern.
I’ll take one right now! Yum!
The menu would consist of anything, as long as it can be drown in liquid cheese*. Pretels. Nachos. Hot dogs. Fries. Pizzas. Various breads and meats. Bring your own food and drown it in cheese. I don’t care.
*I charge by the gallon. Five gallon minimum.
OMNOMNOMNOM!
If I owned a tavern, I’d serve a variation on chili crab. Crab isn’t actually expensive, and I’d try to farm my own crabs. Or, you know, have a inn/tavern on coastal/river grounds.
I’ve tried farming crabs before. It isn’t too hard, although not really easy either.
Oh, that’s so neat!
I’d serve slow cooked Wild Boar in a red wine and shallot gravy with mashed potatoes, cabbage and carrots followed by hearty Bread & Butter pudding all washed down with a few tankards of Plum Porter. I could just eat that right now!
Uh, make up a second plate for me, wouldja? :D
I would do a variety of sliders. They’re easy to make and you can do lots of fun twists on them.
Oh, that’s so fun!
I’d definitely include a hearty beef stew, served in crusty bread trenchers.
Classic. Love it!
Soups, all the soups!
It’s a super soup day here!
If I owned a tavern I would always have garlic cheddar bread on the menu. It’s the best snack when toasted with fresh herb butter and a mug of beer.
My mouth is watering…
Scotch eggs
They are SO GOOD!
Apple Cider (with a shot of brandy, naturally) and meat handpies! Something hearty, warming, and stick-to-your bones delicious.
I dream of having a tavern straight out of ASOIAF or Skyrim. If I did, I would serve meat pies of all kinds, hearty breads with bacon, onions in gravy, little crisp fishes, and cheese, fruit, and nut boards! We would be sure to have ales and meads on tap of course!
Real, warm soft pretzels with a variety of easy dips and toppings. Including beer cheese and a homemade mustard!
Since I am a botanist, I would definitely serve food and drinks mixed with a pinch of herbalism;
cakes with edible flowers, spiced meat with herbs, and of course, some old fashioned potions. Even now I like to prepare health potion (hot hibiscus tea ~ red color) and mana potion (common mallow flowers in a cold water ~ blue color) for my friends :)
…yes, definitely a witch’s tavern :D
Tea and hot chocolate. I find that so few taverns really take an interest in their hot non-alcoholic drinks. Everyone does ales and beers and maybe mead / cider, but when you want something to ACTUALLY warm you on a cold night, there’s nothing better than tea and hot chocolate. A large variety of teas, because I’m a tea snob and it’s probably what I myself will be drinking all day to keep my energy up while I’m serving customers. (And I suppose coffee… if I must. *grin*)
There are a number of historical drinks that would serve, too, such as possets and syllabubs. While many have alcohol in them, not all do, and they’re delightfully quirky. :)
Nifty! Always fun to find new non-alcoholic drinks!
Classic Cottage pies with outstanding and creatively cut crusts!
Leaves, hearts, feathers, stars etc.
If I owned a tavern, we would have my granddaddy’s chili and then add on top of that Spaghetti and Lasagna made with my husband’s family sauce recipe… the real Italian type.
BTW, Awesome to meet you this weekend at Blizzcon. My husband was so happy to meet the creator of his favorite WoW cookbook and get his Hearthstone book signed. :)
People would be flocking to my tavern for the meat pies. A flaky crust, wild meats drowned in a savory gravy.
Are they made with real people though? I digress, good, hearty meat pies are fantastic. The crust is a must!
Planks and planks of finger foods, easy semi salty fast to make. Skewers of fresh grilled stuff, sliders, chocolate covered crickets, salted nuts. Also lots of wild game meals
Bread! All the breads. Breads for dipping, bread bowls for hearty stews, cheesy bread, rolls piping hot from the oven drizzled with butter…I love me some carbs.
And liquid bread! But seriously, bread, cheese, garlic bread. Ah. I’m hungry now. *sigh*
Portobello mushroom sandwiches! I’m vegetarian and whenever I go to a restaurant and find they have these I get super excited.
I actually ran a tavern on an RP realm in World of Warcraft. We offered all sorts of foods from all over Azeroth , including those that could only be made by cooks. I had regular customers that enjoyed just chatting with the workers or other patrons.
But to answer your question, one could never go wrong with a Shepards Pie.
Since I live near the gulf, my tavern would definitely serve varying types of seafood. I think I could make a large pot of gumbo and feed many weary travelers. Wash all that down with a spiked sun tea, and I think I’d have some happy tummies!
A variety of cheeses with house made crackers.
Love it! You’ll carve the cheese off those giant wheels in the cellar, right? ;)
Several variations of mac and cheese, with appropriate ale pairings. Comfort food to the max.
When do you open? :)
Yes…yes… most excellent. Beer and Mac n’ Cheese flights? ;)
Bread and dips in infinite variasjon. Pretzel with mustard and beer cheese, flatbreads with hummus, whipped feta, roast pepper & caper salsa, cheese straws and breadsticks with salsa. The list is never ending
Lots of sweet and savory pies. Beef, chicken, cheese, apple, mixed berry…etc., etc., etc. Stews and loaves of crusty bread would also be a staple! There must also be room for cakes, especially Victoria Sponges. For drinks, fresh apple cider, sparkling beverages, and hot drinks.
Well of course we need the staple food/item at the Inn. That would be Hearthstone. This jazzy dish is a fondit covered stone equal to your travels, or history. Filled will sweet or savory or both!
When at the Inn, you are welcome to a community in which everyone can agree their hearthstone is the best.
Recipe serving size 2:
1 sheet fondit
Salt
Carmel (jar)
Cream cheese (1/4 cup)
chocolate chips (4 tbl spn)
Cocoa powder (15g)
Coffee grounds (1/2 teaspoon)
Sugar (20g)
Brown sugar (20g)
Egg (1 large)
Vanilla extract (dash)
Flour (1/2 cup)
Directions: mix all ingredients except fondit in a bowl. Transfer to foil and use foil to make a rock shape, leaving the top open.
Bake 40 min @ 350 degrees
Let rest for 30 min (to cool). Then place fondit out, roll to thinned desire. Place hearthstone mix in center of sheet. Slowly wrap the fondit up and around the mix.
Carefully flip the hearthstone over onto serving plate and use edible frosting or paint to draw the hearthstone symbol on the top.
This is my hearthstone in food, what’s yours?
My Irish stew would be about the only thing we’d serve.
In my tavern, I’d be partial to mac and cheese (and it’s many, many variations). Bacon (and extra cheese) included.
I’d also make sure to include finger foods (no actual fingers). Nachos (beef, chicken, pork), tater tots, chili fries, potato skins, fried pickles, mozz sticks, wings.
Pizza, naturally (wood fired; individual and otherwise).
Lastly, burgers and handheld sandwiches. Burgers are cooked to your liking.
There’s also that full bar with tons of brew to choose from. We’ll all laugh and get fat…and be happy (until we have to go home/take a cab).
I do plan on building a tavern, but it’ll be limited to my neighborhood. A few years out. There’s a lot to do atm in life haha.
If I owned a tavern, I would serve turkey legs, cheeses, fresh bread & huge slabs of meat. Would also like to make & serve my own mead.
Cheese plates. Always cheese plates but then I’d eat too much but at least Sarge and I would be besties
Any of the recipes I’ve made that predate the WoW cookbook… Beer Basted Boar Ribs, Runn Tum Tuber Surprise, Westfall Stew, Firecracker Salmon, Black Pepper Ribs and Shrimp… and a few others that I’m sure I’m forgetting ;)
Once I get my brewing setup up and running, definitely all the brews from Brew Of The Month club!
If I had my own tavern I’d serve Ale, turkey legs, twice baked load potatoes and meat pies. Desserts of pies and tarts, decadent cakes, cookies or pastries.
Either large chocolate chip cookies or slices of chocolate cake! I love savory foods when I go out to drink but I’m always craving something sweet after and places rarely have sweet snacks!
Steak and ale pie washed down with a tankard of dark ale.
My favorite tavern food from my local pub: corned beef, buttered cabbage, stone ground mustard, and heaps of mashed potatoes with savory gravy. And a delicious stout to wash it down.
I would have baked potato soup, topped w/ fresh bacon crumbles & shredded cheddar cheese on top for those cold winter days!
That sounds like just the ticket today!
If I had my own tavern I’d serve roasted boar in a red wine gravy sided with peas and carrots for lunch menu. For dinner, thick ale lamb stew with mashed potatoes on top. And lots of beer to wash it down!!
I’ve always thought it would be cool to serve foods from different games, spanning from Everquest, The Elder Scrolls, WoW, etc. One of my key items would peobably be some delicious Beer Basted Boar Ribs!
How fun would that be?! Just have it be the tavern from every game and fantasy setting. Super tasty. :)
I would definitely make pies! All of the pies for the tavern. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, cherry pie….perfect for playing Hearthstone alongside it.
I would want a tavern where the kitchen specializes in different meat pies. Ale in one hand, herbed pork pie in the other! I’m a classically trained chef too so they’d be delicious!
Seeing as it’s getting colder out, definitely a mulled cider and a hearty potato soup! Fresh bread to dip in the soup too!
Buffalo cauliflower. Don’t get me wrong, I love buffalo wings, but cauliflower is really tasty with buffalo sauce! :)
My husband says he would do a mideval style tavern solely serving fondue and mead.
If I had a tavern, it would be all delicious filled yeast-y buns (sweet and savory) with hard cider!
I would definitely serve that Proudmoore Platter, give the patrons a variety of things to choose from.
Blood of the ancient one looks like it’d be a fun drink, too :)
All these ideas are nice, but I would totally love to own a sweet(literally) serving Tavern the most! Tauren Tipplers! Dalaran floats! Starseeker Sours! Of course to pair up Totally would have some un’goro tarpit pudding,, Funnel cake and cho-galls Cho-choco donuts and nibble biscuits and everything else sweet (and maybe sour) in my book :D
I saw “Sweet potato corn cakes” somewhere and would like to try that out some time.
All manner of stews! Crusty, hearty breads implied.
Every tavern should have some kind of pastry, pie, or pancake-like dessert. Mine would have apples in it–and way more cinnamon than any self-respecting recipe writer would suggest.
Can my tavern concept be governed by sheer whimsy over economic feasibility? I’d have a Dinner-and-a-Movie schtick, accompanying big-screen movies and TV shows with thematically appropriate food. Consider:
Hercules or Wonder Woman paired with gyros, dolmades, and baklava.
The Desolation of Smaug with a Brunch at Beorn’s, lacto-ovo-vegetarian baked goods dripping with milk and honey.
Avatar (the TV episodes; they should really make that into a movie sometime) with a pan-Asian buffet, including Buddhist vegetarian, incendiary Pacific Rim, Arctic wild salmon and seaweed, and hearty authentic Chinese, Japanese, and Korean favorites.
The Princess and the Frog (whose heroine is canonically a chef!) with gumbo, po’boys, and beignets.
(Care to guess who’d be my special consultant for Game of Thrones night?)
I’ve never been into sportsball, but a lot of people are; I recall seeing a TV profile of a Chicago dining establishment that, on the day of a Bears game, would make a point of serving something emblematic of the opposing team’s mascot, local products, and/or regional cuisine. The idea, like so much in sports fandom, was an act of audience participation and sympathetic magic: for the fans to prey upon the food as they hoped the Bears would prey upon the opposition.
Hereabouts, the Cincinnati Bengals would lend themselves to similar predatory symbolism; the L.A. Rams, Buffalo Bills, and the Houston Texans’ bull logo present obvious possibilities, as does the Green Bay Packers’ cheese motif. Chicago-style hot dogs for the Bears; sourdough bread and clam chowder for San Francisco’s 49ers; Pirate Steak (marinated in beer and Worcestershire sauce and grilled) for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
No hesitation, it would have to be scotch eggs with a hearty mustard.
Some good old fashioned homemade chicken and sausage Gumbo!