Well Fed Buff: Mok'Nathal Shortribs

Well Fed Buff serves up tasty dishes to boost your HP, stats and appetite – with that special WoW twist, of course.

In World of Warcraft Mok'Nathal Shortribs restores 7500 health over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become affected by a well-fed buff that grants you 20 Stamina and Spirit for 30 min. The real life version bears a striking resemblance to beer braised short ribs and seems to reduce stamina, but maybe that was the Guinness.

As with most tender meats, this recipe is more about patience than precision. Plan on about three and a half hours total for the completion of this dish. Since baking takes up most of the time, it's the perfect time to get a couple of Alterac Valley runs in. Read on for the recipe for this delightful dish.

The only materials necessary for the WoW version of Mok'Nathal Sorthribs are Raptor Ribs, which drop off Bladespire Ravagers, Daggermaw Lashtails, Daggermaw Blackhides, Felsworn Daggermaws, Bladespire Raptors, Scythetooth Raptors in Blade's Edge. The recipe requires 335 cooking and is earned by completing the Mok' Nathal Treats quest in Blade's Edge Mountains. The real life version is slightly more complicated.

The materials:

• 5 pounds Raptor Ribs (bone-in beef short ribs)

• 1/4 pound bacon

• 2 medium onions

• 1 12-oz bottle of Shindigger Stout (Guinness)

• 2 cups beef stock

• 4 bay leaves

• 1/4 cup tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil

• salt and pepper

Objectves:

• Pre-heat oven to 350°.

• Trim excess fat from the meat and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

• Add two tablespoons of cooking oil to a heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat When the oil is hot, brown the ribs in batches of five or six (to avoid crowding), then set browned ribs aside.

• Pour or spoon off accumulated fat but leave any browned bits in the pan.

• Chop the bacon into 1 inch pieces, add to the pan and cook until browned. This will take about five minutes.

• Add the onions, coarsely chopped, stir and cook until golden, another five minutes or so. Add the tomato paste, stock, beer and bay leaves and bring to a boil, stirring to mix well. Add to browned ribs. Cover the pan with a securely-fitting lid or aluminum foil.

• Bake until the meat is fork-tender (about two hours).

• Uncover the pan after about an hour and turn the rib pieces over in the braising liquid.

• Recover the pan with lid or foil and return to oven.

• When the meat is tender, remove it from the pan to a warm place.

• Boil the braising liquid to reduce it to the consistency you prefer for a pour-over sauce. Add flour or cornstarch if necessary.

• Remove bay leaves and add salt if necessary.

• Serve the ribs with sauce drizzled over them.

This recipe makes about four servings of ribs. These ribs can be dressed up or down depending on your audience. Here I served them with my infamous oven-roasted potatoes and sautéed mushrooms and onions. I don't have a vegetarian version of this recipe, so I had soy chicken, but my guests loved it.

If you can't find short ribs at your supermarket, check for back ribs.