“Peach N’ Blueberry Mini Pies!”

Ingredients:
Pie Crust-
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 sticks cold butter
1 egg
2-3 tablespoons milk
Filling-
6 peaches
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
juice of half a lime 

Let’s start with the filling! Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and fill a large bowl with ice water. Using a sharp knife, mark a shallow X in the bottom and tops of each peach. Blanch the peaches in the boiling water for about 30 seconds, just until the skins begin to loosen around them. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peaches to the ice water to cool. Drain and peel the peaches and cut them into fourths, then cut each fourth into thirds and add to another bowl. In that bowl, add the blueberries, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, extract, and lime juice. Toss together and then refrigerate the filling for an hour.

Now for the pie crust. Mix flour, sugar, and salt together. Cut butter into chunks, and incorporate half the amount into the flour with pastry blender, or your fingers. You are going to want the butter to be in flakes and some bits the size of small peas, so don’t worry about the butter getting cut finely, those little chunks will make nice flakey goodness when baked! Add second half of butter just the same. Whisk the egg, then add to mixture until incorporated. From there, add milk until the dough stays together when you squeeze it. Form dough into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap, then refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400º. Lightly grease a muffin pan. Remove the dough from the fridge and let it get a little soft (it took mine about 10 minutes), then cut it in half and roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface (put the other half in the fridge while you’re working on this part). You may have to lift the dough up and flip it over and re-flour to ensure it’s not sticking to the surface a few times (just don’t go crazy with too much flour, aiight?). Using the top of a cup, or a ramekin, or a biscuit cutter ring, cut out about 12 circles all together with that half of the dough. Then grab the other ball of dough in the fridge and do the same.
Place the first 12 dough circles into the muffin pan, and trim the tops to the very top. Grab the filling out the fridge, stir, and add to the cups until just barely reaching the tops.
Now we are going to add the tops to these beauties, but you can cut out little shapes on the tops of you wish, or not. Whatevs! Press them lightly onto the tops until they fill like they are pretty much sealed together. Sprinkle with sugar on the tops, then put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, just until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let cool in the pan. I then placed a cooling rack over them and flipped them out upside down onto the rack. Then flipped them all over right side up to finish cooling. 

VOILA! These are great the next day when the filling has cooled and set, but they are just as tasty while still warm from the oven. This is a really simple recipe to play with. The filling can easily be adjusted to whatever fruit you want to use, and they can be fresh or frozen fruit. You can also just buy some pre-made pie dough from the store if you don’t want to go through the process of making your own (but I gotta say, it taste much better when you make it all from scratch!). If you have never baked a pie before, or you are strapped on time, buying the store-bought dough is convenient and easy to give this recipe a try! 

xx Jessica 

“Stewp Chili! (Stew/Soup Chili)”

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 can whole kernel sweet corn (strained)
1 large green pepper
1 medium onion
2 cans kidney beans (unstrained)
2 cans stewed tomatoes (unstrained)
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 packet chili seasoning [for base] (we like mild or spicy!)
4 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons basil 
1/2 tablespoon cajun seasoning
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
salt and pepper 
(you can season this to your liking! this is how we like it.) 

Cook beef until browned in a saute pan on high heat. Add onions, peppers, corn, and seasonings. Cook for about 8 minutes on medium-high heat.
Add beef/veggie mixture into a crock pot with tomatoes, beans, and celery. Turn crock pot on high, and cook for about 4 hours, stirring occasionally.  

Chili in my opinion is one of the most simple recipes to make. Basically just season it to your taste and its good! How can you go wrong with the rest of the ingredients in it? We hope you dig it as much as we do!

Enjoy!

Travis

“Barbecue Pulled Pork on Whole Wheat Crust Pizza” 

Pork:
In a crock pot, add:
2 lbs worth of pork butt/shoulder
2 cups of water
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons celery salt
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon cracked pepper
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
Turn it on medium-high and let it simmer for about 6-8 hours (this can range depending on your brand). While that’s cooking, let’s work on the crust:

Crust:
We used a great KAF recipe for Whole Grain Pizza. It’s super yummy, and adds great flavor with the pork in this pizza!
Making your own crust not your speed? We love this pizza crust mix when we want it in a jiffy. A combination of Semolina and White Whole Wheat? You can’t go wrong. You can always of course, use your own pizza crust just fine.

Now, back to the pork. Take a stab at it with a fork and check for tenderness; if that badboy is shredding up easily, you’re ready! Grab a mixing bowl and scoop the pork out of the pot, grab two forks, and start shredding. Once finished, scoop about 1/2 cup of the broth from the pot into the shredded pork. From there, about about 1 1/2-2 cups barbecue sauce (depending on how saucy you like it). Mix it up and set aside. We love Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce, but you can use whatever gets your juices flowing. For this recipe, we only use a little less than a pound to cover the pizza. Put the rest in the fridge for when you get the munchies or feel like making a mean sandwich later.

Prepare your crust as needed. We spread the dough out a little smaller than the size of a half sheet pan, then par-baked it for a few minutes (we did about 6 minutes at 425º) on parchment paper. If you have a pizza stone, pull out that beast. The little pre-bake helps you get a nice rise going so you can add a barbecue sauce base and not worry about it making the crust soggy. Add a thin layer of barbecue sauce, then add the pork. We added some chopped peppers (about half a green pepper worth) and about 1 1/2 cups of cheese to the top. If you got onions, caramelize those bitches and add them to the party (sadly, we didn’t!). Bake for about 15-18 more minutes, or the rest of the cook time per your crust of choice. Remove the pie from the oven, and top with cilantro and salt to taste. NOM!

*This recipe is great to whip together when you have friends over. Pizza crust can be made ahead of time and placed in a plastic bread bag (easily found in your local grocers right with the other sandwich bags) in the freezer for about 2-3 weeks. Defrost it the night before in the fridge and you’re good to go. The topping can easily be barbecue chicken, leftover steak, or veggies galore. Have fun with it! If you aren’t having fun, GET OUT… or go order takeout.

xx Jessica & Travis