Bourbon Ginger Peach Pie

Following my boozy-pie theme, I decided to make a non-seasonal peach pie with bourbon and ginger (recipe adapted from Serious Eats).  Luckily, local Remingler Farms sells frozen peach slices during the winter.

I used a frozen pie crust, so either make one first and stick it in the freezer to cool or pull the pre made frozen crust out of the freezer to start thawing out.

FILLING:
In a very large bowl, mix together the following:
- 1/3 cup bourbon
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root
- 2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar

 

Once that looks all nice and mixed up, toss in the peaches.  I used about 2 pounds of peach slices and tossed them in the bourbon/spice mixture until they were very thoroughly coated.  I read an article about the 10 best bourbons, this Jim Beam one was on the list which surprised me so I had to give it a try.  It was pretty good, and definitely a great value!

Put the peaches into the crust.  I used a spatula and just fit in as many peaches as I could, then poured about half of the juices over the peaches.

TOPPING:

Put the following ingredients into a food processor:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Pulse until thoroughly mixed.  Add 1 stick (8 tablespoons) of butter that has been cut into smaller pieces and pulse a few more times until the mixture looks chunky.  Last, add 1 1/4 cup rolled quick oats to the mixture and pulse a couple of times to mix that in.  Pour on top of the pie.

Bake pie for about 45 minutes until the crust and the crumb topping are golden brown.  Cool thoroughly.

 

 

I didn't let the frozen peaches thaw out before baking so the crust was kind of soggy but still tasted great out of a bowl!!

Pork Chile Verde- Crock Pot Style

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs boneless pork shoulder
1 15 oz can navy beans
12 oz fresh tomatillos
1 medium onion
4 oz green chile peppers
3 cloves garlic
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 oz chicken broth
1 cup chopped spinach
2 limes
sour cream
cilantro

PREP:
- Cut meat into 3 inch pieces (or smaller, if you want).  Trim away the fat.  Brown the meat in hot vegetable oil; drain.
- Peel, since, and chop tomatillos into large chunks.  Tomatillos are best when firm and the skin just starts to crack; they shouldn't be bruised or withered.  Finely mince garlic and green chile peppers.  Chop up the onion.  I can't chop onions without crying, so I usually just wear a scuba mask.

- Drain and rinse beans.

DO IT:
- Put pork in the crock pot followed by everything else listed in "prep" section.  Add cumin and salt, followed by chicken broth

- Cover and cook on low heat for seven hours.
- Just before serving, stir in spinach and juice from one lime.
- In a separate bowl: mix sour cream, chopped cilantro, and juice from another lime.  Serve on the side as a topper.

Chicken Sausage and Tortellini (And Kale!)

 

--Adapted from Hub Pages --

 

Ingredients:

2 T. oil (coconut, olive, etc)

12 oz. chicken sausage, sliced (I used red pepper seasoned sausage but spinach & garlic or sun-dried tomato flavors could be good too.)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 c. chicken broth

2 t. Italian seasoning

9 oz. cheese tortellini

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 bunch kale, roughly chopped

1 bunch Swiss chard, roughly chopped

parmesan cheese for topping

Optional:  1 medium onion, chopped 

  

Instructions:

1.  In a heavy pot, heat oil.  (I used coconut oil because I read that the sauté-ing temp of this is just right!)
1.  Add garlic and chicken sausage. Cook until sausage is cooked.  (Cook onion at this time as well if using it.)

3.  Add chicken broth and Italian seasoning.

3.  Bring contents to a boil and then add tortellini
4.  Boil until tortellini is cooked
5.  Lower heat and stir in crushed tomatoes and simmer 10-15 minutes
6.  Add greens and cook until it is wilted

7.  Do a photo montage with the kale.