Strawberry or Raspberry Rhubarb Pie Filling

Rhubarb! We grow it at the bakery, and customers and friends bring their harvest to trade for bakery credit.  We spend a lot of time processing it and turning it into pies.  It is a core product of summer at Pagosa Baking Company.

We’ve had lots of requests for the recipe, particularly from travelers who want to recreate it at home.  We use tapioca flour as the thickening agent, and a tiny bit of nutmeg for seasoning.  You can choose to leave it out, or substitute with your favorite spice.

You can freeze your prepared and unbaked pie to bake fresh at a later date.  It bakes beautifully from frozen.

Enjoy!

Kathy

PBC Green Chile Chicken Stew

This is some popular stuff!  Customers smother Burritos, Quiches and Focaccia Pockets with it.  They eat it by the bowl and cup.  They purchase containers from our retail freezer to take to friends and former Pagosa residents now living afar.  They even take it on camping and rafting trips.  Now you can make it at home.

Be sure to use a really good green chile.  Of course you can use chile you’ve roasted yourself, or purchased from your favorite roadside vendor.  I’ve specified Bueno in the recipe, but there are other good Colorado and New Mexico brands.  Customize the level of heat by changing up the amounts of mild and hot chile.  And once you’ve made it a few times, try a double recipe, pack some up and freeze it for your next camping trip.

During our busy summer season, Yolanda will make 72 quarts of Green Chile Chicken Stew a week.  So if you have the hankering, but not the time, we’re bound to have some you can come by and pick up.

Pagosa Baking Company Carrot Cake Muffins

First recipe, our Carrot Cake Muffins. One of the most popular items in the pastry case, this same recipe is also one of our most requested wedding cakes. In this basic spice cake recipe, shredded carrots lend moisture and tenderness as in zucchini bread or apple sauce cake. We pipe a wide swirl of our cream cheese icing on the top – not too much – you don’t want to overwhelm the flavor of the carrot cake.

Makes 12 large muffins or one 9″ cake.  Adjusted for 7000 feet.

Pagosa Baking Company Shortbread

Shortbread is a staple here – you’ll see it in the pastry cases every day as Raspberry Jam Hearts, or as the base for Lemon Bars and Espresso Bars.  Our Mascot cookies are shortbread dipped in chocolate.  It’s how we start our holiday preparations, the foundation for bright sparkling colorful sugars, cut into shapes that celebrate a particular season or event.  We use our Colorado grown and milled wheat flour, and European butter as a portion of the overall fat in the recipe.  It adds richness and flavor.  A little milk is added at the end to compensate for our dry climate.  You may choose to leave it out.

Shortbread is particularly delicious with toasted chopped pecans.  You may mix them into the dough, and pat into a round pan.  Score into wedges before you bake it, for a very traditional look.

Enjoy!

Kathy