Peaches, Wines and Festivals!

YES.. After their winter hibernation, the Valley is releasing one of its most precious bounties… Our peaches and grapes! (yes, we know that we grow a heck of a lot more things than just peaches and grapes, but tis the season!)

People nationwide know of our fabulous Palisade Peaches and our wines are growing in popularity every year and what better way to showcase these than with two of the valley’s premier festivals, The Palisade Peach Festival, August 14^th – 17^th, with the main festival at Riverbend Park in Palisade on Saturday, August 15^th & 16^th (and other events throughout the entire extended weekend) and the Colorado Mountain Winefest weekend, Sept 19^th through the 21^st, with the main festival on Saturday, Sept. 20^th, again at Riverbend Park in Palisade.

There are many events for both festivals throughout Palisade and the Grand Valley and for more information, check out their websites.

Now, as many of you know, I spend a lot of time on the road, mostly in Virginia, expanding our cheesecake business and have the opportunity to work some other great events, but I always make my schedule to allow time to make sure than I am back in town for these two Festivals as I am very proud to live here and these truly are two of the Showcase events in Western Colorado.

So, Summers here and the time is right for Cooking in the Yard! (ok, it is supposed to be ‘Dancing in the Street.. took some literacy license with that one, ehh?)

The ‘Website of the Week’ is Recipebridge.com. (http://www.recipebridge.com) Great site, search for over 2,000,000 recipes.. Our ‘Recipe of the Week’, Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Peach Salsa and Wine Scented Rice (nice combination for a recipe with The Palisade Peach Festival and Colorado Mountain Winefest theme, ehh?), is also from that site.

Pork Tenderloin With Fresh Peach Salsa and Wine-Scented Rice (from Recipebridge.com) Total Time - 45 minutes (Active Time - 30 minutes) COOKING SEQUENCE Preheat oven, prepare rice and begin to cook - 10 minutes Prepare pork and begin to bake - 10 minutes Prepare salsa for pork; complete both and serve - 25 minutes MAKES 4 SERVINGS

	Pork Tenderloin With Fresh Peach Salsa
	Ingredients: 1 pork tenderloin (about 1 lb) 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped 1 jalapeño pepper 2 peaches (or nectarines) 2 medium tomatoes 3/4 cup fresh pre-diced onions 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar Steps Preheat oven to 400°F. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Season pork with salt and pepper (wash hands). Place 1 tablespoon oil in pan, then add pork; cook and turn 4–5 minutes or until well browned. Transfer pork to shallow baking pan; bake 15–22 minutes or until pork is 145°F. (Let pork stand 5–10 minutes before slicing.) Prepare salsa while pork bakes. Chop cilantro and place in medium bowl. Cut jalapeño pepper in half (remove seeds); chop pepper finely and add to cilantro. Cut peaches into small pieces; add to peppers. Cut tomatoes into small pieces; add to peaches. Add onions; gently stir in vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Slice pork; serve with salsa.

	Wine-Scented Rice
	Ingredients: 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 cups basmati or jasmine rice 3/4 cup fresh pre-diced onions 2 3/4 cups white wine/herb chicken broth Prep Chop cilantro; set aside. Steps Preheat medium saucepan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Place oil in pan, then add rice and onions; cook and stir 1–2 minutes or until rice is toasted and onions begin to soften. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Cover and cook 1 minute, stirring often. Reduce heat to lowest setting; cook 22 minutes (do not stir or remove lid during cooking). Fluff rice with fork; stir in cilantro and serve. (Makes 6 servings.)

Palisade Peach Festival

This past weekend, the 42nd Annual Palisade Peach Festival was held here in Palisade, Colorado. Over 20,000 Peach Fans turned out for what is one of Palisade's finest moments. From a Ice Cream social on Thursday, to the Peach Festival in RiverBend Park, to the Feast in the Fields, Palisade turns into the Peach Capitol of the known universe.

One of the highlights of the Peach Festival is the Peach Cuisine with Colorado Chefs, and an event that I have been proud to be a participant in for the past four years. This year, I demonstrated Chocolate Dipped Dried Peach Bytes, double-dipped in a Peached Cayenne Sugar. In past years, I have done salads and 'Wings over Palisade', which is are BBQ Peached Chipotle Chicken wings. As all the chefs do, we all try to introduce many ways of using Palisade's pride into peoples culinary thoughts. If you would like any of my recipes over the past few years, email me at decadencecheesecakes@mindspring.com.

We also had one of our employees, Katrina, participate for her 3rd year! Talk about going from shy and nervous to a budding Rachael Ray! Congrats to Katrina for demonstrating Easy Peached Pork Tapas!

The Colorado Mountain Winefest is coming up next month, stop on by!

This event is the first event that we ever participated in when I first opened Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes. I was still in culinary school and when I started working with Wine Cheesecakes, they invited me and for the last five years, we have been a fixture in the VIP Tent, serving slices of our Blackberry/Cabernet, Port/Fig w/ a currant reduction sauce and our Chocolate Decadence. For the past four years, we have also had our own booth, selling our 'Cheesecakes in a Jar'.

Over 50 wineries participate in this great event, which also has food and wine pairings, and this year, a chef demo from Chef Kelly Liken, now on Top Chef!

Come on out to Palisade and enjoy the fruits of our labors!