Life on The Road

For the past year and 1/2, I have been on the road, at least half the time!

As many of you know, we expanded our business, Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes, into Virginia last Spring and I have been bouncing back between VA and CO since then. Two months there, two months in CO, 3 months there, then back again and so on.

For many years, I thought that life of the road was 'all that', but as I get older/smarter/worn-out, I do miss the days where I did not spend as much time on the road. Heck, I have put over 50,000 miles on my truck since this endeavour started!

Don't get me wrong, I love VA, it is great, but Western Colorado is my home and where I feel I belong so we are now looking for people and investors to run the VA and the rest of the expansions.

One of the things that sustains me is discovering new foods, new food places and being able to morph that into what we cook. Example being our newest product, a Colorado-Style Southern Chow Chow.. (think Southern Chow-Chow meets HEAT!). A great combination of a traditional Southern Food meeting Southwest Heat!

And I really do love Road Food! I do look at Diner's Drive-in's and Dives, Man vs Food and other sites to seek out new places and, for the most part, they are really, really good!

But the road is getting weary!

As we start to wrap up 2014, things are looking really good and 2015 looks like we will be lowing the doors off, so until I find the right people and investors...

Keep on Keeping On!

Burgers, Burgers and more Burgers!

I have written on more than one occasion about my thinking that Taco’s, in all their variations, just may be the perfect food, but one must also consider burgers in that sense!

Think about it, what cannot you do with burgers? Ground Beef, Chicken, Sausage, Vegetarian, Fish (yes, I admit that can be a stretch, but you can make some really tasty crab cakes, serve them on a brioche bun with some tasty slaws), lunch, dinner and even breakfast (Breakfast sausage burger with a fried egg on a muffin.. another stretch, but you get my point!)

Grilled, fried, baked, plain, stuffed, any kind of cheese you desire, toppings galore, the burger to this day remains one of our iconic foods!

Me, I like to take some ground angus and ground bacon, mix them with some spices and yes, some hot sauce, grill them off and top it with some grilled onions, some smoked gouda and some toasted buns. (Yeah, I am already thinking of lunch now!)

So whatever your pallet inclinations, let your mind wander and go out and play with some proteins and get your burger on!

Need some inspiration? Our ‘Website of the Week is from Foodandwine.com and and can give you many ideas to play with!  (http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/10-favorite-burger-recipes)

Our 'Recipe of The Week' is from that same site, Bacon Burgers on Brioche Buns!! Ummm… Bacon!

Bacon Burgers on Brioche Buns

(from foodandwine.com)

The burger at Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco is called Le Grand with good reason: It's a custom blend of ground prime rib, brisket, skirt steak and tenderloin, topped with Nueske's bacon and Cowgirl Creamery's triple-cream Mt. Tam cheese. The recipe is also delicious with a mix of chuck and sirloin.

1. 2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
2. 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
3. 1/2 cup mayonnaise
4. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5. Salt and freshly ground pepper
6. 8 slices of thick-cut bacon (12 ounces)
7. 3 pounds mixed ground chuck and ground sirloin
8. 12 ounces brie, sliced
9. 8 brioche burger buns, split

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the onions with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and roast until softened, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the lemon juice. Gradually whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over moderately high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels and break each strip in half.
4. Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Form the ground meat into eight patties. Season generously with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. Grill over moderately high heat until well-browned on the bottom, 5 minutes. Flip the burgers, mound the brie on top and grill for 4 minutes longer, until the cheese is slightly melted and the burgers are medium-rare.
5. Spread the lemon mayonnaise on the cut sides of the buns; set the burgers on the bottoms and top with the bacon and onions. Close the burgers and serve right away.

You can know also follow us on Pinterest; Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes and Decadence Cheesecakes Cooking Thoughts... Check them out and let me know what you think!

You can now also follow the adventures of Decadence on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Decadence-Gourmet-Cheesecakes/171538834903 ,on Twitter (www.twitter.com/decadenceGJ) and on Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/circ2000/decadence-cheesecakes-cooking-thoughts/).

Savory Appetizer Cheesecakes

One of the things I love about what I do, is that I get to play with different flavor profiles with our cheesecakes! I subscribe to a lot of cooking and culinary magazines and I will see some recipe, not necessarily cheesecakes or desserts, but I see a flavor profile or combination that might just work in a cheesecake.

Over the last few months, we have developed a new product line, which are 'Savory' Appetizer Cheesecakes, which you spread on crackers, pita chips or the like. We started with four flavors, Sun-Dried Tomato w/ Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Bacon & Blue Cheese (ya gotta love bacon!), Smoked Salmon and my personal favorite, The 'El Diablo' which, yes, is a Ghost Pepper/Habanero Cheesecake with an Ancho/Chipotle Pesto, definitely not for the timid, but believe it or not, it is our most popular savory!

On another occasion, I was playing around with what I thought was going to be another Savory, but I had started adding sugar to the first test batch, when I said to myself....

Self.. you dummy.. there is no sugar in a Savory!!

I was about to dump the batter when I gave it a quick taste and went.... WHOA!!! This is good and with a little heat and that is how our newest dessert cheesecake flavor, The Habanero/Key Lime came about.

You get the sweet and tart taste of the Key Lime come through and then you get the heat, not overpowering, from a roasted Habanero sugar that I made....

Turns out it is the fastest selling new flavor I have put out in over 2 years!!

Go Figure!!

Got many more on the drawing board when we get through the fair/festival/market season, at least 20 other flavors that I want to do!!

Yeah, I do so love to play!!

Downtown Grand Junction's Farmer's Market

Every Thursday, from 4 - 8 pm, a great Farmer's Market is held on Main Street in downtown Grand Junction. This is where we launched our line of gourmet 'Cheesecakes in a Jar' four years ago and while we do not do a lot of these, just this one and the Glenwood Springs Farmer's Market, we will continue to do this one as long as they will have it. Besides the fact that we routinely sell out, it is a great bunch of people!

You have over 15 orchard and farm vendors and another artesianal vendors, ranging from custom jewelry, from our friend, Susan Jeansonne and Jeansonne's Fine Designs, to some of the best chili (and four time winner and the Southwest Chili Festival) from Katie of Guera's Chili, to many food vendors and much. much more!

Music emenates from all the corners, fun stuff for the kids and a great time for all!

This season's market ends on Thursday, September 16th, so get on out there and see what the Grand Valley has to offer!

Ah Hah Moments

About a month or so ago, Mutual of Omaha had emailed me, they were coming into town to film 'Ah-Ha' moments, a moment which changed your life. Seems that they had heard about us and Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes and wanted to film our story, along with some others in town.

Just got an email that the video was now on their website, click here to check it out!

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!

Yes, we survived!

No, we did not go into protective hiding!! But to say that we have been busy this month is a grand understatement! Took my son, Austin, out to NJ for a week (will be posting some blogs about that adventure with pics in a few days), did a bunch of catering, 2 events at the Fairgrounds (over 3,000 ppl for each event), launched out new website (check it out!) and have three more catering events coming up this and next week. All of this on top of our cheesecakes!

Yeah, we be busy!!

Glenwood Springs Downtown Market

This season, we have started doing another Farmer's Market to unleash our products on the unsuspecting public, The Glenwood Springs Downtown Market. The market is held every Tuesday, from 4 pm - dusk at Centennial Park, right off 9th and Grand in downtown Glenwood Springs.

While this market may not be as big as the one we do in Grand Junction, don't let that fool you!! This is a great market, with great people!

Some of the other vendors and growers include our friends from Z's Orchard, Eagle Smoked Salmon, Back Alley Coffee, Colorado's Best Tamales (you gotta try their Habanero/Pork Tamales!!), The Lavender Lady, Osage Gardens, Andy's Kitchen and many more, with entertainment in the park too!

We have sold out each of the first two markets and look forward to many more!

For more information and a complete list of vendors, check out their website!

The Markets are Back!!

The Markets Are Back!! The Markets Are Back!!

Well, after hitting 100° this week, I think we can safely say that we have escaped the grasp of winter and the weird Spring we had!

Spent a lot of the weekend potting and plating basil, parsley, rosemary, habanero's & jalapeños and getting the green, yellow and red bell peppers done next weekend! Gotta love the region we live in and the variety of produce that can be grown around here, but most of us cannot grow everything that we love.

Maybe the final proof of the arrival of summer is The Downtown Grand Junction Farmer’s Market!! Held every Thursday, from 4pm – 8pm on Main Street, the market runs from June 10th through September 26th.

Come on down!! Main Street is filled with farmers selling their fruits, produce, meats and poultry, food vendors (and yes, Cheesecakes!) and a myriad of other vendors, with such offerings as alpaca products, arts & crafts as well as various cooking products.

Even this early in the season, you will find a great variety and one that will get better and better as the summer rolls on!

Entertainment also abounds on virtually every corner, from 4th Street down to 7th Street, with everything from large bands to single artists and dancing groups..

The Market is running full this year with several new vendors and is truly one of the gems of the Grand Valley, so put down that remote, get out of the drive-through lane, hit up the ATM, round up the family and come on down to Downtown Grand Junction!!

The Glenwood Springs Farmer's Market also will be starting up on Tuesday, June 22nd, from 4 pm - Dusk in Centennial Park. Can't be long until Palisade's Sunday Farmer's Market and Fruita starts up too!

In keeping with the Farmer's Market theme, here is a great recipe website from the Farmer's Market in Davis, California. This is one of the best Farmer's Market recipe website that I have seen, check it out!

Are you planning on any road trips this summer? When you do, check out the local Farmer's Markets and the local eateries! When you do and you find something that you like, let us know! Drop me an email or letter about where you ate and what you had and we will run it on our column and on our blog! The first two readers that do this will receive... wait for it... a Three-Pack of our 'Cheesecakes in a Jar®'! Hey, free food just for letting us and our readers know? Doesn't get much better than that!

You can now also follow the adventures of Decadence on Facebook.

We are loading up recipes and discounts on our Facebook page and will also be letting our ‘fans’ know of upcoming events, sales and the like. There are even videos! Check it out and become a fan!