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Web site of the Week
This week (yeah, you get a double this week) should be obvious, it is for…. wait for it…. The Palisade Peach Festival.
www.palisadepeachfest.com
This is the main site for the festival so you can learn more and see the schedules. The second one is (palisadepeachrecipecontest.com), which is the actual site for the recipe contest; you can also see the winning recipes from 2008 back to 2000 and earlier and yes, we have a few of our own listed. This week's recipe is one that I did last year at the Peach Cuisine event, a Summer Asparagus Medley with Peaches, Pistachios and Scallions.
Got a cool food website that you always go back to? Share it with us. Drop me an e-mail and we may just let the rest of the Grand Valley know about it.
www.palisadepeachfest.com
This is the main site for the festival so you can learn more and see the schedules. The second one is (palisadepeachrecipecontest.com), which is the actual site for the recipe contest; you can also see the winning recipes from 2008 back to 2000 and earlier and yes, we have a few of our own listed. This week's recipe is one that I did last year at the Peach Cuisine event, a Summer Asparagus Medley with Peaches, Pistachios and Scallions.
Got a cool food website that you always go back to? Share it with us. Drop me an e-mail and we may just let the rest of the Grand Valley know about it.
Yeah, life can be just peachy, especially with the Palisade Peach Festival happening this weekend out in Palisade.
Starting on Thursday, this year's Peach Festival kicks off with tours of the orchards as well as wineries, breweries, distilleries and continuing with river float trips and van tours.
On Friday (from 1-8 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m.-6 p.m.), the Peach Festival gets into full gear at Riverbend Park. You can find food and artisanal vendors with every kind of peach product and much more throughout the park (and yes, you will be able to find some peach cheesecakes there), as well as the “Peach Cuisine with Colorado Chefs” from 2-7 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Saturday. Some of the best chefs from the area will be creating some great peach recipes on stage and samples will be passed out to the audience. Here is a listing of the chefs participating:
Friday: Lisa Carr/Palisade Café & Grille, Randy Belanger/BIN 707, Jon Barbier/Le Rouge & Amy's Courtyard, Charis Roueché/Collbran Job Corps Center, and Katrina Zerbe.
Saturday: Tom Casabona/Red Rose Café, Holly Garcia/DMT Catering, Diana Tarasiewicz/DMT Catering, Lee Mathis/Decadence Cheesecakes & Catering, Jeremy Alderman/Kannah Creek Brewery & Colleen Bradley/JayLeen Catering.
Yes friends, for the third year in a row, I will be participating and this year, I will be doing “Wings over Palisade.” Think BBQ Chipotle Peached Chicken Wings.
Another highlight is the Recipe Contest. I was fortunate to win a few first-place awards in years past and you can find out just how creative our local foodies can be. You can also sample the entrees at the Palisade Memorial Building starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
This week's “Chef/Foodie Questionnaire of the Week” is a special one for me. When I first started Decadence, I was a one-man show, still in culinary school and trying to balance everything. One day while I was working the line at Chez Lena, a student came up to me and said that she wanted to come work for me — why I still do not know. But she did and brought with her an eye for how things looked, not just how they tasted and helped transform us. She was with us before we ever thought of putting cheesecakes in a jar. So, friends and fans… meet Rose.
Rose Witzeman Lead cook, Twin Lakes Retirement Community
What is your most vivid memory of “family” food while you grew up?
My most vivid memory of family food growing up is my father's spaghetti sauce. It is still to this day the best spaghetti sauce I know. I haven't had it in more than 10 years but I can still remember the taste and mostly the smell of it cooking. I remember exactly how I cut my spaghetti up into small pieces. He told me a million times how to make it and the long process involved in developing the flavor, but as a little girl I had more important things to do then stare at a stove for hours. The biggest mistake in my entire life could be not remembering how to make that sauce.
What is your favorite “comfort” food?
My favorite comfort food is homemade chicken and dumplings. It's not a traditional creamy soup like most people are used to but a thin chicken stock. I make it every winter and freeze it for later.
When did you realize that you were a foodie?
I realized I was a life-long “foodie” a while ago when I stumbled along journals my teachers made everyone keep in 1st-4th grade. We had to write in them everyday in class for 20 minutes. I flipped through mine and saw that almost everything I wrote was about food. What I was going to eat for lunch, what I hope my mom would make for dinner, what my favorite foods were. I would call that being a foodie; my teachers thought I was just really, really hungry.
Why did you become a foodie?
I was a very picky eater growing up and wanted food exactly how I liked it. To ensure that everything I ate was exactly how I liked it, I had to learn as much as I could about food.
Who/what was your major influence in becoming a foodie?
My major influence in becoming a cook was my first job. I worked at a Dairy Queen hired as a cake decorator. I had never decorated a cake before and was absolutely horrible when I first started. After a while I found a 9-page booklet on how to decorate cakes stashed away in a drawer at work. I read it over and over and taught myself how to do everything in that book that could be done on an ice cream cake. After getting the hang of it, I began to love my job. Being able to see and hear how what I did made someone's birthday, mother's day, father's day whatever it was, really made me happy. I paired that enthusiasm with my parents encouraging my cooking at home with a career choice.
What would your last meal be & why?
My last meal would be a bacon cheeseburger. I am well aware how un-fancy that is but who doesn't love bacon?
What advice do you have for those who dream of one day becoming a cook (foodie)?
My advice to anyone wanting to pursue a cooking career would be getting ready to burn a lot of food. You will. Get your embarrassed smile ready, because until you make enough mistakes to know how not to, you will need it.
We are still looking for more “Chef/Foodie” questionnaire. E-mail me and I will reply with one. (If you do not have e-mail, drop me a note c/o The Free Press and we will get one out to you.)
Lee is founder and owner of Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes and Catering. Reach him at decadencecheesecakes@mindspring.com or through the Web site at www.decadencecheesecakes.com.
Summer Asparagus Medley with Peaches, Pistachios and Scallions
2 lbs fresh asparagus
1 cup pistachios, shelled
9 Palisade peaches
Scallions, 2 bunches
Olive oil
1 /4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne
Salt & pepper to taste
Trim asparagus and blanch in boiling water, chill immediately in ice water bath. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
Peel peaches and cut into bite-size pieces.
Clean and wash scallions, cut into bite size pieces.
In a large bowl, toss cut peaches with cinnamon and cayenne. Add asparagus, pistachios and scallions and toss with olive oil to moisten. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Starting on Thursday, this year's Peach Festival kicks off with tours of the orchards as well as wineries, breweries, distilleries and continuing with river float trips and van tours.
On Friday (from 1-8 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m.-6 p.m.), the Peach Festival gets into full gear at Riverbend Park. You can find food and artisanal vendors with every kind of peach product and much more throughout the park (and yes, you will be able to find some peach cheesecakes there), as well as the “Peach Cuisine with Colorado Chefs” from 2-7 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Saturday. Some of the best chefs from the area will be creating some great peach recipes on stage and samples will be passed out to the audience. Here is a listing of the chefs participating:
Friday: Lisa Carr/Palisade Café & Grille, Randy Belanger/BIN 707, Jon Barbier/Le Rouge & Amy's Courtyard, Charis Roueché/Collbran Job Corps Center, and Katrina Zerbe.
Saturday: Tom Casabona/Red Rose Café, Holly Garcia/DMT Catering, Diana Tarasiewicz/DMT Catering, Lee Mathis/Decadence Cheesecakes & Catering, Jeremy Alderman/Kannah Creek Brewery & Colleen Bradley/JayLeen Catering.
Yes friends, for the third year in a row, I will be participating and this year, I will be doing “Wings over Palisade.” Think BBQ Chipotle Peached Chicken Wings.
Another highlight is the Recipe Contest. I was fortunate to win a few first-place awards in years past and you can find out just how creative our local foodies can be. You can also sample the entrees at the Palisade Memorial Building starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
This week's “Chef/Foodie Questionnaire of the Week” is a special one for me. When I first started Decadence, I was a one-man show, still in culinary school and trying to balance everything. One day while I was working the line at Chez Lena, a student came up to me and said that she wanted to come work for me — why I still do not know. But she did and brought with her an eye for how things looked, not just how they tasted and helped transform us. She was with us before we ever thought of putting cheesecakes in a jar. So, friends and fans… meet Rose.
Rose Witzeman Lead cook, Twin Lakes Retirement Community
What is your most vivid memory of “family” food while you grew up?
My most vivid memory of family food growing up is my father's spaghetti sauce. It is still to this day the best spaghetti sauce I know. I haven't had it in more than 10 years but I can still remember the taste and mostly the smell of it cooking. I remember exactly how I cut my spaghetti up into small pieces. He told me a million times how to make it and the long process involved in developing the flavor, but as a little girl I had more important things to do then stare at a stove for hours. The biggest mistake in my entire life could be not remembering how to make that sauce.
What is your favorite “comfort” food?
My favorite comfort food is homemade chicken and dumplings. It's not a traditional creamy soup like most people are used to but a thin chicken stock. I make it every winter and freeze it for later.
When did you realize that you were a foodie?
I realized I was a life-long “foodie” a while ago when I stumbled along journals my teachers made everyone keep in 1st-4th grade. We had to write in them everyday in class for 20 minutes. I flipped through mine and saw that almost everything I wrote was about food. What I was going to eat for lunch, what I hope my mom would make for dinner, what my favorite foods were. I would call that being a foodie; my teachers thought I was just really, really hungry.
Why did you become a foodie?
I was a very picky eater growing up and wanted food exactly how I liked it. To ensure that everything I ate was exactly how I liked it, I had to learn as much as I could about food.
Who/what was your major influence in becoming a foodie?
My major influence in becoming a cook was my first job. I worked at a Dairy Queen hired as a cake decorator. I had never decorated a cake before and was absolutely horrible when I first started. After a while I found a 9-page booklet on how to decorate cakes stashed away in a drawer at work. I read it over and over and taught myself how to do everything in that book that could be done on an ice cream cake. After getting the hang of it, I began to love my job. Being able to see and hear how what I did made someone's birthday, mother's day, father's day whatever it was, really made me happy. I paired that enthusiasm with my parents encouraging my cooking at home with a career choice.
What would your last meal be & why?
My last meal would be a bacon cheeseburger. I am well aware how un-fancy that is but who doesn't love bacon?
What advice do you have for those who dream of one day becoming a cook (foodie)?
My advice to anyone wanting to pursue a cooking career would be getting ready to burn a lot of food. You will. Get your embarrassed smile ready, because until you make enough mistakes to know how not to, you will need it.
We are still looking for more “Chef/Foodie” questionnaire. E-mail me and I will reply with one. (If you do not have e-mail, drop me a note c/o The Free Press and we will get one out to you.)
Lee is founder and owner of Decadence Gourmet Cheesecakes and Catering. Reach him at decadencecheesecakes@mindspring.com or through the Web site at www.decadencecheesecakes.com.
Summer Asparagus Medley with Peaches, Pistachios and Scallions
2 lbs fresh asparagus
1 cup pistachios, shelled
9 Palisade peaches
Scallions, 2 bunches
Olive oil
1 /4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne
Salt & pepper to taste
Trim asparagus and blanch in boiling water, chill immediately in ice water bath. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
Peel peaches and cut into bite-size pieces.
Clean and wash scallions, cut into bite size pieces.
In a large bowl, toss cut peaches with cinnamon and cayenne. Add asparagus, pistachios and scallions and toss with olive oil to moisten. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
