Project Food Blog - Peach Brandy Pork

i am participating in the foodbuzz project food blog competition. for the first challenge, i am charged with describing what defines me as a food blogger.

well . . . i love food! this may be a ridiculously obvious statement due to the fact that i am both a personal chef and a food blogger but eating is the one thing i do several times a day, every day, and never get sick of. seriously, i have been eating every day of my life (10,931 days to be exact) yet i haven't grown tired of tasting and i haven't even scrapped the surface of my culinary discovery. there is still so much food i have yet to try - so many amazing smells, flavors, and edible combinations i have never even heard of let alone tasted. but, as with most things in life, food must be experienced one bite at a time. since i also love to travel, it's only fitting that one of my favorite ways to discover a new place is through the local food.

for now, life finds me a stones throw the farm i grew up on in the mid-atlantic. from a young age, eating fresh, local produce was a part of life. i distinctly remember summer nights, driving our farm jeep over the hill to our neighbors fields. we would walk the corn rows just as the lightning bugs would emerge and hand-pick our ears of sweet corn for dinner that night. it doesn't get much fresher than that!

this way of eating continues to be my #1 food philosophy, eat food that is fresh, local, and in-season. juicy red tomatoes taste best in august picked right from the vine, not in february when they no doubt started their thousand miles journey to me green and hard. it's only natural that now with the change of seasons, comes a change in what i am craving. but, in a last ditch effort to savor the last bit of summer, tonight i am merging summer and fall with peach brandy pork tenderloin.

i got my hands of a big box of the last of the peach harvest - encore peaches to be exact. these "last of the season" peaches are not as sweet as their summer cousins making them perfect for this dish. some sauteed shallots, reduced brandy, peach preserves, and a pat of butter make this mouthwatering dish the perfect way to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall. with every new season comes new things to try. as sad as i am to see the sun setting earlier and the last of summers juicy, sweet peaches, part of me cannot wait for autumns bounty!

before i close, i will leave you with my peach brandy pork recipe. the reason i began blogging in the first place was to share my recipes with those nearest and dearest to me. perhaps that is what defines me as a food blogger - my recipes.

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Peach Brandy Pork
(serves 4)

1 pork tenderloin (you can also use pork chops)
salt and pepper
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs unsalted butter
3 medium shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup brandy
1/4 cup peach preserves
3 large peaches, peeled and thinly sliced (or 2 cups frozen sliced peaches, thawed)

preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. season both sides of pork with salt and pepper. sear each side 2 minutes. remove from skillet and place in baking dish. bake until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F.

meanwhile, add butter to olive oil in skillet. add sliced shallots and saute until tender. pour in brandy and let it cook down by half. add peach preserves and peaches and simmer 3-4 minutes. reduce heat to low and keep warm until pork is cooked.

remove pork from oven when internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F. let stand for 5 minutes, loosely covered. slice and serve with peach mixture spooned over the top.