Easy Marinated Pork Chops

Our family aren't huge fans of pork chops - but these were very moist and we liked the flavor. These are part of the recipes I chose for the August 2010 Aussie/NZ recipe swap. My team member is Taste Tester from Orlando, Florida. Did I mention these were easy to put together?

Easy Marinated Pork Chops

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup lime juice

4 tsp balsamic vinegar - **I didn't have this so used cider vinegar instead

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1 garlic clove, minced

6 boneless pork loin chops (mine did have bones - I only go with what's on sale.)

In a large ziploc bag - combine first 8 ingredients. Add chops. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight.

Drain and discard marinade. Grill chops, covered, over medium heat 4-5 minutes per side - or until they are no longer pink.

Savory Bread Cases

I doubled the recipe on this one. I am so glad I did! It was a huge hit with the family! The leftover filling also makes a very tasty sauce for macaroni and cheese! This recipe comes from my teammate mummamills from Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. I made this for the July 2010 Aussie/NZ recipe swap.

Savory Bread Cases

24 slices bread - store bought works best

margarine

8 oz bacon (this equals 1/2 lb), diced

1 lg onion, diced

2 cups shredded cheese - I used cheddar and mozzarella

3 tsp minced garlic

8 TBSP flour - you may not need it all

5 cups milk

1 pinch dry mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Cut crusts from bread slices. Spread very lightly with butter or margarine. Press, butter side down into muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes - until bread cases are dry. (These can also be frozen for use at a later time.)

Spray frying pan with vegetable oil. Add diced bacon and onion. Saute over a high heat until bacon is cooked. Add garlic and saute a minute longer.

In same skillet- add in flour - 1 TBSP at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon until it is completely absorbed. Keep stirring and gradually whisk in milk. Stir until thickened and there are no lumps. Allow to cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add cheese and mustard. Stir until cheese is melted.

Refrigerate mixture until serving time.

Put bread cases on a large cookie sheet. Fill with cheese mixture. You may want to sprinkle additional cheese on top. I sprinkled parsley for color. Bake ato 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Aussie Style Chocolate Chip Biscuits

This recipe comes from my July Aussie/NZ recipe swap team member mummamills from Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. These cookies are not anything like the American chocolate chip cookies. There is a distinct flavor with these. Not to mention - these are eggless! The kids really like these with a tall glass of cold milk. I also learned "biscuits" are cookies in Australia!

Aussie Style Chocolate Chip Biscuits

2 cups butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

5 cups flour

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips - I prefer mini ones

1 1/2 cups chopped nuts - optional

Cream butter and sugar. Add condensed milk and keep beating for 2 minutes. Fold in flour and chocolate chips and nuts. The mixture will be tacky. Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheets and flatten slightly with a floured fork. Bake at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Uncooked Lemon Cheesecake

This recipe is a favorite with the family of my team mate Jen T from New Zealand. I made this for the July Aussie/NZ recipe swap. It's a favorite with my family too! Super easy to put together. Gone in a flash!

Uncooked Lemon Cheesecake
1 graham cracker crust

Filling:
1 (14 1/8 oz) evaporated milk ( I made my own ) well chilled
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup hot water
5 TBSP lemon juice - may not need it all
3 oz lemon jello

Dissolve jello in hot water and make up to 1 cup with lemon juice. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla well. Beat evaporated milk until very thick in a large bowl.
Add cheese and sugar mixture and beat in well. Add in lemon jello and beat well. Pour into graham cracker crust and refrigerate overnight - or at least 8-10 hours.

I am thinking some other tasty variations could include:
orange, raspberry, lime or strawberry

Easy Lemon Cream Dessert

The 2 pictures are very different. The top is the original recipe and Russell said it would probably taste really good frozen as well. So we froze some - hence the bottom picture! This recipe was amazing frozen! Very refreshing. This was part of my recipe swap for the July 2010 Aussie/NZ recipe swap and my team mate was Jen T from New Zealand.

Easy Lemon Cream Dessert

2 2/3 cups heavy whipping cream

2 (14 oz) cans sweetened condensed milk

6 lemons, juice and zest of **if you don't have lemons don't despair! 2 1/2 TBSP = juice of 1 lemon

Whip the heavy cream. Empty sweetened condensed milk into a bowl. Mix in lemon juice of 6 lemons and the zest of 4.

Fold in whipped cream.

Serve in serving glasses and top with remaining zest of 2 lemons divided amongst your serving glasses. Chill until serving time.

**For the freezer version - place dessert in an appropriate freezer container and freeze! Scoop out like you would ice cream. So refreshing on a hot day.

Garlic Bread and Gnocchi

This garlic bread is THE best garlic bread I think I've ever had! This and the gnocchi both come from JustJanS from Warrnambool Victoria Australia. She makes this garlic bread spread at a pub there. The gnocchi is a creation of a friend of hers from the pub kitchen. For the bread - I make my own. I didn't have time to let it rise again so I rolled it out as if I was making cinnamon rolls and spread the filling all around and rolled up, let the dough rise in a bread pan, then baked. That's why the bread is swirly in the picture. Super easy to do.

Garlic Bread
1 french bread loaf - either store bought or homemade
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 garlic cloves, crushed - fresh is the best option
2 TBSP parsley
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix seasoning ingredients together. Slice bread into about 1 inch thick slices - don't slice all the way through. Spread each slice with garlic butter. Wrap in foil and bake for 15 minutes. If you like your bread crispier - open the foil the last few minutes.

If you do what I did - I spread the filling on a rolled out french bread dough. Let rise in a bread pan, baked, let cool slightly and then sliced. Somewhere on this blog is my french bread recipe should you want to make some!

Gnocchi
Gnocchi is basically potato pasta. It seems to be versatile. I've had it in a chicken soup at the Olive Garden and loved it there.

4 cups russett potatoes, weighed after peeling - leave whole
1 1/2 oz butter or margarine
3/4 cup flour
3/4 oz grated parmesan cheese
1 TBSP dried herbs - optional
3 eggs, room temperature (Mine were not)
flour for dusting (You will need it.)
cold water (I added ice cubes to keep it really cold.)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for poaching the gnocchi.
Choose potatoes of a similar size and a pot just big enough to hold them so they don't bump around. Boil the potatoes in salted water just until cooked through.
Mash well with the butter. Gradually add flour, cheese and herbs. Mix very well.
Add eggs one at a time making sure to mix well after each addition.
Divide the gnocchi dough into 4ths. Taking one section - place on a well floured countertop and gradually work into a long sausage. The gnocchi dough is very soft so you'll be pushing and gently pulling rather than rolling.
When the roll is about 3/4 inch diameter - cut into 1 inch lengths. Poach in the large pot of boiling water until the gnocchi all float to the top - about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately plunge into the bowl of cold water. Drain.
Repeat with remaining 3 sections of dough.
Serve gently reheated with your favorite pasta sauce, soup, etc.
These may also be frozen in a single layer and reheat well after defrosting.

English Muffin Pizzas

Mom2Rose had this recipe to choose from during my last recipe swap. Donovan actually was the one to make these for dinner. All you need are a few ingredients and you have a kid pleaser, teenager pleaser, adult pleaser and crowd pleaser! These are fun to make for sleepovers and birthday parties.

English Muffin Pizzas
Enough english muffins for the people eating them - approximately 2-3 per person
pizza sauce
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Open the english muffins. Top with sauce, cheese and pepperoni. Be careful not to overdo the sauce as it will make the muffins become soggy on the bottom. Bake 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and muffins are toasted. Cool slightly and serve!