Peach-Dijon Pork Chops

I try not to cook beef more than once per week, and we get tired of having chicken a lot, so I try to find really tasty ways of serving other types of meat.  These pork chops are moist and delicious and because they are grilled, they are perfect to serve on a hot summer day.  Also, they are completely ready to serve in less than 30 minutes!

This is another recipe I got from the marinades, rubs, and sauces recipe booklet I found near the checkout stand at the market.  Even though my husband isn't a big pork chop lover, he gives this recipe an 8 and my boys give it 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.

I apologize, my picture of making the sauce is missing.  Basically, in a small saucepan, I combined the peach preserves, Dijon mustard, soy sauce, and dried marjoram leaves, stirring to combine.  I cooked this mixture over low heat until the preserves were melted, stirring frequently.

When ready to grill, I added salt and pepper to both sides of the pork chops and placed them on a heated grill.  I covered them and cooked them over medium heat for 12 minutes, turning once during cooking.  

I then brushed the sauce on one side of the chops, covered them again and cooked for about 2 minutes.  I turned them over and repeated the process.

After removing them from the grill, I let them sit for about 5 minutes before serving so that the juice wouldn't all run out when they were cut.

What a tasty way to serve "the other white meat!"  Enjoy!

Peach-Dijon Pork Chops

½ cup peach preserves, large pieces cut up

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons soy sauce

¼ teaspoon dried marjoram leaves

4 (6 oz.) pork loin chops (3/4-inch thick)

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Heat grill.  In small saucepan, combine preserves, mustard, soy sauce and marjoram; mix well.  Cook over low heat until preserves are melted, stirring frequently.

When ready to grill, sprinkle both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper.  Place chops on gas grill over medium heat or on charcoal grill 4 to 6 inches from medium coals; cover grill.  Cook 12 to 15 minutes or until pork is no loner pink in center, turning once and brushing with preserves mixture during last 2 minutes of cooking time.

To serve, bring any remaining preserves mixture to a boil.  Serve with pork chops.

Salted Peanut Chews

I know the trend right now is to make things with salted caramel.  I personally love the combination of salty and sweet.  These bars satisfy that need when my tastebuds cry out for it.  They aren't quite as salty as the salted caramel goodies I've tried, but they're pretty addictive for me.  I hadn't made these in some time and decided to resurrect the recipe for our recent beach trip, as I used to make them all the time for our annual seaside trip and thought the 20th anniversary would be the perfect time to do so.

I found this recipe years ago in one of those small recipe magazines found near the checkout stand in the grocery store.  I can't even find the original recipe to give credit for where it came from; all I have is the paper I typed to share the recipe with friends.  Like me, my youngest son thinks these bars are addicting and overall the guys rate these bars 7's and 8's.

After preheating the oven to 350°F, I began by combining the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

Then I added the softened butter, beating to thoroughly combine.

Next, I add the wet ingredients, including two egg yolks.  Helpful Hint:  I always drop any egg I'm about to use in a short glass of water to make sure it is fresh.  If it sinks, it is perfectly fresh.  If it floats, throw it out immediately!  Try not to break it, as it would smell foul!  The reason the bad eggs float is because as they spoil, the air pocket just inside the shell becomes a gas, which is lighter than air and causes the egg to float.

Now I want to show you the fastest and most amazing way to separate eggs!  I found a video showing this method on Pinterest and couldn't believe my eyes.  I've captured the process here in still shots for you.  First, I cracked a fresh egg into a saucer.  Then, taking an empty, clean water bottle, I squeezed the sides of the bottle as I neared the yolk.

As I touched the yolk gently with the lip of the bottle, I released the squeeze on the bottle and the yolk began to travel inside the bottle!

Once the yolk was fully inside the bottle, I lifted it away from the white and had a perfect separated egg.  I keep washing the same small water bottle, as it is my new egg separator!

I simply squeezed the bottle again over the mixing bowl to release the egg yolk and repeated the process for the second egg.  It only takes a matter of seconds to separate an egg.  I also added the vanilla here and beat the ingredients together.

The result is a moist, crumbly mixture.

Using my clean hands, I pressed this crust mixture into my 9- x 13-inch baking dish and put it in the oven for 15 minutes.

As you can see, the crust became a pretty golden brown and raised a little bit.

Once out of the oven I added the marshmallows.  My marshmallows got a little sticky because of the hot weather, which makes it harder to make an even layer, but I did the best I could.  I placed the dish back in the oven for another 2 minutes.

The marshmallows puffed up and almost completely covered the crust in this step.  When the peanut mixture is added, it helps move the marshmallow around, so each bar has some marshmallow.

I apologize, my pictures of the next step are missing.  Basically, in a large saucepan, I combined the corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and peanut butter chips.  I cooked this mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until the chips were melted and the mixture was smooth.  I then removed the pan from the heat and added the peanuts and rice cereal.  This is a stiff mixture to stir, but everything needs to be combined thoroughly.  I then used a soup spoon to drop this mixture as evenly as possible over the marshmallows.  I then refrigerated the dish for 1 hour until firm, then cut them into 1- by 2-inch bars.

To me, this is just the right combination of salty and sweet.  Enjoy!

Salted Peanut Chews

CRUST                                                                     TOPPING

  1 ½   cups all-purpose flour                                   2/3   cup corn syrup

   2/3   cup firmly packed brown sugar                   1/4   cup butter

   1/2   teaspoon baking powder                                  2   teaspoons vanilla

   1/2   teaspoon salt                                                      1   (10 oz.) pkg. peanut butter chips

   1/4   teaspoon baking soda                                       2   cups crisp rice cereal

   1/2   cup butter, softened                                          2   cups salted peanuts

       1   teaspoon vanilla

       2   egg yolks

       3   cups miniature marshmallows

Heat oven to 350°F.  Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off.  In a large bowl, combine all crust ingredients except marshmallows at low speed until crumbly.  Press firmly in bottom of ungreased 9- x 13-inch baking pan.

Bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.  Remove from oven; immediately sprinkle evenly with marshmallows.  Return to oven; bake an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until marshmallows just begin to puff.  Cool while preparing topping.

In large saucepan, combine all topping ingredients except cereal and peanuts.  Heat just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat; stir in cereal and peanuts; combine thoroughly.  Immediately spoon warm topping over marshmallow; spread to cover.  Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.  Cut into bars.

Bacon and Hash Brown Egg Bake

We were having over-night guests, so I wanted to make a breakfast casserole that I could prepare the day ahead and bake in the morning.  Of course, this was the perfect opportunity to try a new recipe.  This one sounded a bit different because of the Dijon mustard and vegetables, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, but originated at BettyCrocker.com.  How could I go wrong with a Betty Crocker recipe?  The preparation was easy and it was a hit with everyone who partook.  This dish got 7's and mostly 8's on the Melnarik rating scale.

To begin, I cut the bacon into 1-inch wide strips and cooked them over high heat in a medium skillet until crisp.

I removed the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and placed it on several layers of paper towels to drain and cool.

After removing all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings, I added the onion, red bell pepper and sliced mushrooms to the skillet.  I cooked the vegetables over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables were tender.

I then stirred in the salt, pepper and Dijon mustard.

In a large bowl, I combined the eggs and milk, using a whisk.

The mixture should be fully blended, but not whipped until it is foamy.

After greasing a 9- x 13-inch baking dish, I evenly placed half of the thawed hash brown potatoes on the bottom.

Then, I evenly distributed the vegetables.

On top of that, I added half of the cheese.

The rest of the hash browns were added as the next layer.

I poured the egg mixture evenly on top and covered the baking dish in plastic wrap.  I placed it in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

I placed the remaining cheese and the cooled bacon in bowls, covered them with plastic wrap and placed them in the refrigerator also.

About 1 1/2 hours before serving breakfast, I preheated the oven to 325°F.  I removed the baking dish from the refrigerator, took off the plastic wrap and placed it in the preheated oven to cook for about an hour.  When it came out of the oven, the egg was nicely cooked and the cheese was melted.

Taking the leftover cheese from the day before, I sprinkled it evenly over the dish.

I then added the bacon I had reserved, sprinkling it as evenly as possible over the cheese.

Back into the oven it went for an additional 5 minutes to melt the cheese and heat the bacon through.

The dish was easy to cut into squares for serving and pared with some wheat toast, it was a hearty breakfast.  It was a nice way to serve some vegetables at breakfast, and who doesn't love bacon!  Enjoy!

Bacon & Hash Brown Egg Bake (Betty Crocker)

1 pound bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (3/4 cup)

1 package (8 oz.) sliced fresh mushrooms

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¾ cup milk

12 eggs

1 package (2 lb.) frozen hash browns, thawed

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (16 oz.)

In a 12-inch skillet, cook bacon until crisp.  Using slotted spoon, remove from pan to small bowl; cover and refrigerate.  Drain drippings, reserving 1 tablespoon in pan.  Add onion, bell pepper and mushrooms; cook 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Stir in mustard, salt and pepper.  In large bowl, beat milk and eggs with wire whisk.  Spray 9-x13-inch baking dish (3 qt.) with cooking spray.  Spread half of hash browns in baking dish.  Add onion mixture evenly on top.  Sprinkle with half of the cheese; refrigerate remaining cheese.  Spread remaining hash browns over top.  Pour egg mixture over entire casserole.  Cover; refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. 

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Uncover baking dish; bake 50 to 60 minutes or until thermometer inserted in center reads 160°F.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and the bacon.  Bake 3 to 5 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean, top is puffed and cheese is melted.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.