New Recipe - #16

Our dear friend Gina joined us for dinner tonight. Nick (her hubby) has been out of town for the past month in Gillette, WY doing a medical school internship so we wanted to ensure she was well fed, at least for one evening. In return, she made sure we had a beautiful flower bouquet to adorn our table with - I love fresh flowers!

I've been following a blog called For the Love of Cooking - the author posts quick and easy recipes every day and one that recently caught my eye was on the menu for tonight: Greek-style Pork Chops. I don't usually like pork chops but these sounded yummy and they didn't disappoint. While they were slightly on the tough side (the chops were pretty thick so we had to cook them for quite awhile), the flavoring was perfect and made for a perfect summer dish with the cucumber and tomato salad on the side.

Jenny's rating: 4 stars

Corey's rating: 4 stars

Gina's guest rating: 4.5 stars

For dessert, I tried another new recipe. Since Corey doesn't let me count those towards our new recipe resolution, I can't use this as New Recipe #17; however, we all really liked how it turned out so I thought I'd share it here. It was the perfect dessert for a summer day and so easy and so good.

Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

- 2 cups (8 oz) finely crushed cookie crumbs (I used vanilla wafers; recipe called for those or graham crackers)

- 3 tbsp plus 2/3 cup sugar

- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

- 1-1/2 pkg (12 oz) cream cheese, softened

- 4 tsp lemon juice

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 cups blueberries

- Honey, optional (I skipped this)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. For the crust, stir together cookie crumbs, 3 tbsp sugar and butter until combined. Press into 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom (I used my spring form pie pan) and plan on rimmed baking sheet; bake until crust is fragrant and just golden, 10-12 mins. Let cool.

For the filing, combine cream cheese, lemon juice and 2/3 cup sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip cream and vanilla to soft peaks, then gently stir into cream cheese mixture until combined. Transfer filing into cooled crust, loosely cover and chill 3 hours or up to a day.

To serve, remove the tart ring and slide a spatula under tart to release it from the pan base. Transfer tart to a serving platter and scatter berries on top. Brush berries with heated honey, if desired.