Menu - Garlic Lime Pork Chops, Corn Basil Pudding, Savory Green Beans and Pies(!)

Last night, we had some friends over for dinner whom we hadn't seen in a while and missed the housewarming back in June.

This was the menu:
Green Salad with Lemon Thyme Mustard Vinaigrette
Garlic Lime Pork Chops
Corn Basil Pudding
Savory Green Beans
Peach Raspberry Pie
Key Lime Pie

Overall, I'd have to give this a C. Everyone was very nice about it and complementary, but there were pretty significant problems. The flavors didn't work together that well, the pork was underdone and the green beans were overdone. Desert pretty much saved it.

My big goal for the evening was to actually make a workable pie crust. I worked backwards to the rest of the menu from there, trying to keep it more generic/cuisine neutral. In general, this would have worked flavor-wise except the garlic-lime sauce on the pork was a lot more intense than I planned. That sharpness ovewhelmed the other dishes.

Channing isn't a big fan of fruit pies, so I made a key lime pie as well. This worked well with my goal because I hadn't had good luck with that crust before, either, and can't remember if I've ever made a meraingue in my life.

There were some timing issues that could have been worked out if it had planned more meticiously. As a result, the green beans stayed in the pot too long. I also panicked on the pork chops. I got nervous about over-cooking them and ended up with precisely the opposite issue.