A quick dinner in a pinch!

Pears are in season, and boy do I love a good pear. For this seasonal salad I grabbed a bag of mixed mesclun greens, walnuts, a bosc pear, craisins, and saga blue cheese!

Scrumptious.

A salad is always better with croutons

I cubed the bread and threw it in the skillet with butter and a dash of black salt.

After toasting in the skillet for a bit, I threw the croutons in the oven for a final toasting

(You can't see much in the photo, but trust me they're there!)

Salad for me +2. Thanks to my forever hungry eaters.

When wine is picked solely on the name and art work, you get Il Bastardo.

Let dinner begin!!

We have one little table in our apartment, and this is what's sitting on top of it.

I took a few minutes to move furniture and relocate everything to our windowsill, with a meal like this we were going to dine at a table, even if it meant sitting on a disproportionately low couch.

Yum!

Plating dinner.

Table is set!

Three bottles of wine. Three people.

Makes sense.

I think everyone enjoyed their meal!

Time for dishes.

And a clean kitchen.

Cheers!

A big thank you to my brother for taking pictures and my hungry friends for eating, not only on this night, but indulging in the leftovers as well.

I've been trying to expand my cooking horizons, to help with this process I've encouraged friends to pick a protein, and based on that one ingredient, I would prepare a meal.

Protein of the week: Lamb

I found a recipe for Rosemary Braised Lamb Shanks online and hit up Whole Foods and Associated grocery to get started.

I've never cooked lamb before, so everything from ordering the meat, to plating was a new experience.

After searing the lamb I sautéed the onions, garlic, and carrots

Within minutes our little apartment was filled with the intoxicating smell of rosemary, wine and general deliciousness.

While the shanks were braising, I started to work on the potatoes - a meal is not complete without a little starch.

Pots are slim pickings in the apartment, with the lamb occupying the largest, I had to revert to two small pots to boil the potatoes.

I have been fortunate enough to acquire some of my Mom's flavored salts. Yum.

I opted to use a little garlic grey on the asparagus.

With the shanks in their final stage of cooking, I threw the burner on high and began reducing the broth to a thicker consistency.

This lasted for only 5 of the suggested 15 minutes - we were all hungry and impatient after nearly 2 hours of cook time.

A little lemon

We're almost there!

One of my coworkers recently told me about Cooks Illustrated - an amazing cooking magazine/website.

(Imagine Sports Illustrated, but with food...way better)

During my 14-day trial I found tips for cooking skinless chicken. The general idea is to re-create chicken skin with a few ingredients, keeping the meat moist and delicious.

It worked.

Veggies are always needed.

With the prep of veggies came a sad reality. Our apartment does not have a vegetable peeler. Instead, I had to depend on my knife skills. (Poor knife choice as well)

Chicken is then coated in:

2 Tbl melted butter

1 Tbl flour

1 tsp corn starch

1/2 tsp of black pepper

This acts as a "skin" keeping the exterior of the chicken from getting tough and leathery when seared

I decided to spice up this batch of mashed taters by adding about 1-2 Tbl of brown mustard. The taste wasn't overwhelming, but the perfect compliment to our lemon chive chicken and blanched broccoli.

With wine of the floor, and empty plates in front of us, I feel this dinner was a success!

Thanks for eating!

If you have an account at Cooks Illustrated, check out the video for Pan-Seared Chicken Breasts. If not there are recipes for Pan-Seared Chicken at the Food Network. Remember to prep the chicken with "skin" .

Sharing a 10 year old fridge and freezer with four other girls leaves little space for extras.

I'm not particularly proud by the general dismay of the fridge, and the ice in the freezer, but it's back to reality in this tiny kitchen!

A mason jar of whiskey... really?

We are missing a shelf on the door, kind of wish we had that extra space

Before the salad and after the cranberry orange bread, there were sausage pinwheels. With only two ingredients, phyllo dough and ground sausage. It's a great appetizer in a pinch!

Without a rolling pin on hand, a bottle of wine does the trick!

A Silpat is one of the best kitchen products on the market, and makes this appetizer even easier to serve

Slice and then toss in the oven until the puff pastry is golden brown

Enjoy!

Ingredients: 1 pkg phyllo dough and 1 pkg of Jimmy Dean ground sausage

Recipe: Preheat oven to 350. At room temperate roll out 1 sheet of phyllo dough into a square. Spread a thin layer of sausage onto the raw dough (about half the package) Once spread evenly take one side of the square and start rolling to the opposite end, like you would a rug. Next, slice the log into 1/4 " pieces - place on a greased baking sheet, or better yet, use a silpat. Cook time is approximately 15 min. or until golden brown.