I'm in love with a girl named Charmoula

For those of you who life Chimichurri, you will love Charmoula. It is like Chimichurri's zestier cousin. Charmoula consists of Spanish Paprika, which for those of you who didn't know is not much different than regular paprika, just a little sweeter. Also salt, ground cumin, minced garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest (you really taste the juice and zest, its awesome) italian parsley roughly chopped (everything will go into a blender so no need to spend time finely chopping herbs) you will do the same thing with cilantro except with cilantro you will also use the stems, freshly cracked black pepper and extra virgin olive oil. You want to toast the spanish paprika, cumin and black peppercorns before putting them in the blender. It doesn't take very long to toast them, just keep them in the pan until you can start smelling the spices. The best part is you throw it all in the blend, add the oil at the end by streaming it in then blend until sauce consistency. It is good on everything!! 
6 TBLS spanish paprika
6 TSP Salt 
6 TSP ground cumin
6 large garlic cloves
12 TBLS lemon juice
6 TSP lemon zest
12 TBLS italian parlsey
12 TBLS cilantro and stems
1 1/2 cup EVOO
6 TSP freshly cracked black pepper

it can be a dip or marinade (or a soup lol) 
I used it as a marinade for squash, cherry tomatoes and scallops then grilled them. I used the remaining as dip for veggies :) ENJOY

Technique @ Le Cordon Bleu Chicago/Affordable Fine Dining

I mentioned in my previous post that I am in my last 6 weeks of school. At Le Cordon Bleu there is a restaurant called Technique that is open to the public, I will be working there for the next 6 weeks. Our menu is great, 3 courses for $16 and 5 courses for $22. We are a very small group in there but we are all students who already work in the industry at very reputable places and we all push ourselves to not just put out quality food but food you will remember, talk about later and food you have to come back and have  more of! We love what we do and would love as many people as possible to come and give us the opportunity to cook for them. We are not paid so all proceeds go to fund the school so all money made will just be to support our future chefs. You can make a reservation on Opentable.com, by calling Technique or by contacting me on Twitter under LizAnne Cook
:)

Starter Course

This was so fun to make! I had a final two weeks ago in one of my cooking classes and we were asked to make a 5 course meal of whatever we wanted. So this is scallop ceviche that is wrapped in an avocado ball. I think it looks beautiful! It has a little tomato/basil/green onion mixture around it as well. This was actually delicious. All you have to do is slice a very firm avocado very thin and lay them cascading some oiled plastic wrap. then you basically take the plastic wrap and fold the avocado slices like a taco and then just form it into a ball. Takes a little practice but totally doable!! It would be awesome to do these at a special dinner or something like that. Try it out!!

Super Mom or Mentally Ill?

Yesterday was the first day of the last term of school for me. 6 weeks from now I will be a college graduate. It feels damn good. A lot of things have happened that I have not blogged about, (hopefully you'll live) but I feel like if it was possible to have negative time to get things done that's what I would have. When I had my daughter I was in a class called Cuisines Across Cultures, pretty self explanatory what that's about. I was told to fill out a medical LOA (leave of absence) form and get a signed doctors note of when my expected due date is and that's all I'll need. The registrar decided to not tell me until after I had already had my baby and was trying to come back to school and get enrolled in the next term that my medical leave had been DENIED. Ya, my MATERNITY LEAVE WAS DENIED... Doesn't make sense right? Anyway, the only way to shorten this up is, I am contacting the corporate headquarters with a lawyer to at least get the F I received for missing the final and last two weeks of class wiped off my record so I can go back to a 3.8 GPA.. I mean being that the reason I missed was because I had and ENTIRE HUMAN come out of my body. OH and a sprained ankle is considered a medical leave of absence!! 

     So, enough about that. Two weeks ago I staged at L2o and was accepted!! Which is incredible! It's super long days, starting at noon and not being done until like 1:30 in the morning, but I love the structured discipline. I know being there for any amount of time will make me a better Chef and a better leader all the way around. On top of L2o I am still working at the small place in Wicker Park, and now going to school from 10 a.m-2:00 p.m and then back at 4:30 p.m-10:30 p.m to work in the restaurant on campus.

    I've been up since 6 today, I have fed Miss Fiona, changed and we played. She enjoys telling me about her day :) then I finished laundry and took a shower and now Miss Fi is napping and I'm getting ready for school and about to run to the bank... I hate missing the time that I do right now with her, but I want to be able to secure her future and the only way to do that is to be Super Mom or just plain Mentally Ill.