Food. Baby. Sleep.

I feel like saying "enough said" could basically cover this, but I feel obliged to go on. :)
It's been so long since I've spewed some thoughts on here I'm not sure where to start. I'm still at L2o, that place alone gives me a lot to talk about and some pretty amazing stories already. Fiona is 7 months old now, has two teeth, eats like a crazy person, smiles all the time, basically the queen of the house!
I'm torn.
I'm excelling and growing in a restaurant that I'm damn proud to work at. The hours though, are insane... Especially when you have a beautiful, sweet, perfect baby at home that I never want to miss a single moment of.
So, same dilemma...
How much do I sacrifice my family time just to take care of my family?
Can't complain though, life is happening, and either way, I'm a part of it!

San Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition

Regional competition is in a little over two weeks, my dish is great, but it still needs work and I want it to be perfect. I can't let the unreachable goal of perfection wind up putting me behind. I need to keep reminding myself of that, leave alone the things I already love and tweak the things I think need work and then leave it alone. Easier said than done though! Tension is high and nerves are starting to get a little tense! Gotta keep pushing, need to be better, faster, stronger and never forget HARD-WORK & DEDICATION

Menu Development, I think it's time to leave it alone

I just can't fuck with it anymore! It's due November 30th... NO MORE CHANGES!

TORNADO

I'm not quite sure how to explain the way I feel right now... Exhausted definitely. Extremely proud.. Scared Shitless.. Excited and Passionate... Appreciative of all I actually have right now even though sometimes it really feels like it's nothing.. I'm inspired, I'm intrigued, I'm interested and I've become a sponge for information. I like what I'm becoming and who I'm growing into. It's time to get to work.

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!!