Cook of the Week Challenge: Meet this week's judges

Chef Jennifer Bucko Lamplough

Director of Nutrition Programs and Executive Chef for Northern Illinois Food Bank

Jennifer Bucko Lamplough is a co-author with Lara Rondinelli-Hamilton, RD, LDN, CDE of three American Diabetes Association Cookbooks: the award-winning, best-selling, “Healthy Calendar Diabetic Cooking,” 1st and 2nd Editions and the “Healthy Carb Diabetes Cookbook.” She also contributes recipes regularly to the American Diabetes Association's “Recipes for Healthy Living” website and e-newsletter www.diabetes.org/mfa-recipes/recipes/. She has a certificate in professional cooking from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, a bachelor of arts degree in Journalism from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Morris Graduate School of Management in Chicago. She has appeared as a guest chef on several television news programs including all of the major Chicago networks and has been a featured chef on several radio programs across the country, most notably the Living Today program on Martha Stewart Living Radio.

Benson Littman

Owner, Littman Brothers Lighting

Benson Littman, President of Littman Brothers Lighting for 36 years. Growing the business from small fan stores to a 10,000 square foot showroom in Schaumburg, large National commercial presence and an international e-commerce site. He and his team go beyond lighting sales using more than 100 years combined experience to offer personal design solutions. Littman Brothers knows the challenges you face when making your house and home and turns this sometimes stressful process into an exciting and fun experience. Littman Brothers provides exemplary and unique customer service in the competitive lighting market.

Michael Pennisi - 2012 Cook of the Year

Michael Pennisi lives in Carpentersville. Pennisi served the judges sautéed salmon over pureed sweet potatoes with Brussels sprouts slaw to win a few years ago. A physics teacher at Schaumburg High School, says he started cooking in grade school by making cookies, and moved on to breakfast items and could make a few fancy dinners by the end of high school. “My expertise is in making pizza and smoke cooking,” he said. In Italy, Pennisi had the chance to make pizza in an outdoor wood-burning pizza oven that was halfway up the side of a mountain. “The view was spectacular. The hospitality of the family we stayed with was overwhelming. The pizza was life-changing, no exaggeration,” he said.

What he's looking for in the winning cook? “The ingredients and rules in this competition tend to be complex. So to me, synthesizing that complexity into a recipe accessible to home cooks is where the challenge lies.”

Dan Rich - 2013 Cook of the Year

Dan Rich lives in Elgin. He made sautéed chicken breast stuffed with Israeli couscous and covered in a wild mushroom sauce, creamed peas with sage, and a brûlée fruit compote with rosemary Muzzie to take the tile in 2013. It was the Muzzie that won it, Rich said. He says his culinary training consists of lots of Food Network, and a whole bunch of trial and error at home cooking for family and friends.

“After winning the 2013 Cook of the Week Challenge, people still recognize me and ask me what I'm cooking for dinner. I normally tell them something French, avant-garde and very complicated. Normally it's something simple on the grill, with fresh fruits and veggies. I'm not getting any younger, you know.” What he's looking for in the winning cook? “Simple-Love of food-Honesty-Depth I am looking for an understanding of what they're doing and a bit of flash and flair.”

Tina Selga

Owner, My Sweet Kake

I have always had a “thing” for beautiful and delicious cakes, Selga said. Her childhood favorite is chocolate cake with marshmallow icing, yum! In November 2009, while on maternity leave she decided to make fondant cakes just for fun and for the family. “I'm 100 percent self-taught,” she said. “While making cakes at home, a passion was born! It makes me happy, and I enjoy every minute of it. The reactions from family and friends were certainly genuine. “Requests started coming in and seeing the positive feedback and expressions; I was inspired to open up my very first storefront and with my husband's help, a dream of mine has come true!” Follow My Sweet Kake on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Chef Suzy Singh

R&D Corporate Chef for Ellyndale of NOW Foods

Suzy Singh, known as “The Spicy Chef,” made it to the Top 4 in FOX's “MasterChef” Season 2. While cooking has always been a passion of Singh's, it hasn't always been her profession. In fact, as a first generation South Asian (Punjabi, Sikh), Singh practiced in the field of Neurosurgery as a Neural Engineer before making the switch to follow what she loved. She joined NOW Foods as R&D Corporate Chef in 2013 to drive new product development and create healthy solutions for existing products in the Food category. Her talent for cooking is matched only by her passion and commitment to helping people live healthier lives through food. Singh is currently heads the product development of a new line for NOW Foods called Ellyndale. This line is a focus on delicious, healthy and innovative products and really allows Suzy passion for great tasting healthy food to come to life.