Free-spirited cook loves to immerse herself in the process

Sue Sullivan is the kind of cook I would love to watch on the Food Network.

She's messy. She doesn't always have the ingredients she needs, so she enlists her family to make grocery runs mid-recipe.

Every kitchen cabinet door and drawer gapes open when this free-spirited cook is on a roll.

Clean as she goes? Nope.

Mise en place? Not so much.

"I just immerse myself in the cooking," Sue says. "It works for me."

Lest we give her employers at the Arlington Heights Library the wrong idea, however, Sue considers herself quite organized in other aspects of her life. But when she steps into the kitchen, the creative process takes hold and she doesn't like to interrupt the flow.

"I don't want to take the time to clean up," she says. "It's gonna be there; I want to do all the cooking and clean up at the end."

Who could complain about a woman who cooks dinner five nights a week for her husband, Tim, and daughter, Heather, and throws dinner parties every month for two to three couples?

"It's relaxing, challenging," says Sue, an Arlington Heights resident.

A cookbook fanatic who scours magazines and the Web for new dishes, Sue approaches recipes with the same zeal as the cooking process.

"I try to have at least one new recipe a week," she says, despite the occasional bomb. "My husband goes crazy when I try something new on guests. I figure, if it turns out bad we can always order a pizza."

Grocery shopping is more like a scavenger hunt than a one-stop surgical strike.

Sue cruises from Reagan's Meat Market to Harrison's Poultry Farm and Burhop's Seafood, all in Glenview where she grew up. She handpicks produce from Whole Foods and farmers' markets.

"My mother was picky, too," Sue says. "We're kind of food snobs in that way. I use fresh whenever possible, and I'm willing to drive."

For the past four years, Sue has been finding inspiration and learning technique at Froggy's French Café in Highwood, where award-winning chef Thierry LeFeuvre conducts once-a-month demo classes.

The skills she has learned and the food have been memorable, but they can't compare to the experience of actually cooking in LeFeuvre's kitchen for paying customers.

Only three students had shown up for cooking class that day, so LeFeuvre just invited them into the kitchen to join the staff.

"We had aprons on, right with the sous chefs, and we were so nervous," she says. "You would think we had never cooked in our lives."

The students made onion tarts, and LeFeuvre sent them out to the dining room.

"No one knew that these three women, with a look of fear in their eyes, were making their lunch," Sue says.

You won't need cooking lessons to prepare Sue's recipes this week, but they are company-quality dishes.

Elegant Hot Asparagus Canapes with tangy bleu cheese require only six ingredients and basic cooking skills; sophisticated Duck Breast With Port-Cherry Sauce requires less than a dozen ingredients and cooks quickly. From-scratch Turtle Ice Cream Sauce will be worthy of a top-rated French bistro if you buy good-quality caramels and chocolate to melt and whisk into butter and evaporated milk.

Duck Breast With Port-Cherry Sauce

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup sherry

4 duck breast halves (6 ounces each, with skin)

12 frozen, dark sweet cherries, thawed, halved

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup beef stock

½ cup ruby port

1 sprig thyme

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons water

¼ cup butter, cut in ½-inch pieces, at room temperature

Whisk soy sauce and sherry in medium bowl to blend.

Using sharp knife, make diagonal cuts at ½-inch intervals in duck skin (not through meat). Place duck, skin side up, in glass baking dish. Pour soy/sherry mix over. Cover and refrigerate 2-6 hours.

Bring cherries, chicken stock, beef stock, port and thyme sprig to boil in heavy medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture is reduced by half, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat heavy large skillet over medium heat. Remove duck from marinade. Place duck breasts, skin sides down, in skillet; cook until skin is crispy, about 10 minutes. Turn duck over and continue cooking to desired doneness, about 5 minutes for medium. Transfer duck to work surface.

Blend cornstarch with water and add to port-cherry sauce. Bring to simmer, whisking constantly. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking until butter is melted before adding next piece. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve: Slice duck thinly on diagonal and fan out on plates. Spoon port-cherry sauce over duck.

Serves four to six.

Nutrition values per serving: 230 calories, 9 g fat (4.5 g saturated), 2 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 32 g protein, 180 mg cholesterol, 410 mg sodium.

Hot Asparagus Canapes

20 slices thin white bread

6 ounces crumbled bleu cheese

3 ounces cream cheese

1 egg

20 spears asparagus, cooked

1 cup butter, melted

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Trim crusts from bread and flatten slices slightly with rolling pin. Blend bleu cheese, cream cheese and egg until smooth. Spread evenly on bread. Roll one asparagus spear up in each bread slice and secure with a toothpick.

Put melted butter in a medium bowl; dip each bundle to coat; place on cookie sheet and freeze about 30 minutes.

When firm, remove toothpicks and slice each roll into three pieces. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serves 30 (two pieces each).

Nutrition values per serving: 120 calories, 8 g fat (4.5 g saturated), 9 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 3 g protein, 25 mg cholesterol, 180 mg sodium.

Turtle Ice Cream Sauce

2 cups butter

2 cans (12 ounces each) evaporated milk

2 cups sugar

½ cup dark corn syrup

teaspoon salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

14 ounces caramels

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In saucepan over medium heat, mix butter, evaporated milk, sugar, corn syrup, salt, chocolate chips and caramels, heating until caramels are melted.

Transfer mixture to a heat-proof mixing bowl and add vanilla; beat 5 minutes at medium speed then increase to high for 2 minutes more. Cool for 30 minutes. Pour into container and refrigerate.

Serves 15-20.

Nutrition values per serving: 490 calories, 28 g fat (18 g saturated), 57 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein, 60 mg cholesterol, 105 mg sodium.