Let us introduce you to the celebrity chefs and instructors, food professionals and former Cooks of the Year judging this year’s Cook of the Week Challenge.

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.”

Jamie Andrade — 2014 Cook of the Year

Jamie Andrade lives in Elk Grove Village. Her winning dish was cornmeal-dusted sturgeon with sweet potato pumpkin puree topped with a whiskey orange brown butter sauce. She says her cooking know-how is all learned through experimentation-no formal training for her family. “My dad’s family used to own a pizza shop years and years ago, so when I was little we did make your own pizza nights. We’d make the dough; make the sauce and everything else. My mom’s family had a cookie shop for a few years so Christmas we’d make dozens of different types of cookies. I started cooking during high school while working in several restaurants and got really into Food Network trying different things.” What she’s looking for in the winning cook? “I’m looking for someone who has a good use of the ingredients and makes them work cohesively. I want to see the contestants put up a solid dish that makes me think, ‘Hey, I’ve had a can of pumpkin in the pantry forever. I’m going to try this one.’”

Mario O. Portanova — Director, Porte Brown LLC

Mario Portanova, Director of the food and grocery consulting team at Porte Brown LLC and an industry specialist for more than 35 years, has served as a judge for the Daily Herald’s Cook of the Week for the past five years. Mario provides valuable counsel for his clients, and his extensive experience coupled with his interpersonal savvy has allowed him to go beyond the basic accounting services. Mario knows that restaurants, grocery and food servicing industries face many challenges in a crowded and highly competitive market. From yearly planning to one-on-one meetings, Mario’s passionate attitude provides his clients with unparalleled service and counsel across all aspects of their business.

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.

Chef Rachael Kunst-Curotto — Chef Manager, AMITA Health System Corporate Office

Rachael Kunst-Curotto is the Chef Manager for the AMITA Health System Corporate Office in Arlington Heights. Kunst-Curotto studied culinary arts at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute in Chicago, part of Le Cordon Bleu. She believes in a healthy and creative approach to her cooking and enjoys sharing that with others. When not in the kitchen, she enjoys running, going to concerts and spending time with her family.

Mario Rizzotti — Culinary judge, Italian culinary expert for Academia Barilla

Mario Rizzotti is an acclaimed television personality and Italian culinary expert who lives by one simple motto, “a meal is not the consumption of food, but rather a celebration of Dolce Vita.” TV audiences know him best as the seasoned yet approachable judge on The Food Network’s “Iron Chef America,” where he was called to judge such Iron Chefs as Mario Batali, Michael Symon, Marc Forgione, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and more. After leaving Rome, Italy in his early twenties, Mario moved to the U.S. and has been educating food lovers everywhere about authentic Italian ingredients. As Italian Culinary Expert for Academia Barilla, Mario helped consumers understand the differences in olive oils, balsamic vinegars, Italian cheeses and cured meats, and how to distinguish real Italian products. He has been asked to emcee and judge at numerous culinary events and is often sought after for advice when chefs open new restaurants and create new menus. Mario lives outside Chicago with his wife and three children.