Marilee’s a caterer and teacher serving meals from the house she grew up in
Shmeal connects you with the best personal chefs in your neighborhood (like Marilee), so you can order their meals, and have amazing food experiences every day.
Get to know Marilee in this Q&A, and order her meals on Shmeal in the Lincoln Square neighborhood!
Q: What can you tell us about the dish you’re making and what inspired it?
Marilee: My first Shmeal meal will be Tandoori Spiced Buttery Chicken with Coconut Lime Basmati Rice. While working at a small gourmet kitchen supply store in Spokane, I was given the opportunity to teach a multicooker class. These were the first two recipes I developed for the class. The third recipe I developed was a cheesecake. The classes were so popular, I was able to add more recipes and more classes.
Q: What’s your cooking background?
Marilee: I’m a self-taught, home cook who learned out of necessity. I love food. I need to eat. But also, I love to feed people freshly prepared food. I love to eat good, fresh food, prepared with quality, simple ingredients. I rely heavily on fresh herbs, spices, vinegars, and rubs.
Marilee competed in our Pumpkin Cookoff on Instagram Live, with her Pumpkin Cheesecake.
Q: What’s your favorite food memory?
Marilee: I’ve had so many memorable restaurant meals in the US, Mexico, Italy, Greece, Spain, Thailand and Cuba. I’ve cooked memorable meals for my family. Perhaps the most memorable meal I cooked was for a friend’s 95th birthday, she is a holocaust survivor, and there were 100 guests. Yes, that one ranks high in my memory. I made roasted salmon with a green goddess dressing served on a bed of basmati with wilted lemon and caper spinach.
Q: Where’d you grow up? What kind of food did you grow up with?
Marilee: I’m a native Chicagoan, and grew up in the same house that my husband and I are currently living in. We spent some time living in New Mexico, and seven plus years in Washington state. Now we’re back in Chicago to stay! I’d say a lot of my food is influenced by my Jewish roots. My stuffed cabbage with sauerkraut, served on wide egg noodles is a very Eastern European influenced dish, that I’ve lightened up to meet our healthy standards. That may be my next Shmeal meal!
Get Marilee’s meals on Shmeal, in the Lincoln Square neighborhood! ❤ Use code MARI8814 for $10 off your first order.
