The Chopping Block Cooking Blog

Hasselback Chicken

In the past few weeks, I’ve been making an effort to eat more protein and less carbohydrates. Chicken breast is one of my favorite proteins because it’s lean and so versatile. It can be cooked ...

Baking and Building a Wedding Cake

I recently had the honor of making a wedding cake for a friend. I had creative control with the exception of the cake flavor, which had to be chocolate. I thumbed through my collection of recipes ...

Your New Favorite Spring Soup

As far as holiday dinners go, I think my favorite is Easter dinner. It wasn’t always that way, though. Back in the day, when my sister bought her first house, Thanksgiving quickly became her ...

4 Ways to Enhance your Diet that Could Save your Life

I can hear the counterpoint playing in my mind, “But we’re all going to go some day anyway so why should I change my diet?” Yes, I know, but what if I told you that you could improve the quality of ...

Chipotle Chicken with Avocado Leaves

Spring is upon us, even though it did not look like it a couple of weeks ago here in Chicago. We had a mixture of snow and hail on a Sunday, and we even needed to salt the sidewalk at our Lincoln ...

The Importance of Unplugging while Eating

We obviously eat food every single day of our lives. Our country's diabetes, obesity, and heart disease rates certainly don't lie about the types of food that we choose to eat, but I think we have ...

Brunch for a Bunch: Brioche French Toast Casserole

Who doesn't love brunch? It's a fun and relaxing way to savor the weekend with friends and family, especially when Bellini or Bloody Mary's are involved! It's an opportunity to slow things down and ...

The Advantages of Charcoal Grilling: Part 1

If I had to choose one method of cooking to use for the rest of my life, I would choose cooking over an open fire without hesitation. A wood or charcoal fire is such an engaging cooking experience, ...

Don't Knock Mushrooms until you've had them Cooked Properly

I often hear from students in our cooking classes about the foods they say they don’t like. When I hear this, my next question is always “What don’t you like about it?” As a nutritional chef, I run ...

What to Binge Watch (and Eat) While You’re Waiting for Summer

You can tell by the way everyone’s walking around, holding their breath and hoping that maybe, just maybe, they can start thinking about where to stash their Patagonia until next winter rolls ...