The Chopping Block Cooking Blog

12 Supermarket Foods You Won’t Find in America

We tend to think about the food we eat in terms of “country of origin” – Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, etc… and our perspective of food in America is closely tied to specific cities ...

Do the Hokey-Poké

I just returned from a fantastic 10-day trip to Hawaii with my family. We really took advantage of all that the island had to offer. From the crystal clear waters to the incredibly fresh seafood ...

What-A-Melon: Four Ways to Use a Watermelon

I look forward to summer for two reasons – softball and watermelon. Since eating a softball is frowned upon, I’m focusing on a few of the amazing ways you can enjoy watermelon. The first step is ...

How to Get Started with Specialty Coffee at Home

Coffee is one of the world’s most popular drinks. Millions of people start their day by stopping at their local cafe for their daily dose of caffeine. Yet many still prefer to brew their own.

Korean Flavors are a Hot Summer Trend

You may have noticed an abundance of kimchi on menus lately. Korean flavors have been named one of the hottest summer food trends of 2018. We are lucky that we have one of the great experts in this ...

The Childe Harold

Combing through the upcoming list of cooking classes being offered by The Chopping Block, I came across our Pasta Workshop. The class description says that I will learn how to make fresh pasta ...

5 Things Everyone Should Know How to Cook

I'm not a chef. I've only worked one job in a kitchen... well, it was more of a garage, and all I did was chop fruit and vegetables for a salad bar. When I started at The Chopping Block I could ...

A 'Special Occasion' Shrimp Wonton Soup

Making any kind of dumpling is always a special occasion for me. You should always make dumplings for your loved ones, because that little bit of extra effort just shows that you love them and they ...

New Wines, New Classes for Summer

Warm weather has finally arrived in Chicago, and we’re ready for it! At The Chopping Block, we celebrate the season with new wines to pair with new classes, or to bring home for all your warm ...

Sweet Phyllo Dough Bundles

It took awhile this year, but Summer is finally here and for me, that means easy, breezy everything! I like to cook outside more, heat up the inside less, eat with minimal preparation – and so much ...