The Chopping Block Cooking & Wine Blog

Chicken Cacciatore: The Perfect Braised Dinner for a Chilly Night

Chicken Cacciatore is an Italian country-style braised dish perfect for the cold weather that includes onions, mushrooms, carrots, garlic, peppers, herbs and tomatoes. The word cacciatore means ...

Butter Chicken: A Delicious Dinner in 3 Easy Steps

Butter chicken is one of those iconic dishes most people love to order at their favorite Indian restaurant, but would never dream about making from scratch. It’s too time consuming and involves so ...

Oklahoma Style Fried Chicken

I started cooking in restaurants when I was fourteen. My mom was able to land me a job at MP’s Chicken where the only items on the menu were fried chicken, coleslaw, French fries and honey buns. ...

A Photo Essay from a Day in a Chef's Kitchen

I woke up on this day with plans for a couple of kitchen projects, but a mid-morning delivery from a nearby friend inspired an expansion of the plans. We had recently visited her new home on ...

Buffalo Blue Cheese Burgers

I absolutely love burgers. I mean, what’s not to love? Earlier this year, I successfully waited in a line to get free Big Macs for a year, so if that doesn’t prove my love of burgers, what will?

Get the Kids in the Kitchen for Mother's Day

Growing up, were you the kid who helped your mom in the kitchen or did you just show up to the table when it was time to eat? If I had to pick one, it was definitely showing up to eat. However, I ...

Sheet Pan Dinners are Easy to Make and Clean Up

If you are on social media, you are likely familiar with popular cooking trends such as simple sheet pan dinners, and the viral baked feta dish that really took off recently. I personally love ...

Gumbo YaYa: A Lesson in the Louisiana Soup

Once we are able to safely travel again, New Orleans is at the top of my list, specifically for Jazz Fest which is hopefully happening in the fall. Not only does this city have the most amazing ...

Shortcut to Chicken and Dumplings

Being from the South, I've had lots of Chicken and Dumplings in my life. Everyone has their preference of how to make this dish, especially the dumplings. Some people like super thin noodles while ...

Wok Cooking 101

In my last blog, I mentioned how during these months of lockdowns (self-imposed and otherwise), I’ve spent a lot of time experimenting with recipes. Several of them have been inspired by the fact ...