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Espe What?
Espelette. Pronounced es-pa-let, this little pepper from the southern region of France is one of my favorite ingredients and I dare say, a secret weapon in my arsenal of cooking tricks. Although this...
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What’s Your Specialty?
I get this question all of the time and people usually do not like my response of “Nothing”. I answer that way because I like to cook everything! That is why I like teaching. It enables me to cook...
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Summer Simplicity
The simple things in life are usually the most enjoyable. This especially holds true for food and drink. Not that I don’t enjoy a multi-course taste bud adventure at one of our Windy City’s fantastic...
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Cheap and Delicious
Recently I’ve had to learn to do something that doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s called living on a budget. Since moving out of my parents’ house and into my first post-college apartment, I’ve had to...
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You say Tomato, I say Heirloom
Tomatoes are those red, round and bland tasting things you buy in the grocery store right? Oh contraire mon frere! That might be the case with your everyday tomatoes but NOT when it comes to Heirloom...
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Garbage Pizza
No, not literally. This is what happens over the last few days before you are paid and you are trying to stretch the last $20 you have in your wallet. Thankfully, you have flour in the pantry, a jar...
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“Yum!”
That’s the word I write next to my favorite Chopping Block recipes. When you take a class here, they give you a printed packet of all the recipes we make in that class. I take those packets home, and...
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It’s All Green Sauce
Salsa Verde (Spanish), Sauce Verte (French) and Salsa Verde (Italian) all translate to the same thing – Green Sauce. While the names are the same, the sauces, though similar in some ways, are quite...
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Nothing Can Beat a Good Beet
I love beets. Roasted, pickled, boiled, juiced, give them all to me! Not only are they a delicious vegetable, they are packed with many vitamins and minerals (fiber, iron, folic acid, vitamins A, B...
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In Search of the King Bolete Mushroom
Cooking with wild mushrooms is a delight – there is nothing that adds flavor to a dish quite like them. Every year my mom sends me a bag of wild mushrooms that she has painstakingly collected, cleaned...
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Couscous: The Food So Nice They Named it Twice
I recently took myself on a food adventure, which translates into “Lauren attempts to make a food she’s never tried before but constantly hears how delicious it is”. I decided to finally give making...
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Cheers to Shrubs: A Vinegar Drink
One of the many benefits of working at The Chopping Block is getting to taste new products. We recently welcomed a delicious new addition to our array of oils and vinegars from Robbins Family Farm....
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Tuscan Invasion
I’m about to make you all jealous. And when I say that I’m going to make you all jealous, I mean that you might, in fact, hate me a little bit after reading this blog. A few months back, my mom called...
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A Thank You Note to Toscana
Dearest Tuscany, Thank you for allowing my mom and me to enter into your majestic, pristine, lush and romantic world. Thank you for being the place where we’d develop a lifetime full of friendships...
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Line Not Long Enough? Try Community Supported Fishing
The concept of “Community Supported” is everywhere these days. The one that is most familiar is Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, where individuals can buy a share of weekly or monthly goods...
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An Apology to Gazpacho
Gazpacho, I owe you an apology. Up until a few short years ago, I had dismissed you as overrated at best – and downright weird at worst. After all, people described you as being like a salad put...
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Do You Know Your Oils?
One of my favorite things I learned at The Chopping Block is that it’s important to consider your oils before you start cooking. For many, especially for all of our regulars, this is old news. But for...
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My Switch to Coconut Oil
This post isn’t about the nutritional differences between coconut oil and other oils. Yes, I’ve Googled the nutrition of coconut oil versus olive oil, and I’m sure you can do the same. They’re pretty...
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Hummus (in no) Time
Hummus is one of my favorite snacks. I love its versatility; not only does is go with chips, crackers, and veggies, it can also be made with almost any spices or ingredients I have on hand. Plus,...
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