The Chopping Block's Building Block Series is a comprehensive set of 24 menus designed to illustrate essential cooking techniques.

By attending these classes, YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO COOK

In each class you will:

  • Learn how to prepare a complete, delicious, balanced menu.
  • Taste ingredients and identify flavors.
  • Discover how to time a meal, and what steps you can do ahead of time.
  • Decide which tools and equipment to use for the job.
  • Enjoy dishes like crab and spinach soufflé, coconut flan, wild mushroom risotto, and German chocolate cake.
  • Understand the concepts behind the recipes to bring you to the next level of cooking and ultimately allow you to create your own menus and recipes.

Whether you are an amateur or an expert, The Chopping Block will help you lay a foundation of kitchen skills to build on. Every week, each student is provided with a tip-filled handout complete with timesaving techniques and recipes.

Building Block classes are offered at several convenient times each week--

Look for the orange square on the class calendars!

Discounts: Class participants receive a 10% discount on all non-sale items in our kitchen store on the day of class. Students also earn a 15% discount on class items displayed on our "hot table," a collection of tools and ingredients featured in class, discounted to encourage our students to practice the recipes at home.

Call today to sign up for a class and start creating great meals right away!!!



The Building Block Series
Menus, Methods, Ingredients and Techniques
(subject to change due to seasonality, etc.)

Roast Duck with Raspberry Glaze
Spinach Timbale
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Handout: How to Roast and Carve Poultry

Roasting and carving poultry
Reduction sauces
Use of a non-stick pan
Cooking in a water bath
Savory custards
Working with chocolate
Air-leavened cakes

Bistro Salad
Steak Au Poivre
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Caramelized Apple Crepes
Handout: How to Make a Pan Sauce
Warm vinaigrettes
Poaching
Selecting beef for sautéing
Using fresh cracked spices
Deglazing
Cooking with alcohol
Pan reduction sauces
How to tell when meat is done
Batter techniques
Caramelizing
How to flambé
Classic Antipasto
Shrimp Scampi with Capellini
Profitteroles with Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce
Handout: How to Handle Shellfish
Marinating and grilling vegetables
Characteristics of olive oil
Preparing and cooking shrimp
Selecting and cooking pasta
Compound butter as a sauce
Choux pastry
steam as a leavening agent
Using a pastry bag
Chocolate sauce
Beef Wellington with Robert Sauce
Glazed Carrots
Cheese Plate with Poached Pear
Handout: Mother Sauces
Working with puff pastry
Searing meat
Vegetable fillings
Understanding brown sauces and roux’s
GlazingCharacteristics of cheese
Poaching fruit
Simple syrups
Mussels with Tomatoes, Tarragon, White Wine and Cream
40 Clove Garlic Chicken
Celery Root Purée
Crème Brûlée
Handout: How to Braise
Selecting, cleaning and cooking shellfish
How to cut up a chicken
Braising poultry
Vegetables purées
Role of eggs in custard
Using a blow torch
Crab Cakes with Rouille
Blackened Fish with Spicy Pecan Beurre Blanc
Cornbread
Handout: Emulsified Sauces
Selecting fish
Breading
Use of a non-stick pan
Hot and cold emulsions
High heat vs. low temperature cooking
Understanding quickbreads
French Onion Soup
Rack of Lamb with Apple Mint Chutney
Roasted Butternut Squash
Cheesecake with Ginger Caramel Sauce
Handout: Searing and Caramelizing
Caramelizing
Selecting, cooking and carving lamb
Roasting meats and vegetables
Fruit chutneys
Making cheesecake
Caramel sauce
5-Spice Pork Ribs
Korean Beef in Lettuce Cups
Cucumber Salad
Sticky Rice
Handout: How to Select Cuts of Meat
Selecting appropriate cuts of meat
Marinating and grilling beef
Braising meat
Salting vegetables
Basic flavors of Asian cuisine
Working with short grain rice
Caesar Salad
Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccoli
Proscuitto Wrapped Scallops
Panna Cotta with Macerated Berries
Handout: Dressings and Marinades
Making croutons
Preparing salad greens
Cream sauces
Marinating seafood
Grilling seafood
Working with gelatin
Macerating
Roast Prime Rib Au Jus
Horseradish Sauce
Potatoes Anna
Dinner Rolls
Fresh Fruit Crisp
(3 hour class)
Handout: How to Tell When Meat is Done
How to roast meat
Meat thermometers
Making au jus
Using starchy potatoes
Working with yeast dough
Crumble toppings
Potato Pancakes
Oven Poached Salmon with Dill Hollandaise
Asparagus
Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd
Handout: How to Poach
Selecting potatoes
Velouté
Stuffing meat
Working with dried fruits
Roasting vegetables
Custards as a binder
Fruit sauces
Lobster Bisque
Fish in Parchment w/ Julienne Vegetables
Quinoa with Toasted Pine Nuts
Chocolate Mousse
Handout: How to Choose & Prepare Fish
Purchasing and preparing live shellfish
Shellfish stocks
Compound butters
How to julienne / using a mandolin
Steaming in paper
Working with grains
Toasting nuts
Whipping cream and egg whites
Working with chocolate
Pot Roast
Braised Vegetables
Buttermilk Biscuits
German Chocolate Cake with Frosting(3 hour class)
Handout: How to Bake a Cake
Braising meat and vegetables
Understanding gluten in baking
Biscuit basics
Cake basics
Making caramel
Finishing, filling and frosting cakes
Empanadas
Grilled New Mexican Fish with Fruit Salsa
Grilled Zucchini and Yellow Squash
Coconut Flan
Handout: How to Make Salsas, Chutneys and Sambals
Savory pastry crusts
Vegetable fillings
Selecting fish for grilling
Fruit salsas / tropical fruits
Grilling vegetables
Caramel custards
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Breasts
New Potato and French Bean Salad
with Homemade Mayonnaise
Apple Pie with Whipped Cream
Handout: How to Fry
Breading
Deep frying
Making mayonnaise (cold emulsion)
Steaming vegetables
Selecting flour
Making and rolling pastry dough
Fruit fillings
Won Ton Soup
Chinese Vegetables with a Crispy Noodle Pancake
Kung Pao Chicken
Szechwan Grilled Eggplant
Handout: How to Stir Fry
Working with won ton wrappers
Forcemeats
Basic knife techniques
Selecting meats for stir frying
Stir fry basics
Working with eggplant
Pan-Seared Fish Provencale
Saffron Rice
Sautéed Spinach
Fresh Fruit Tart
Handout: How to Make Pastry
Sautéing fish and vegetables
Tomato sauce
Using saffron
Using a rice cooker
Blind baking crusts
Pastry cream
Glazing fruit tarts
Broccoli Soup
Chicken Pot Pie
Butterscotch Pudding
Handout: How to Make Soup / Stock
Puréed soups
Principles in thickening sauces, soups & desserts
Selecting appropriate thickening agents
Velouté
Stewing poultry
Savory crusts
Hummus with Pita Chips
Grilled Lemon Herb Chicken withCucumber Yogurt Sauce
Tabouli Salad
Baklava
Handout: How to Grill
Working with grains and legumes
Marinating and grilling chicken
Yogurt sauces
Working with herbs
Selecting tomatoes
Working with filo pastry dough
Nut fillings
Pear, Candied Nuts and Blue Cheese Salad
Crab and Spinach Soufflé
Cornmeal and Currant Biscotti
Lime Shortbread Cookies
Handout: How to Make a Soufflé
Timing a meal
Candied nuts
Vinaigrettes
Whipping egg whites
Soufflé techniques
Cookie techniques
Roasted Red Pepper & Mozzarella Crostini
Roasted Chicken
Wild Mushroom Risotto
Tiramisu
Handout: How to Make Risotto
Making crostini
Roasting poultry and peppers
Selecting poultry
Poultry doneness
Carving a whole bird
Working with dried mushrooms
Risotto
Simple syrup
Using vanilla beans
Roasted Garlic Foccacia
Pesto Pizza
Calzone with Meatballs
Handout: How to Make Bread
Roasting garlic
Yeast doughs
Making pesto
Using a pizza stone
Tomato sauces
Working with ground meats