Roger’s interest in cooking was instilled by his mother and grandmother at a young age. Meal time was special family time, and as a result had a tremendous impact on his love for good food and cooking. After earning an honors degree from the Culinary School of Kendall College, Chef Roger expanded his repertoire at leading restaurants in the Southwest, cultivating has interest in cuisine of the region. Returning to Chicago, he worked at local venues; Café’ Provencal, American Girl Place and The Walnut Room. Roger has also directed special events for Mayor Daley and the Taste of Chicago. His goal as an instructor is to take away the intimidation of the kitchen by teaching a simple and understandable approach to cooking great meals. When Chef Roger cooks at home, he has two young sons who love helping out in the kitchen. They are arguably the biggest fans of his cooking and claim that Daddy’s nachos will beat anything Bobby Flay can bring to the table!
Recent Posts
Bao Down to Yummy Steamed Buns
I recently taught one of The Chopping Block's more popular classes, Dim Sum and Then Some. One of the recipes in this class is Bao, which is a steamed bun filled with chicken, pork, vegetables or ...
I remember how my view of cooking completely changed when I learned what a stock was and how to make and use them. At Kendall College, I was taught a simple yet critical component to cooking that ...
This may be a bit more of a fall and winter dish, but I recently happened to have on hand some extra pie dough, a chicken and some stock. Not to mention it's been a long time since I tasted that ...
Eating Well in the Wild: A Guide to Campfire Cooking
I recently returned from a 6-day backpacking and canoeing trip through a remote section of Superior National Forest with my girlfriend and another couple. We covered approximately 60 miles with 250 ...
Who doesn’t love making cookies? With two young boys at home, I find myself making them pretty often. They like to help out and appreciate eating the cookies even more when they are a part of the ...
Last month, I wrote about making Consommé. I used most of two whole ducks to prepare that recipe. What I did not use in the Consommé were the four leg and thigh portions. These I turned into Duck ...
Soups and sauces have long been my favorite aspect of cooking, so I had a lot of fun when I recently taught the Soups and Sauces portion of The Chopping Block's Culinary Boot Camp. One of the soups ...
It has been a while since I have ventured out to try a new restaurant, so last weekend I made plans with my girlfriend to stay downtown and try something different. We decided to visit The Purple Pig ...
Since I started teaching cooking classes at The Chopping Block, one of the most common questions I get from students is why we use two different types of oil to cook with. So I decided to take a ...
Last week, I taught the "Fall Vegetable Harvest" cooking class at The Chopping Block. I was so impressed with the outcome of one of the recipes that I wanted to recreate it at home right away: ...
