Ron Martin is a Chef-Instructor at The Chopping Block. His food background began in a small town in southeastern Indiana and quickly blossomed into a full on love of food and flavors. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and also has a degree in Elementary Education. He never misses an opportunity to expand his palate and learn new styles and foods. Ron's number one partner in his culinary adventures is his wife Sharon and sometimes their two teenagers. Besides working at TCB, he enjoys working on home improvement projects, making good beer, St. Louis Cardinals baseball, playing golf (poorly), and hanging out with his family, 2 dogs and 2 cats.
Recent Posts
How to Make Fresh Pasta without Eggs
I was recently craving fresh pasta for dinner, but my oldest son has developed a problem with digesting eggs. I did some research and found a number of eggless pasta dough recipes that I liked parts ...
One of the more popular private corporate events we host at The Chopping Block is a team building activity called Iron Chef competitive cooking. Each team gets two different proteins and a mystery ...
I was working toward a degree in elementary education a few years ago, and one of my classmates was having a snack between classes. It was slices of fresh watermelon sprinkled with chili powder. I ...
When I was young and had just graduated from culinary school, I took a job as a corporate executive chef, and I was a little cocky. One of my first things I had to make was barbequed ribs. I did it ...
Homemade Pizza Dough is Fast and Easy with a Food Processor
Whenever I teach one of The Chopping Block's pizza-making classes, I always demonstrate to my students how easy it can be to make dough using a food processor. They are usually impressed, and I hope ...
Here in Chicago, it is the time between spring and summer where winter still likes to make itself known. It is kind of cold outside and everyone is waiting, oh so patiently, for continuous warm ...
In my last post on how to make demi-glace, I decided to continue my trip back to the basics by creating a meal around this lovely sauce. I also am going back to the master for inspiraton, Auguste ...
Ah, spring. Isn’t it funny how happy everyone who has made it through a long winter becomes when it turns 50 degrees and above? I know I'm in that group. Now I need to find the time to go and hit ...
One of the highlights from my holidays was a meal I made with a standing, bone-in, rib roast with a sea salt and black pepper crust. I got this beautiful cut of meat from my new favorite butcher shop ...
