Ben Starr

The Ultimate Food Geek

Tag: cast iron

  • Hatch Green Chile Peach Pie

    It’s that time of year again!  Grocery stores all over Texas have the unmistakable spicy-smoky aroma of roasting Hatch chiles out front, and the big chile roasters are rolling almost nonstop during open hours.  It’s my favorite culinary time of year. While most recipes for Hatch chiles are savory, I decided to post a sweet…

  • Benny’s Legendary Rosemary Fried Chicken

    My pumpkin carrot cake may be more famous, but that’s only because it appeared on MasterChef.  This rosemary fried chicken has elicited the same response from virtually everyone who’s ever tried it: “This is the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted.” It’s that good, folks.  After you taste it, you’ll never want fried chicken from…

  • 20 Essential Kitchen Skills

    One of my fans asked me an interesting question on Facebook yesterday.  “Ben, I’ve always considered myself a good cook, but in the past few years watching shows like Masterchef, I keep running across things that other chefs refer to as being necessary skills to “belong in the kitchen.” If you don’t know how to…

  • Cast Iron

    Ah, cast iron cookware!  Other than earthen-ware cooking vessels, cast iron is one of the oldest and lowest-tech cooking vessels that still exists, and strangely enough…technology has YET to replicate a pot or pan that cooks better than cast iron.  When properly “seasoned” it is nonstick, without the need for harsh chemicals that go into…

  • MasterChef Green Chili Cornbread

    This recipe is adapted from my grandmother’s cast iron skillet cornbread, which is made in true Texas style…course and savory, not cakey and sweet.  I love the flavors of roasted corn and green chilis and onion and cheese in my cornbread, so I overloaded this recipe with good stuff.  I made this on MasterChef, and…

  • Meemaw’s Skillet Buttermilk Cornbread

    My maternal grandmother Meemaw and her mother, Granny Proctor, and her mother, Granny Williams, all used cast-iron skillets to cook the majority of their meals, and they did it right on the top of a wood-fired cast-iron stove.  Mom still makes cornbread in the cast-iron skillets she inherited from Meemaw, who got them from Granny…