Ben Starr

The Ultimate Food Geek

Tag: homemade

  • Perfect Homemade Fortune Cookies

    Makes 12-18 fortune cookies depending on size and thickness. Fortune cookies are remarkably easy to make…IF…you have the right recipe.  Many of the recipes on the net call for fat in the form of butter or oil.  The problem there is that you end up with greasy fortunes.  The remaining recipes, at least the ones…

  • Homemade Chevre (Fresh Goat Cheese)

    The pungent, goat-y chevre you get in the grocery store is an acquired taste.  I’ve definitely acquired it.  But many people haven’t.  Part of the reason it’s so pungent is that it’s old.  The longer goat cheese sits, the more pronounced its flavor becomes. This flavor is caused by an enzyme called “lipase” that exists…

  • All About Buttermilk

    While I tell people that my favorite ingredient is pumpkin, that’s certainly true in the fall when pumpkins are in season.  Pumpkin inspires me, and it’s what I’m known for…it’s my “signature ingredient.” But there’s another ingredient that I’m obsessed with, that I use every single day, and that I couldn’t live without.  Buttermilk.  Yet…

  • A FRANK Tale: NYE 2013

    Many of my readers have said they love my FRANK blogs more than any other, so I’ll try to blog about every FRANK dinner so you can all get a hint of what the experience was like for our diners.  Please note that there are only a few photos of plated dishes on this blog…Jennie,…

  • Ben’s Secret to Stock

    Homemade stocks make ALL the difference in recipes, particularly in soups, sauces, and gravies.  But who’s got room in their freezer for gallons and gallons of homemade stock?  Lots of TV chefs will tell you to reduce the stock a bit and then freeze it in ice cube trays, but then you have to maintain…

  • How to Make Aged Cheese: “Black and Bleu” Ricotta Salata

    I’ve been making cheese at home for about 3 years now, and SO many fans have begged me for instructions on how to make cheese after I’ve posted photos of exquisite homemade cheeses. Cheesemaking is a specific hobby with it’s own set of necessary equipment and supplies.  It’s sort of like wine making or beer…

  • How to Make the BEST Loaf of Bread on Planet Earth

    Tough title to live up to, right?  But I was literally stunned out of my mind when I tasted this bread the first time, and each time I’ve baked it since, it seems to get better.  This bread makes people scream.  Literally. What you are about to read is very, very long.  After all, if…

  • *NO CANS* Green Bean Casserole

    Ah, green bean casserole…that staple of Thanksgiving dinners and church potlucks for decades.  So easy that even someone who can’t cook can make it, because all you have to do is open a can of green beans, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a package of French fried onions and it makes itself. …

  • 3-minute Microwave Oatmeal Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

    I make breakfast almost every single day.  During the week, when it’s nothing special, I usually make biscuits or pancakes.  Biscuits take about 15 minutes, start to finish, pancakes take a little less.  That’s not a lot of time, to be honest.  Way less than most people might think. But even 15 minutes is too…

  • Homemade Garlic Naan Bread

    Everyone loves flatbreads, from pitas to naan to foccacia, to the spongy fermented teff bread of Ethiopia: injera.  Naan is the staple flatbread in India, and there are as many ways to make it as there are cooks.  Naan is quick and easy to make, and for you guys who limit yourselves to the grill…