Ben Starr

The Ultimate Food Geek

Tag: recipe

  • 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,…

  • A FRANK Tale: Bread, Bread, Bread

    In mid December of 2013, Jennie Kelley and I decided it was finally time for a FRANK theme that we had been toying with for more than a year: Bread.  Homemade bread has been an integral part of our menus at FRANK since the very beginning, and diners always tell us that our homemade bread…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Venison Meatballs

    Venison is one of my favorite meats.  The last meal I cooked before leaving to film MasterChef was venison tenderloin.  (Ironically, the dish that sent me home in 5th place from MasterChef was venison tenderloin…I was trying to cook it the way Ramsay cooks it, rather than my own special way.)  Venison is the most…

  • Passion Fruit Creme Brulee

    I realize that, because I’m obsessed with doing everything from scratch, many of my recipes can be a little bit complex.  Personally, I take great joy from avoiding canned and processed ingredients, and doing it all myself.  But I realize that many of my fans would enjoy a really easy recipe every now and then…and…

  • Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

    I’m no fan of chain restaurants.  And I am happy to announce that I’ve NEVER eaten at a Red Lobster.  But any time Red Lobster surfaces in conversation, I’m always puzzled by the response that I universally hear from people who have eaten there. “ZOMG, their cheddar biscuits are SO GOOD!” It’s like Olive Garden…

  • Scotch Eggs

    I had never heard of a Scotch Egg until I watched MasterChef season 1 and Ramsay was bemoaning the lack of a Scotch Egg appearing in an egg challenge.  When I heard what it was…a boiled egg wrapped in sausage, breaded, and deep fried…I was bound and determined to offer up a Scotch Egg to…

  • Candied Ginger

    Every tried to buy candied or crystallized ginger in the spice rack at the grocery store?  It is ridiculously overpriced…a single small bottle can cost upwards of $10, which is silly because you can make your own for about $10 a POUND. To get started, you’ll need: 1 pound of fresh ginger root To make…