Author: Ben Starr

  • A Post-Masterchef Perspective

    I have just spent the past 5 hours reading a fraction of the 949 tweets, 549 emails, and 1752 Facebook messages that have been posted in the 300 minutes since MasterChef finished airing on the East Coast.  (Update, as of 11pm August 10, about 24 hours after the show has ended, my email inbox has…

  • MasterChef: Shepherds Pie and Venison Backstrap

    Today will be the last mystery box of MasterChef. After today, the final 4 will be announced and will go head-to-head in the semi finals. I have not won a single mystery box in this entire competition. And when I analyze my competitors, this is what I think: Christian – Sure, he may be a…

  • MasterChef: Michelin Stars and Massive Salmon

    We’re dropped off at the Walt Disney concert hall, a Frank Ghery monstrosity in downtown Los Angeles, and we can barely look at it because its curvilinear aluminum panels are gleaming like a mirror in the midday sun.  And my mind is flying from place to place…are we catering for the LA Philharmonic?  Making green…

  • MasterChef: Surf ‘n’ Turf and Childhood Faves

    Fresh off a group win normally means that a member from the LOSING team gets eliminated, and the winning team is safe from taking that hit.  However, due to exceptional soufflés created by Christian, Jennifer, Adrien, and Derrick last night, the judges couldn’t decide WHO to send home, and decided to send no one. So…

  • MasterChef: Kid’s Block Party and Cheese Souffles

    It’s time for another team challenge, and when we get dropped off in this Stepford-like neighborhood, with its perfect hedges and gabled houses, and see that big “MasterChef Block Party” sign, I figure it’s gonna be a barbecue challenge. THANK GOD!  I’m not a cocky person, but NOBODY left on the show could stand up…

  • Product Review: KitchenAid Pasta Extruder

    So, for my birthday, my partner got me the KitchenAid attachment that extrudes pasta.  (Their more popular, slightly cheaper pasta attachment is a roller and cutter, which allows you to make authentic fettucini, lasagne, etc.)  With the extruder you can made REAL spaghetti (the roller makes square “spaghetti”), macaroni, fusilli (kinda like rotini but less…