Author: Ben Starr

  • Curried Pumpkin Soup

    Soup is my favorite food. Pumpkin is my favorite ingredient. So naturally, I love pumpkin soups.  Here is a foundational pumpkin soup recipe that I make all year long, and people can’t get enough of it.  I first had this soup on a cruise ship in 1998, which is really the first time my pallate…

  • Tom Kha Gai (Thai coconut lemongrass soup)

    This is my favorite soup.  From the first moment I tasted this soup in Thailand, I was dumbfounded by the flavors.  It was so rich, so spicy, so tangy.  Every time I eat it, I’m reminded of the time I was stranded in a cave in Thailand with my friend Ricky and two other backpackers…

  • Indian Stuffed Yeast Breads

    I ran across some recipe for yeast bread stuffed with curried veggies about a decade ago and over the years the recipe has morphed into my own.  My friends LOVE these, and it’s a great introduction to Indian food for those who are nervous about it.  These are individual rounds of crusty yeast bread stuffed…

  • Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

    Who on Earth can resist a warm, yeasty, sticky, sweet cinnamon roll fresh from the oven?  ESPECIALLY if there’s cream cheese frosting to smear on top? The problem is that it takes a solid 3 hours to get cinnamon rolls finished once they are started, and who wants to get up THAT early?  The solution,…

  • Easy Overnight Old-World Dutch Oven Bread

    Homemade bread is one of the most delicious and satisfying things you can make in your kitchen.  I’ve built a wood-fired oven in my backyard in pursuit of that supreme flavor and texture you get from high temperature baking, but you can get near-perfect results in your normal oven if you have a cast iron…

  • 1 Hour Buttermilk English Muffins

    I used to be grossed out by packaged English muffins.  In fact, all packaged breads give me the creeps.  I just can’t buy them.  If they’re not sitting in the open air on the shelf of a bakery, and I’m confident they came out of the oven that day, I can’t bring myself to buy…