Ben Starr

The Ultimate Food Geek

Category: Recipes

  • Coq au Vin

    This is one of my favorite dishes on earth.  “Cock in Wine” is the translation…a mean, tough, stringy old rooster slowly braised in red wine.  It has become a French classic, but it arose from humble farmhouses, rather than sophisticated bistros.  I grew up eating dry, tough old roosters.  And any time a rooster attacked…

  • Bourbon Fig Jam

    You fall into one of two categories of humans.  The first: someone who has to pay an outrageous amount of money to purchase figs at the grocery store when they’re in season…sometimes up to a dollar a fig. If you’re not that person, you fall into the other category.  Either you or a neighbor has…

  • 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…

  • Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

    I have loved blueberries since I was an infant.  My mom has pictures of me with a permanent purple stain down my chin, chest, and into my belly button.  My infant tongue wasn’t yet refined enough to sound out the name of this little blue miracle correctly…all I could manage was “bloo blellies.”  (Which is…

  • 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…

  • Spicy Pickled Asparagus

    I planted my asparagus patch in my garden about 4 years ago, and it has always been productive, but this year…I guess with the mild winter…it has been rabid.  I’m pulling about a pound a day out of the garden, harvesting twice a day, and have been for more than a month! If you’ve never…

  • 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…

  • Kangaroo Loin with Mushroom Sauce

    **PLEASE NOTE**  A video on how to make this dish is located at the bottom of this recipe! Yes, yes…you’re shocked and a bit disgusted that I’ve posted a kangaroo recipe.  Folks…kangaroo is the venison of Australia.  It’s their most common game meat.  It jumps into the road in the middle of the night and…

  • Ben’s Infamous Butter Pecan Ice Cream

    This ice cream is NOT good for you.  Let’s just get that out of the way at the beginning.  It contains so many calories and so much saturated fat that you should only indulge in it once a year. That said, this ice cream is legendary.  If you’re not familiar with the flavor “Butter Pecan”…