Ben Starr – The Ultimate Food Geek

Category: Recipes

  • Oven-Fried Crispy Soft-Shell Crab

    Ah, soft-shell crab!  I vividly remember eating my first one…at a stunning brunch restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans called Stanley.  I’ll never forget it…all the complex textures, and the first time I’ve never had to curse while disassembling a crab to get all the lovely bits of meat morsels inside the sharp,…

  • Sourdough Buttermilk Beignets

    Ah, beignets!  France’s answer to a donut, only without a hole, and rarely round.  Single-handedly made famous in the U.S. by Cafe du Monde, steps from the cathedral of St. Louis in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans…though certainly not perfected by them.  I actually grumble and groan anytime I take someone…

  • Rhubarb Pie

    In Texas, where the climate is too hot to grow rhubarb, it’s not an ingredient most folks here are familiar with.  When it does appear on market shelves in the spring, it can cost upwards of $6 a pound…pricey for a vegetable.  But occasionally I’ll run across it on sale, or we’ll splurge on it…

  • Bourbon Preserved Figs

    If you’re lucky enough to have a fig tree, or a neighbor who has one, you have figs coming out your ears in early summer…and perhaps again in late fall, especially if you live in a Southern state.  This fall crop of figs often gets interrupted by early frosts.  The figs are still green when…

  • Benny’s Legendary Rosemary Fried Chicken

    My pumpkin carrot cake may be more famous, but that’s only because it appeared on MasterChef.  This rosemary fried chicken has elicited the same response from virtually everyone who’s ever tried it: “This is the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted.” It’s that good, folks.  After you taste it, you’ll never want fried chicken from…

  • 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…