- Following 598
- Followers 143K
- Engagement 18.28%
- Avg likes 8.6K
- Avg comments 77
About Ben Maxwell
Ben Maxwell (@thestrongcook) is a Kitchen/cooking creator on Instagram, also filed under Food & Cooking. The account has 142,963 followers and 174 published posts. Recent posts average 8,615 likes and 77 comments, an engagement rate of 18.28%.
An audience of 143K puts Ben Maxwell in the mid-tier, between 100,000 and 1 million followers. Set against 598 accounts followed, the audience works out to about 239 followers per account Ben Maxwell follows. Ben Maxwell carries Instagram's verified badge and uses an Instagram professional account. Flinque files Ben Maxwell under Kitchen/cooking, with Food & Cooking as a secondary category.
Ben Maxwell's Instagram bio is brief, at 5 words across 4 lines. The bio mentions @rugbymgmt. The latest activity Flinque has on record for Ben Maxwell dates from May 2026.
Story Highlights
Unlocking shows the title and cover image of every story highlight this creator keeps pinned to the profile.
174 Posts
Of the 10 most recent posts shown for Ben Maxwell, 8 are videos, 1 is a carousel and 1 is a single image. That mix leans toward videos. 174 published posts give Ben Maxwell a moderate archive on Instagram. Against the audience, that is roughly 822 followers for each post published. Ben Maxwell also keeps 3 story highlights on the profile. All 10 carry captions, averaging 275 words each. The captions are written mainly in English. Words that recur across them include recipe, until, instructions, heat and water. The captions tag #recipe, #homecooking, #salad, #lobster and #nicoise.
FULL RECIPE BELOW ⬇️ (feeds 2 people)
INGREDIENTS:
1 head frisée
8-10 grelot potatoes
12-15 cherry tomatoes
1 baby cucumber
1 large artichoke (or a 1/2 can of artichoke hearts)
1/4 cup black olives
1 bunch green beans
1 large egg
300-350g salmon
2 tbsp fine sea salt + more to taste
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp grainy mustard
1 cup olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Freshly cracked white pepper (to taste)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Ideally 6-8 hours before serving, cure your salmon in a 2:1 mix of salt to sugar (2 tbsp salt: 1 tbsp sugar). Let the salmon sit in the cure for 45 minutes, then rinse your salmon in cold water to remove the cure, before patting it dry with a paper towel. Leave your salmon uncovered in the fridge until ready to cook.
2. If cooking your artichoke(s) from raw, check out my video here where I demonstrate how:
🔗 🔗
3. For your grelot potatoes, add them to a large pot in a single layer, and cover them with enough cold water to fully submerge them. Generously season the water with salt, and place the potatoes over medium heat. Once the water comes to a gentle boil, turn down the heat and let the potatoes simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes can be pierced cleanly with a cake tester or pairing knife with zero resistance. Let the potatoes cool down in the cooking water before straining and transferring to the fridge.
4. For your green beans, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath off to the side. Blanch your green beans for 30-45 seconds, then immediately shock them in your ice water to stop the cooking.
5. For your egg, bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil. Add your egg, and cook for 7-8 minutes at a gentle simmer (7 min for a room-temp egg, 8 min from the fridge). Immediately shock your egg in ice water to stop the cooking when it’s finished.
RECIPE CONTINUES IN THE COMMENTS ⬇️
#nicoise #salad #nicoisesalad #homecooking #recipe
Thank you to everyone who commented on my last Weeknight Dinner Series post. This dish got the most votes, so as promised, here’s the full recipe!
This is one of my favourite meals to eat when it’s hot out, so it’s the perfect time to give this recipe a try.
- Feeds 4 People -
INGREDIENTS:
2 duck breasts, trimmed of the tender & sinew
400g vermicelli noodles
1 large carrot
1/4 large daikon radish
1/2 cucumber
1 large shallot
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 bunch mint
3 whole limes
3 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup neutral oil (grapeseed)
1 large garlic clove
2 red chilis (optional)
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts
2 tbsp fine sea/kosher salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. The day before, or ideally 2-3 days before serving, clean your duck breasts of any sinew, and remove the tender. Season your duck breast with a mixture of 2:1 salt to sugar (2 tbsp salt + 1 tbsp sugar). Place your duck on a tray lined with a wire rack, and leave to dry uncovered in the fridge until ready to cook.
2. 30 minutes before serving, pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. You can also fill a large pot with water, and place it over medium heat to come to a simmer. In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat, place your duck skin-side down. Cook the duck slowly to render the skin, ideally pressing the breasts with a weight of some kind. Because of the sugar in the cure, your skin will burn quite easily - so keep a close eye! However, a little bit of charring is good, and will help develop a nice smoky flavour.
RECIPE CONTINUES IN THE COMMENTS ⬇️
#duck #coldnoodle #salad #homecooking #recipe
RECIPES BELOW ⬇️
NOTE: I like to go for a 1/3 lb of cooked lobster per roll. You will need a 1 - 1.25 lb lobster to yield that amount of meat. For instructions on how to cook lobster - check out my video linked below where I demonstrate how:
MAINE-STYLE ROLL:
👉 Mix 1/3 lb of lobster meat cut into 1/2” chunks with 2 tbsp mayo, 2 tbsp diced celery, a small squeeze of lemon, and a pinch of old bay. Season with sea salt to taste. I like to garnish my roll with some of the paler-green celery leaves from the inside of the celery head.
CONNECTICUT-STYLE ROLL:
👉 Gently heat up 1/3 lb of lobster meat cut into 1/2” chunks in a 1/4 cup of melted butter (ideally clarified). Keep the pot over low heat, and ensure it doesn’t boil. Remove the lobster from the pot with a slotted spoon, and add it to a mixing bowl with a generous pinch of chopped chives. Season with sea salt and lemon juice to taste.
BROWN BUTTER HOLLANDAISE ROLL:
(this will make enough hollandaise for 3-4 rolls…)
👉 brown 1/4 lb of butter in a sauce pot, and allow to cool to between 55-60 degrees Celsius. Add two egg yolks and the juice from half a small lemon to a container, and slowly start to emulsify in your brown butter with an immersion blender. Continue adding more butter until your hollandaise has thickened, and can coat the back of a spoon. Season with sea salt to taste. Warm your lobster gently in the microwave (30 seconds max), and toss with your hollandaise and a pinch of chives.
#lobster #roll #lobsterroll #homecooking #recipe
FULL INSTRUCTIONS BELOW ⬇️
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. You want enough water in the pot to fully submerge each lobster. When salting your water, use sea salt (quite generously), until your water tastes like the sea.
2. Cook your lobster 7 minutes for the first lb + 3 minutes for each subsequent 1/2 lb. My lobsters were each 1.75 lbs, so that meant 11.5 minutes. HOWEVER - this cooking time starts once your water comes back up to a boil, after you put your lobsters in. It took about 90 seconds for my water to come back up to a boil after adding my lobsters, so total cook time was approx. 13 minutes.
3. While your lobster is cooking, prepare a large ice bath (or multiple ice baths). When your timer goes off, plunge your lobster into the ice water to shock them and stop the cooking. Allow your lobster to fully cool in the ice water.
4. Remove your lobster from the ice water, and try to drain off as much excess water as possible. Grab the lobster by the body with one hand, and twist off the tail, legs, and claws (from the base of the knuckles).
5. Starting with the tail, firmly press down on the side of the tail with the palm of your hand until you hear a crack. From here, you will see the crack running down the underside of the tail. Open the crack as wide as you can, and pull out the tail. Looking into the opening of the tail from the thickest point (where the tail was attached to the body), you will see the brown digestive tract. Pull it out as best you can with tweezers, and run cold water into the cavity to clean out whatever is remaining.
INSTRUCTIONS CONTINUE IN THE COMMENTS ⬇️
#lobster #cooking #frenchcooking #recipe #instructions
FULL RECIPE BELOW ⬇️
NOTE: This recipe is for a 9” wide pie dish that is 1.5” deep. If using another mould, quantities must be scaled accordingly!
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups milk
1.5 cups whipping cream
1 vanilla pod
1/4 cup room temperature water
1.5 cups sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
6 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
Fleur de sel (to finish)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. You can also start a pot with 2-3 litres of hot water, to heat over low heat.
2. Add your milk and cream to a medium sauce pot. Cut your vanilla pod in half lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds. Add both the seeds and the pod to the your milk/cream mixture. Bring everything to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then immediately turn off the heat.
3. Add your whole eggs and yolks to a large heat-proof bowl, and whisk them until homogeneous with a 1/2 cup each of sugar and maple syrup.
4. Once your milk-cream mixture is hot, remove the vanilla pod, and start pouring it into your egg mixture, slowly at first, whisking vigorously as you go. Once half the milk/cream has been poured in, you can pour the rest relatively quickly. Set this mixture to the side for the moment. This is your custard base.
RECIPE CONTINUES IN THE COMMENTS ⬇️
#cremecaramel #flan #french #homecooking #recipe
FULL RECIPE BELOW ⬇️
INGREDIENTS:
1.25kg la Ratte potato (or Yukon Gold) (your yield should be ~1kg after peeling)
250mL whole milk **
250g unsalted butter, diced
4-5 sprigs thyme
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, gently smashed
Fine sea salt, to taste
** All of this milk likely won’t be needed. Some can be kept aside to re-heat the potatoes later.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. In a large, heavy bottom pot, ideally large enough to fit all your potatoes in a single layer, cover your potatoes with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower your heat to medium. Allow your potatoes to cook for 20-30 minutes, or until you can pierce your potatoes with a pairing knife with zero resistance.
2. While your potatoes are cooking, bring your milk to a boil with your thyme, garlic and black peppercorns. As soon as it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and allow the aromatics to steep while the milk stays hot.
3. When your potatoes are done cooking, strain them, and let them sit in the strainer for 5-10 minutes to allow steam to be released. Once they are cool enough to touch, but still hot, peel the potatoes & discard the skins.
4. Press your potatoes through a potato ricer into a large bowl. Strain the aromatics out of your milk, and pour half of the milk into the riced potatoes. Fold the milk gently into the potatoes until incorporated. Then, pass your potatoes once more through a fine mesh strainer into a large pot (this step is optional, but does result in THE smoothest potatoes).
RECIPE CONTINUES IN THE COMMENTS ⬇️
#mashed #potatoes #michelin #homecooking recipe
FULL RECIPE BELOW ⬇️
INGREDIENTS:
- 2L fresh ramp leaves (loosely packed)
- 1L fresh basil leaves (loosely packed)
(Contrary to what I said in the video, I still like to add a little bit of basil to my ramp pesto! However, you can still do 100% ramps get an excellent result, just replace the basil leaves for more ramp leaves in this recipe)
- 75g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup olive oil + more as needed
- 1 lemon
- 1 clove garlic
- freshly cracked black pepper (to taste)
- salt (to taste)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Blanch your ramps (and basil, if using) for 5-10s in heavily salted boiling water, then immediately shock in ice water. Once cooled, squeeze as much water out of your leaves as possible.
2. Toast your pine nuts over medium heat until they’re slightly golden.
3. Add blanched/squeezed greens, toasted pine nuts, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 clove grated garlic, grated Parmesan, zest + juice from 1 lemon to a blender, and blend until smooth. Add more olive oil as needed while blending until the pesto is smooth & creamy. If your blender (and pesto) starts getting too warm, add an ice cube or two to cool it down.
4. Season your pesto with salt, and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Enjoy!
NOTE: This recipe works for many leafy greens & herbs! Arugula, kale, spinach, mint, parsley… you can play around with different combinations depending on what’s in season, and this process will always yield a great result!
#pesto #ramps #wildgarlic #homecooking #recipe
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups strawberries (halved)
2 cups rhubarb (cut into 1 cm segments)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup strawberry jam
1.25 cups flour
1 cup instant oats
3/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Pre-heat your oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Chop your strawberries and rhubarb into roughly the same size pieces. Toss both in your granulated sugar.
3. In a large pan, heat your strawberry jam until liquified. Remove from the heat, and mix in your strawberries and rhubarb. Divide your fruit mix between 4 small ramekins or gratin dishes (oven safe).
4. Mix your softened butter, flour, brown sugar and oats, until it has the texture of damp sand. It is okay for there to be small clumps! This will result in a better final texture.
5. Spread your crumble mixture around the top of your fruit, piling on as much as possible, pressing it down gently. You will have a lot of crumble - but try your best to get it all on your fruit! The strawberry/rhubarb mixture will shrink/reduce while baking, so you need much more than you think!
6. Transfer your baking dishes onto a baking tray (this is VERY necessary, as liquid will spill over while baking), and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until any visible liquid has reduced to a thick, syrupy consistency, and your crumble is golden brown.
7. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving for best results. Serve with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!
#rhubarb #strawberry #crisp #homecooking #recipe
FULL RECIPE BELOW ⬇️ (feeds 2 people)
INGREDIENTS:
- 8-10 whole sea urchin (in shell)
OR
- 160-200g uni (120g for sauce + 40g for garnish)
- 6 egg yolks
- 250g spaghetti
- 1/4 bunch chives
- 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- fine sea salt (to taste)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. If using whole urchin, process your urchin as demonstrated in this video:
2. Set aside your two nicest uni for presentation (to add fresh on top of your pasta). If using pre-processed uni, you can typically buy two different grades; pristine/grade-A uni, and uni that is discoloured, or was damaged while processing. The damaged/discoloured uni is cheaper, and perfect for your sauce. Fish markets will typically sell this kind of uni expressly for the purpose of cooking.
3. With your less-nice uni, combine them in a blender with your egg yolks. You’re looking for equal parts yolks and uni. Generally, a whole uni will weigh 15-20 grams and so does a large egg yolk. Counting 1:1 will generally yield a good result. Blend until smooth.
4. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook your pasta as per package instructions. With 2-3 minutes left in the cook time, add 1/4 cup of your pasta water to a large, heavy-bottom pan over very low heat. Whisk in your butter until emulsified. Add your egg/urchin mix, and continue to stir over very low heat. Add your pasta directly from the pot to the pan, trying to shake off as much excess pasta water as possible.
5. Toss your pasta in the sauce over low heat until the sauce can cling to the noodles. Add extra pasta water as needed. Finish your pasta with a squeeze of lemon juice, and adjust seasoning with salt to taste.
6. Plate up your pasta, and garnish with finely chopped chives, and your nicest uni on top. Enjoy!
#seaurchin #urchin #uni #carbonara #recipe
In case you missed it, check out my behind-the-scenes video from yesterday to see me cut these chives! ⬇️
#chives #ratemychives
Ben Maxwell's engagement
Ben Maxwell's engagement rate on Instagram is 18.28%, over 6%, more than 6 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 5 followers. Likes outnumber comments by roughly 112 to 1, with 8,615 likes and 77 comments on an average post, so most reactions are taps rather than replies.
Engagement rate
18.28%
- Avg likes
- 8.6K
- Avg comments
- 77
- Interactions : followers
- 1 : 5
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These answers about Ben Maxwell are generated from the Instagram profile data Flinque holds for the account.
Who is Ben Maxwell?
Ben Maxwell (@thestrongcook) is a Kitchen/cooking creator on Instagram, also filed under Food & Cooking. Ben Maxwell carries Instagram's verified badge and uses an Instagram professional account. Ben Maxwell's Instagram bio is brief, at 5 words across 4 lines.
How many followers does Ben Maxwell have?
Ben Maxwell has 142,963 followers on Instagram (143K). Set against 598 accounts followed, the audience works out to about 239 followers per account Ben Maxwell follows. 174 published posts give Ben Maxwell a moderate archive on Instagram.
What is Ben Maxwell's engagement rate?
Ben Maxwell's engagement rate on Instagram is 18.28%, over 6%, more than 6 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 5 followers. Likes outnumber comments by roughly 112 to 1, with 8,615 likes and 77 comments on an average post, so most reactions are taps rather than replies.
What does Ben Maxwell post about on Instagram?
Flinque files Ben Maxwell under Kitchen/cooking, with Food & Cooking as a secondary category. Of the 10 most recent posts shown for Ben Maxwell, 8 are videos, 1 is a carousel and 1 is a single image. The 10 recent Instagram captions Flinque holds for Ben Maxwell repeatedly use the words recipe, until, instructions, heat and water. Ben Maxwell's captions carry hashtags such as #recipe, #homecooking and #salad. Ben Maxwell writes those captions mainly in English. Ben Maxwell keeps 3 story highlights, which open with a free Flinque account.
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Ben Maxwell's contact details are not published on Flinque's public profile. The Instagram bio links to 1 external site, and a free Flinque account opens that link. Brands with a free Flinque account can shortlist Ben Maxwell and use Flinque's outreach tools wherever a contact route is on file.
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