We sit at home watching Bobby Flay on the Food Network and the latest round of Top Chef contestants hoping to either be invited over to their place for dinner or to somehow absorb their culinary powers through the screen. We add garnishes to our spaghetti-and-meatball special. We even mumble things to ourselves like, “I have to let the onions sweat.”
I’ve always thought it would be beyond amazing if I could make “gourmet meals,” knowing full well that the ingredients would cost more than an entire (and over-packed) shopping-cart’s-worth of groceries. Or at least I thought I did.
In his article, “How to Survive in New York on 99 Cents,” New York Times Dining & Wine contributor Henry Alford proves otherwise. He challenged himself to make a gourmet meal for his friends with ingredients he found at a 99-cent store (okay, so I rounded up in the title).
By visiting discount stores in different neighborhoods (i.e. Washington Heights, Chinatown and Harlem), Alford was able to gather the ingredients for an antipasto tray, chilled pear soup, penne with peas and “prosciutto” (turkey bacon) in a light cream sauce, and for dessert a flourless pecan torte.
To find out more about the wonderful offerings at your local dollar-store, read the full article here.
Image: Kraft Canada/Designing Home Lifestyles
[tags] gourmet cooking, make meals for less, cheap dinner ingredients, save money on food, Henry Alford, New York Times, Dining & Wine [tags]