Cooking from the 99-Cent Store: Eric Ripert Goes FrugalFrom the NY Times Dining Section 03.26.08

Cooking from the 99-Cent Store: Eric Ripert Goes Frugal
From the NY Times Dining Section 03.26.08

The lead story in the Dining section in the New York Times this week reflects the current state of gloom and doom in the financial media; are we headed for recession? Are food prices rising? Will we all be reduced to pigs and blankets from the frozen section at the 99-cent store? Chef Eric Ripert helps us put a happy face on this sad state with his high-end dishes from decidedly low-brow origins, while Henry Alford cooks for a week using only products from Jack's 99-Cent Store. Our thoughts below...

We were impressed by the multi-course meal that Ripert and his crew whipped up, especially the Almond Nougat Parfait With Orange Coulis above. And we were fascinated by Alford's review of cheap-o products and his attempt to cook well with them.

We are very much in favor of cooking creatively. Anyone can buy a perfect peach and call it dessert; anyone can create incredible meals out of perfect ingredients. And yet most of us have to compromise for reasons of budget, seasonality or location at some point. What do you do with constraints?

This is a good reminder to try our Cupboard Challenges again. We do love our markets and Whole Foods and everything else, but these two pieces were great inspiration on cooking with what you've got.

It's also known as cucina povera, an inspiration of cuisine and lasting classic dishes from all over the world.

(Images: Evan Sung for The New York Times)

Comments (8)

I say bravo. I've shopped at those dollar stores. Frankly, the ingredients in many of the food items give me the creeps and I usually confine my purchases to cleaning supplies and gardening seeds. But yeah, the food mentioned in the article sounded decent and more importantly, inspiring. I'm starting the cure and instead of throwing things out that I haven't used in the past 6 to 12 months, I'm cooking with them. Except for the bake mixes. Those usually do taste stale after the date has passed and they don't rise as well. Everything else is fine.

posted by rose on March 26th 2008 at 11:02am
view rose's profile

rose, look for a post later this week on Cupboard Challenges - if anyone wants help using up the leftover ingredients in their pantries, we want to help...

posted by faith on March 26th 2008 at 11:06am
view faith's profile

I think Gregory from ATLA did something like this a while back--dollar stores only for a month!

posted by squiggle on March 26th 2008 at 11:29am
view squiggle's profile

I had to do something similar over the weekend, when my boyfriend's parents asked me to bring a salad for Easter dinner, and the only grocery store open was the sketchiest one in town. I had to do my best with the low-rent offerings available - it was definitely an interesting challenge!

posted by SisterRae on March 26th 2008 at 12:12pm
view SisterRae's profile

Do not eat when you are not hungry and you will not need to go to the 99 cents store.

Quality not quantity.
Flavor not fancy
Healthy not gluttonous/greedy
Be Thankful for food not grumpy.

posted by BlackandWhite on March 26th 2008 at 2:40pm
view BlackandWhite's profile

squiggle: yes indeed, 28 days of living on 99 Cents Only Store items.

posted by gregory on March 27th 2008 at 3:36pm
view gregory's profile

Ha! The New York Times are one step behind me. I too tried to cook a 3 course dinner party with only ingredients from the 99p store (here in the UK).

And this is my website about trying to survive only buying food and other essentials from the pound shop.

http://passmethemalkplease.wordpress.com/

I wouldn't recommend it!!

posted by geetheflea on May 7th 2008 at 10:08am
view geetheflea's profile

is anyone familiar with the frugal foodie? It's basically the Washingtonian's version of this challenge, except they do it weekly. There have been some GREAT recipes....

http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/bestbites/frugal%20foodie/index.html

posted by IHKY on March 6th 2009 at 10:48am
view IHKY's profile