Cookbook touts Dollar Store Gourmet
12:44 p.m. Monday, April 14, 2008
Mouth watering gourmet meals please the pallet, but they can also cost a pretty penny. What if you could tantalize those taste buds for just 99 cents?
ABC News gave Food Network Chef Sarah Copeland the ultimate challenge by sending her out of her cooking comfort zone to the dollar store.
"There's a first time for everything, but I'm up for the challenge," Copeland said.
Jack's 99 Cents Store does not exactly scream gourmet. But we were surprised at what we found: frozen seafood, eggs, dairy, fresh bread and even expensive spices for only 99 cents.
"Wow, they have heavy cream. I'm really surprised," Copeland said.
We hunted down the perfect ingredients to complete our menu: tomato beet spring soup, a Tuscan fish stew and a gourmet dessert.
"It's pretty amazing we have everything here to make a pretty fresh strawberry shortcake," Copeland said.
The total cost for 3 bags of groceries was just $25.77.
Gourmet meal
High end ingredients: $112.15.
Dollar store ingredients: $25.77.
Total savings: $86.38.
Next, we headed to an upscale market to compare ingredient costs and availability.
"Our main course we're going to use our tilapia," said Copeland. "Looks pretty good. It smells fresh."
On the high end side of the kitchen, the deck was stacked with herbs, vegetables and fresh fish.
"It's a little challenging with the dollar store," Copeland said.
Instead of fresh herbs, Copland substitutes V8 juice in the main dish.
"Try to find something at the dollar store that emulates those flavors," Copeland said. "Since we couldn't get fresh garlic, we've got the roasted garlic sausage." Copeland reminds us that presentation is everything.
It's still up in the air as to whether you can taste the difference between the expensive meal and the dollar store meal. But, the total cost for high end ingredients came to $112.15. The dollar store trip cost us just $25.77. That left us with a savings of $86.38.
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