Top Chef Masters - Episode 1

First off, do not read this if you have not seen the episode. There will be some spoilers. 

Secondly, ok what did everyone think? A couple of weeks I wrote about how excited I was that Top Chef Masters would fill my TV void this summer, however, after the first episode it's clear to see that this is not going to be like the Top Chef we all know and love.

So first of all, they don't have all of the "Masters" competing at once, they make them compete in heats and then the winners will compete in a "championship" round. Ok, fine, I get it, you

 couldn't get all the Top Chefs available at the same time. 

In this first episode, Tim Love, (who I was personally pulling for...maybe a Texas thing), Christopher Lee, Hubert Keller, and Michael Schlow, all competed in a quick fire and an elimination challenge. Their first quick fire was to make desert in an hour (I think) for four girl scouts (girls, who obviously, know their cookies). While all creative, not all the chefs could rise to the occasion and cooking for kids really isn't easy so I can sympathize with that. Hubert Keller ended up winning with his fanciful swan, whip cream mouse,  and chocolate mouse dessert.

For the elimination challenge the chefs were tasked with cooking in a dorm room using only a microwave, toaster oven and hot plate. It was pretty hysterical to hear how none of the chefs really knew how to use a microwave. I found this extremely comforting and testament to their ability, I mean really, microwaves should only be used to reheat things, not cook them...

Instead of walking through each menu one by one I just want to go over some highlights:

• Hubert Keller's first course of Scottish salmon over creamy whole grain mustard - I just thought the color were beautiful and I would have NEVER guessed he cooked that in a dorm room!
• Christopher Lee's second course of creamy risotto with sage, proscuttio and parmesean - like Gael Greene said I love anything creamy and cheesy
• Which brings me to my other favorite: Hubert Keller's creamy macaroni and cheese with prawns mushrooms and fresh herbs. Um, are you kidding me? I could easily gain the freshman 15 in a week if I has someone cooking that for me. 

Based on my analysis and the judges as well Hubert Keller won this thing hands down. It was like the man could do no wrong (well, aside from taking his macaroni into the bathroom and rinsing it off in the shower to stop the cooking), but other than that everything was pretty perfect!

I am still on the fence about the show in it's entirety, but I enjoyed it none the less. 

What did you, dear foodies, think about last night's episode?

For your enjoyment, below is a video that shows Fabio making Hubert Keller's delicious, creamy mac and cheese:

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Find Local New York Events!

Are you bored? Want to know where the best happy hours are? Check out the new tool on my sidebar that will let you know what events are going on in the New York city area. Seriously, this is one of my favorite tools for the city. 

Events, Nightlife and Deals powered by
Hapnin

You can follow them on Twitter too: http://twitter.com/coovents

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Random Pictures

Hello Dearest Foodies, 

I will be home in Texas for the weekend, but thought I would leave you with some photos that I took from my roof at dusk, the New Museum and the Brooklyn Bridge. You can use them as background or desktop savers or just look at them here :) Let me know if you would like the actual file and I can send to you. Email me at: thefrugalfoodies@gmail.com 

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

 

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How to Make a Chicago Style Hot Dog

As you may remember a couple of weeks ago I wrote about Matt's Chicago Dog and his amazing, yes, you guessed it, Chicago Dog. This week I found a great video made by Whole Foods teaching us, common culinary folk, how to make a true Chicago style dog. If nothing else this is just amusing to watch :) Enjoy! 

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Unibroue Ephemere

So let me just preface this by saying I had this beer at Spitzer's Corner and have been looking for it EVER SINCE. Seriously, that was almost six months ago...Anyways, image my surprise when last week I was looking for some beer to bring to a BBQ when I saw this little gem sitting on the beer shelf at Whole Foods. My inner monologue went something like this:

"That can't be it, can it?" "But, how? How can my search have been as simple as going to Whole Foods?" "Is this really it? Has my search come to an end?!"

I think you can now fully understand how shocked I was. So I decided that even if I was mistaken I should just buy this beer anyways in the spirit of trying new things. Luckily, I was right; the instant I popped off that beer cap I knew I had found it.  A smooth, light wheat beer infused with apple and vanilla flavors. Guys, calm down, I know you are jumping at the bit to get your hands on this beer. Seriously, though it's one of my favorite beers of all time and if you like Blue Moon, you will love this. You know how Blue Moon has that hint of orange? Well this has the same hint, but with APPLE. Ugh, delicious!!!

Before finding it at Whole Foods, I had searched high and low, I even called the distributor! However, I can assure those in the NYC area that you can find this beer at the Whole Foods on Houston and Bowery. This is a perfect summer beer and a MUST TRY!

Thanks to this person's flickr page for the picture of the beer above. 

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