Scrumptious Summer Meal, On A Shoestring

Top New York Chef Leah Cohen Tries To Bring It In Under $35 Budget!

(CBS) 

Mixed Berries & Custard

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup strawberries
1 pint heavy cream, whipped
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
Balsamic reduction (from grilled watermelon)

METHOD:

Cook the egg yolks and sugar over a double boiler whisking constantly until they are a nice pale yellow shade.

Once this mixture has cooled, fold in whipped heavy cream.

ASSEMBLY:

Place 1/3 cup of the custard at the bottom of a tall glass, top with berries. Drizzle with balsamic reduction.


So, how did Leah do in our "How Low Can You Go" competition?

Grilled Watermelon Salad
watermelon $5.99
ricotta salata $3.00
basil $1.49
balsamic vinegar $2.49
total $12.97

Potato Wrapped Tilapia
potatoes $2.71
tilapia $7.99
lemon $0.59
baby spinach $2.00
garlic $.39
shallot $.16
chicken stock $1.39
total $15.23

Mixed Berries with Custard
raspberries $2.99
strawberries $1.99
heavy cream $1.19
total $6.17

Grand total: $34.37

"How Low Can You Go?" leaders so far:

1. Paul Liebrandt $32.35
Corton

2. Scott Peacock $32.60
Watershed Restaurant

3. Joey Campanaro $33.27
The Little Owl

[tanana4]

I agree with ChangeOfIdeas - $35 for one meal?! I have to do with $10 - $15 and like the other reader, for 4 people including 2 older hungry teenage boys.

[sam-kiley]

bonjour
les melons grillés je ne connaissais pas on en apprend tous les jours..merci

[whitemale08]

A recession/depression summer meal is the same all year round....beans-n-franks or waffles.

[aChangeOfIdeas]

Alas, I opened this article hoping to find a new idea... but $35 for one meal is not recession-busting. Admittedly this looks good, but I'm mostly making meals that run no more than $20 (when we splurge) and usually more like $10, and that's for a family of four with two of them being active teenagers. Perhaps the author of this article could be challenged to do a little better on the cost.

[wwwebb50]

This is the one of the few meals for which I wanted to printout and try the whole menu. Thank you for this segment. This meal is definately on my summer menu.