The 99 Cent Chef in Las Vegas!

What happens in Vegas stays in my blog!

Bright lights illuminating skyscraper casinos that never close, slot machines in gas station mini-marts, an elusive 99 Cent Shrimp Cocktail, and panning for gold are all featured in The 99 Cent Chef's latest travel video.

The Chef is not a gambler, except in the kitchen where anything goes! So tag along as my wing-man for a jackpot of chintzy carousing. While all the tourists are being scalped with $40 all-you-can-eat buffets and $200 tickets to see Cher, I'll show you a swinging good time with the "Rat Pack Is Back" stage show (Frank, Sammy, Dino and Joey are funny and tuneful), accompanied by a big band and served with a New York Steak dinner (including salad and dessert) -- all for 30 smackers!

Let me give it to you straight - this tightwad's secret to low-cost partying is Fremont Street, nicknamed Glitter Gulch, in old downtown Las Vegas. Clogged mega-hotel lobbys and crosswalks from the Luxor to the Bellagio on Las Vegas Boulevard? Forget about it! Fremont Street has all the great deals I'm looking for, including 99 cent Margaritas at Fremont Hotel and Casino. And my Vegas video features a candid 99 Cent Shrimp Cocktail review.

On Fremont Street the casinos are side by side and the street is closed to cars (like the Promenade on 3rd. Street in Santa Monica.) Showgirls and Elvis imitators rub elbows with everyone else under a covered promenade several city blocks long that features video collages overhead every half hour. It's noisy, raucous and outrageous. Casino betting limits are lowered here to pennies and dimes. The drinks taste watered down like everywhere, but you don't feel stiffed because the prices are cheaper.

My video wraps up with an outrageous golden nugget gambling sequence that deals you a comedy royal flush! Odds are in your favor when the Master Miser Chef bankrolls you his comp video. And you can double down on his Vegas inside bet bargains!

The 99 Cent Chef in Las Veges - Video

 

Play it here. The video runs 5 minutes 43 seconds.

To view or embed from youtube, click here.

Lanai Express's 99 Cent Shrimp Cocktail: yelp reviews here.
200 Fremont Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101
Rat Pack is Back at the Plaza Hotel: click here.
Website price is advertised at $49.99 -- a broker on the strip (next door to the McDonalds with flashy neon sign) was selling them for $30. Ticket price includes Salad, New York Strip Steak and Dessert (Martinis are extra).
Ticket buying tips: click here.
Gold Spike Prime Rib Dinner $5.99: click here.

Website for drink & dining specials in and around Las Vegas: click here.

Fremont Street Blog with info: click here.

Hotels on Fremont Street are much cheaper than on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Vegas Eggs Benedict - A Gambler's Breakfast

Let's go Vegas baby. After an all night gambling binge hit Bellagio Hotel's breakfast brunch Eggs Benedict!

You gotta break a few eggs to make this glitzy desert gamer's favorite. The Chef doesn't eat a lot of fried eggs and seldom an Eggs Benedict; however, when he gets the itch, he throws the dice and gets a winner's 7 or 11 with this recipe.

The most difficult part of an Eggs Benedict is getting the Hollandaise sauce right (oops it curdled; oh no, it's runny; now it's thickened too much!). But with the Chef dealing, it's a sure bet the deck is stacked in your favor. Most recipes for Hollandaise use too many egg yolks and butter; just cut those ingredients by half (who needs all those calories?).

For the Hollandaise sauce, plastic lemon juice is fine (although you only need the juice of half a fresh lemon); while butter is much more scarce, but shows up from time to time (butter keeps forever, so the Chef stocks up when he finds it).

99c only Stores always carry English muffins and usually, eggs - look in the cold deli case for sliced ham (or substitute a fist full of chopped spinach sauteed in a splash of olive oil for vegetarian).

Come on, roll the dice; you will not come up snake eyes with The 99 Cent Chef's Vegas Eggs Benedict.

Ingredients (one serving)

• 2 slices ham
• 1 English muffin, halved
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vinegar for poaching eggs
• Water for poaching eggs

Hollandaise Sauce

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp. water
• Juice of 1/2 lemon or 2 tbsp. plastic lemon juice
• 1/4 small stick butter or about 3 tablespoons when melted

Directions
Prepare Hollandaise sauce while water/vinegar for poached eggs comes to a boil. Melt butter. Separate egg yolk from whites and blender or whisk together yolks with lemon juice and water. Slowly add melted butter and finish blending. Pour Hollandaise in the pot you melted the butter in and keep warm over smallest burner and lowest setting of your stove top; it's important to continuously stir Hollandaise sauce for the first minute to keep it from curdling, and keep an eye on it, stirring frequently - add a teaspoon of water if it thickens too much.
Turn down boiling water to low/medium boil; gently break and add eggs for 3 - 5 minutes of poaching (the Chef likes runny yolks, so 3 minutes max). After 30 seconds, run spoon carefully under eggs to keep them from sticking to pot. Start cooking ham and begin toasting muffins; all cooking should finish about the same time. Drain poached egg with slotted spoon. Assemble muffin, ham, egg and top with Hollandaise sauce.