Cooking with Chips

I recently got the chance to cross off an item on my bucket list:
Stand on top of a Times Square Billboard.
While I may not have actually had that particular life experience on my bucket list, when the PR team for Frito Lay invited me to watch Frito Lay’s executive chef Stephen Kalil, prepare a meal on top of a billboard, they definitely piqued my interest and I decided it was time to add that to my list.
At the time, I thought that the chips would be featured as a snack that would go along side whatever dish was being created. Little did I know that they would actually serve as the breading for a mango crusted tilapia that was out of this world.
But let’s start at the beginning. I arrived at the event at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square and was escorted to a green room where some of my favorite parenting bloggers, Amy from Selfish Mom and Mitch from GayNYCDad were already there sampling some of Frito Lay’s latest creations. In lieu of lunch, I savored jalapeno ranch sun chips, kettle chips with a parmesan ranch flavoring and garden tomato basil Lays potato chips which, as a snack maven, are incredibly addictive.
We were then escorted to the billboard/Frito Lay’s Times Square Flavor Kitchen. If you were thinking I’d be standing on a narrow billboard high a top the city, then think again. This billboard looked like a platform or roof deck with views of Times Square and ABC News Studios. Once we arrived, we were greeted by chef Stephen Kalil who had been hosting a live webcast where he was cooking up his latest creation – mango flavored tilapia coated with tomato basil chips. We had arrived just in time for a taste taste and trust me when I tell you, it was delicious.
After the tilapia, we got the chance to sample two dips that Frito Lay is considering placing in their latest chip creations – they actually have focus groups who taste chips with dip for them and then share their opinions (somebody better sign up my husband or kids for that one). Who needs dip when the chip is covered in tasty flavorings that incidentally, are all natural? Plus, if you look at the ingredients of the chips, you will also find that you’ll be able to read and understand the name of every single item. No more red dyes or mono sodium glutamate, sorbitol or other chemicals I can’t pronounce. Frito Lay is committed to creating snacks that are all natural, delicious and healthy.
What was amazing (aside from the food) was the fact that the platform we were standing on came equipped with a state of the art kitchen provided by Electrolux. As part of the Frito-Lay/Electrolux partnership, fans who visit and “like” the Frito-Lay Facebook page between April 11 and April 15 can enter for a chance to win an Electrolux appliance each day; at the end of the week, one grand prize winner will receive an entire suite of Electrolux kitchen appliances including an induction cooktop that boils water in 90 seconds[1]. Official sweepstakes rules and more information can be found at www.facebook.com/fritolay.
Following our Frito Lay Flavor Kitchen experience, we got the chance to bring home a stash for our families and I have to say, I put them in front of the ultimate focus group. I took all three bags of chips to the ballfield and during my daughter’s softball game last night, her friends and parents found themselves munching away. In fact, after the game, one of my daughter’s friends commented about how tasty the chips were and another mom said she couldn’t wait to purchase the garden tomato Lays chips at the supermarket.
As I sit her savoring the garden tomato basil chips, I have to say, Frito Lay has done it again – chips you can snack with, cook with and share with friends and family – a priceless combination!
For more information visit www.fritolay.com or www.facebook.com/fritolay.
Disclosure: I was not compensated for my post but was given three bags of potato chips and sun chips that have since been devoured by my family, friends and a few kids on my daughter’s softball team.