Tuesday's Tasting - TJ's Tequila Lime Jalapeño Breaded Shrimp (discontinued)

If there is one thing Trader Joe's does right, it's frozen shrimp. I've been a fan of their uncooked frozen shrimp for sometime, cooking them up for pestos, salads, and stir fries. Tonight's tasting is another TJ's frozen shrimp offering, but one of the prepared kind, Trader Joe's Tequila Lime Jalapeño Breaded Shrimp. Fifteen minutes in the toaster oven at 375° and these hardly-little guys were ready to eat.

I could hardly wait for these to finish baking, constantly opening the door to the toaster oven. Looking, smelling, shaking the pan, making sure they don't burn; my toaster oven seems to run hot and I've never checked to see if the temperature gauge is accurate. Each shrimp weighs in at about an ounce with the coating and has been butterflied. Keeping in mind that the breading adds weight, I'd say these guys fall into the large size category, that is about 21-30 raw shrimp per pound. Looking at the breading, it's uniform and smells well-seasoned, even in its frozen state. There is also a noticeable amount of green jalapeño pieces which got me excited.

After fifteen long minutes, the timer went off. The shrimp cooked up great, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and delicious! They were well seasoned just as I hoped, but lacking in anticipated heat from the jalapeño pieces. Still, they tasted great. I plated them with some of the Trader Joe's mango chutney previously used with TJ's Coconut Curry Chicken Stix. The chutney was a perfect pairing with the shrimp as well. Another tasting complete, another item that is sure to become a regular in my freezer. Will I ever find something in Trader Joe's freezer case that I don't like? Stay tuned for next week's Tuesday's Tasting.