The Triumphant Return of Tuesday's Tastings - TJ's Butter Chicken Masala

After several months of dormancy, Tuesday's Tastings makes a triumphant return with my review of Trader Joe's Butter Chicken Masala. When I was at my local Trader Joe's about a month ago, I noticed a few new frozen Indian meals that looked like they had some promise. I took a look at the ingredients of this Butter Chicken Masala and saw fenugreek, an herb commonly used in much of India's native dishes including curry. The inclusion of this herb added some credibility to Trader Joe's claim on the box that this was an "Authentic Indian Recipe"so I thought for a few dollars I would give it a try.

After about 10 minutes in the microwave - 5 minutes on defrost, 4 minutes on high, and 1 minute to cool - I peeled back the cellophane cover and was greeted with a familiar smell, that of slow cooked, tender, spicy chicken masala. The basmati rice lacked much of any fragrance and with my first bite I was greeted with some slightly rubbery grains, but the chicken was very tender, very flavorful, and actually quite good. Like many Indian dishes, the chicken was spicy, but not hot spicy, just spices spicy. It tasted very close to some real butter chicken masalas that I've eaten in India and that's a big compliment to Trader Joe. I did find that when I mixed the chicken and gravy (what Indian's call sauce) with the rice, the whole meal was very good and certainly tasted like an authentic Indian recipe.

If you like Indian food, real Indian food, I recommend you pick up some of this Trader Joe's Butter Chicken Masala the next time you're at the market. Once you've had a taste, come back here and leave a comment; let me know what you think.

Happy eating.

Whole wheat penne with sweet potatoes and leeks

Here is a real simple dish that you can serve up any night of the week. It's got lots of flavor, simple ingredients, and is good for you. The leeks practically melt into this dish, lending lots of mild oniony flavor. Next time I make this I'll probably wait until the sweet potatoes have cooked for a few minutes before adding the leeks, they really did practically melt away. I also added a cup of frozen peas a few minutes before the end, and skipped the nutmeg. Not on purpose though, I just forgot to add it. I finished off the dish with some grated pecorino romano. Did you know that pecorino romano is made from sheep's milk? It is. J can't have anything with cow's milk, it's an allergy, so parmesano reggiano is out. But sheep and goat's milk cheeses are alright, so we use pecorino romano on our pasta. The original recipe as seen in the February 2008 issue of Real Simple magazine can be found below. Enjoy!


multigrain pasta with sweet potatoes and leeks from Real Simple February 2008
hands-on time: 25 minutes | total time: 25 minutes | serves 4

12 ounces multigrain penne
4 teaspoons olive oil
3 leeks (white and light green parts), cut into half moons
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh sage, chopped
1 pound sweet potatoes (1 large or two small), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
3/4 grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring, until they soften, 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sage and cook 2 minutes. Add the sweet potato, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper and cook, covered, stirring twice, until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano and the reserved cooking water and simmer, stirring, until the potatoes are fully tender, 2 to 4 minutes.

Add the cooked pasta and nutmeg and toss.

Divide amount individual bowls and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan or Romano and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper.

Enjoy!

Thursday's Tasting: Rice Bowl with White Chicken, Vegetables & Teriyaki Sauce

Winter is here in New England. Snow, sleet, rain and cold. When the roads are covered in snow, the car is a sheet of ice, and the wind is making it feel like well below zero, it's a good night to stay in. So you can't make it to the supermarket to put together a nice meal, that's okay. Just make sure you have some rice bowls from Trader Joe's in your freezer.

This week, Tuesday's Tasting is a little late, two days late in fact, making this Thursday's Tasting. Winter weather has struck down on New England and I didn't have an opportunity on Tuesday to post my weekly review from Trader Joe's freezer case. This week's tasting, albeit it two days late, is Trader Joe's Rice Bowl with White Chicken, Vegetables & Teriyaki Sauce. The visible vegetables in this bowl are carrots, broccoli, green beens, and red peppers. The chicken is white meat and the teriyaki sauce, well looks and smells like teriyaki sauce.

This bowl is low in fat, high in flavor, and packed with 19g of protein. The wrapper says to microwave on high for four minutes and let it stand for one minute before serving. So I did. Trader Joe has done it again. This rice bowl is packed with flavor. The vegetables still have some bite to them, the white meat chicken is tender and juicy, and the teriyaki sauce tastes like, well, a good teriyaki sauce, the perfect amount to coat all the ingredients in the bowl. Add this to the list of rice bowls that you should stock in your freezer. It's quick and easy, and very tasty.

Right about now you're probably wondering if there is anything I don't like. I've reviewed many offerings from Trader Joe's freezer and really haven't had anything bad to say about any of them. At least I haven't told you NOT to buy any of them yet. Have no fear, I'll keep you honest with a review next week that will prove that not everything in Trader Joe's freezer is great. Curious what it is? Check back next Tuesday for my review of ... You didn't really think I'd tell you, did you?

I'm just one food guy, thanks for reading!

Tuesday's Tasting - TJ's Maryland Style Crab Cakes

If I told you that Trader Joe's sold a package of two Maryland Style Crab Cakes for only $2.99 would you believe me? Would you believe me if I told you that they are actually really good?

This week's Tuesday Tasting is, you guessed it, Trader Joe's Maryland Style Crab Cakes. Each $2.99 package contains two 3 oz. crab cakes. Each cake contains a blend of blue, jonah, and snow crab meat as well as mayonnaise, cornbread, green onion, parsley, Worcestershire, dijon mustard, and some other stuff.

The package recommends thawing the crab cakes for one hour at room temperature or for 24 hours in the refrigerator then cooking them in a skillet over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes per side. I'm telling you, don't bother thawing the crab cakes first, they will be very difficult to handle when soft. I placed two frozen crab cakes in a hot skillet with a couple tablespoons of canola oil and cooked them for a few minutes on each side.

The crab cakes browned up nicely and really are very good. I served mine on a toasted whole wheat British muffin, Trader Joe's version of an English muffin, with some Bookbinder's horseradish mustard and a side salad of field greens dressed lightly with an aged balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. These Maryland Style Crab Cakes from Trader Joe's would be really good at twice the price but at $2.99 a package, they are one of the best values in the freezer case. I suggest you pick some up and try them yourself then check back with me and let me know how you like them. Thanks for reading, see you next week for Tuesday's Tasting.

Allergy warning: Crab cakes are made in a facility that processes milk, peanuts, and tree nuts.

Tuesday's Tasting - TJ's Thai Style Massaman Chicken

This week's tasting is another rice bowl, Trader Joe's Thai Style Massaman Chicken. Massaman is a coconut milk-based curry, as most Thai style curries are, and is mild on the heat scale. Indian curries on the other hand rate very high on the heat scale.

In the premiere Tuesday's Tasting on November 14, I wrote about being able to read all the ingredients on the list. I've noticed on most of these frozen bowls that I can read all the ingredients. Most also claim to be free of preservatives and artificial flavors. Although it does not state that it's all natural, is that not the same thing? Enough semantics, let's see how it tastes.

This Massaman Chicken rice bowl from Trader Joe's contains lots of juicy, tender pieces of chicken, large pieces of bamboo shoots and noticeable pieces of diced red peppers. The rice, as with previous bowls I've tasted, is perfect. The sauce quite tasty too, with a good balance of familiar curry flavors, coconut and just the slightest amount of heat from a some cayenne (listed in the ingredients list.) Don't worry if you don't like spicy food, the heat level is very mild. My mom, whose taste buds combust with the slightest bit of heat, would probably like this.

Another tasting, another tasty dinner. Trader Joe you are my freezer case hero.

Now go to Trader Joe's and buy something you've never tried. Don't be afraid, Joe knows his stuff!

Tuesday's Tasting - TJ's Shrimp Thai Red Curry Rice Bowl

I think that I'd be friends with the people Trader Joe has tasting food in his test kitchen. Seriously, this is my fourth week tasting items from Trader Joe's freezer case, and this is the fourth week that I'll put my stamp of approval on what I've eaten. Trader Joe's food tasters, I raise my glass to you. On to tonight's tasting.

Tonight's tasting features Trader Joe's Shrimp Thai Red Curry Rice Bowl. After five minute of cook time and two minutes of rest, this rice bowl was ready to eat.

The first few bites were a little light on flavor, but as I dug deeper and mixed everything up, the flavors really came together. There is a decent amount of heat from the red curry paste, and like most Thai curries, the coconut milk really balanced everything out. The shrimp were tender and the veggies still had good crunch despite being previously frozen. Even the rice was perfectly cooked, light and fluffy. While this rice bowl did not have bold flavors like the lemon grass chicken I tasted a few weeks ago, it was still very good. I'll definitely stock more of these in my freezer for nights I don't feel like cooking.

Tuesday's Tasting - TJ's Lemon Grass Chicken

It's not a secret that Trader Joe's offers good food at fair prices, but did you know that Trader Joe's has a "no questions asked" product guarantee? I can't say the guarantee is an incentive for me to try new things, but it might be for you. Try something new, if you don't like it, bring it back and Joe will give you a full refund, no questions ask.

I personally have been enjoying Trader Joe's unique products for several years now, some so much that you'll find them in my pantry or freezer year round. Many of them have actually come from recommendations made by other Trader Joe's loyalists. Now it's my turn to share my opinion, every Tuesday, on what I'm finding at my local TJ's. Welcome to Tuesday's Tasting.

Trader Joe's stocks a diverse selection of frozen, prepared foods, both entrée and appetizer offerings. Although I've always been skeptical of frozen dinners, my wife has convinced me that TJ's rice bowls are good. So tonight's tasting, from Trader Joe's freezer case, is Trader Joe's Thai Style Lemon Grass Chicken & Seasoned Rice. I've been happy with Trader Joe's private label products in the past and one of my favorite meals to prepare comes from Trader Joe's freezer case, so I have high hopes for this meal. I can also read every ingredient in the list, another sign of hope for it's quality.

After five minutes in the microwave and two minutes of rest, presumably to prevent me from burning the #@!^ out of my mouth, I was enjoying this delicious dinner right. I was pleasantly surprised at how tender and juicy the chicken was. The green curry sauce had a very good balance of lemon grass, coconut and curry flavors and the green beans and carrots had good flavor, despite being previously frozen. The veggies did, however, exhibit the common characteristics of frozen vegetables, they did not have much snap. Nonetheless, I was impressed. Trader Joe did not disappoint me with this one.

Like I said, I've always been skeptical of frozen dinners so the bar was pretty low, but this meal was very good. I would recommend Trader Joe's Thai Style Lemon Grass Chicken & Seasoned Rice to anyone, frozen dinner lover or not. For nights that you don't feel like cooking, make sure you have one of these in the freezer. Trader Joe's has a whole line of frozen dinners, maybe of which I'll be reviewing for Tuesday's Tastings. In fact, I have three more flavors in my freezer that I'm now looking forward to.

Be sure to stop by next week for Tuesday's Tasting.