Day 150

Trader Joe's Cioppino Seafood Stew: As many of you may have noticed, I've had to do a bit of improvising this week due to the bad weather. I haven't been able to do any driving, which also means no shopping or restaurant visits. Luckily I've had some reserves put away for the blog, but I'm afraid they're running out pretty quick. Who knew we'd be stranded this long? Anyway, when it came time to make dinner tonight, I was rummaging through the freezer when I noticed this bag of TJ's Cioppino Seafood Stew stashed away under a lot of other food. I've had this in the freezer for months now, but never got around to trying it. I've never had cioppino anywhere, so I guess it was time to start with this frozen version.

I'm usually happy with TJ's frozen foods - they're so much better than similar versions in big-box stores. Their vesrsion of cioppino included a package of tomato-based broth along with some nice sized chunks of seafood (Alaskan cod, scallops, mussels, shrimp and clams). I heated the tomato broth separately in a saucepan till bubbling, then added the seafood mix and cooked for a few minutes more. Super easy.

After cooking, I toasted some garlic bread to dunk in the sauce. For a frozen entree, I have to say that this was pretty tasty. The broth was a bit spicy, and the seafood actually came out tender, not overcooked. The mussels were much bigger than I expected after cooking, and the chunks of cod paired well with the broth, as did the rest of the seafood. When paired with the bread, it made a nice easy dinner that was perfect for the cold weather.

I'd love to try a fresh, from scratch version of cioppino - I'm sure it's much better than this. But for now, TJ's makes a good option, if you're interested.