Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Stouffer's Balsamic Chicken Review

Found something new and different in the frozen food aisle...

Overview
A box of frozen food from Stouffer's packaged in an orange cardboard box. Inside the box was a black plastic tray with a single compartment containing the food and a piece of plastic food wrap covering the tray. The food itself consisted of mashed potatoes and a cut of meat bathed in a sauce.
Stouffer's Balsamic Chicken Box
Cooking
I took the food out of the plastic tray when it was still frozen and put it onto a glass plate. Everything fit onto one plate and I popped it into the microwave to cook. After cooking, the only spices or additional flavoring added to the food were salt and pepper -- I tried to keep these on the potatoes only. The gravy ended up getting mixed with the potatoes on the edges since there was not a divider or separation between the two items.
Stouffer's Balsamic Chicken: Inside the Box

Taste & Verdict
Starting with the mashed potatoes, I thought they were really well done. They seemed well flavored to me even when I dug under the top layer where the salt and pepper were added -- I don't mix my them up before eating. It may have had something to do with the gravy. On the edges, there was definitely gravy mixed in with the potatoes, but I thought they tasted well further away even where it didn't look like there was any sauce.
Stouffer's Balsamic Chicken: Served
The main item was the meat. I was expecting something like a ground beef patty -- someone didn't read the label on the box before eating -- but the meat turned out to be a cut. It, mixed with the sauce, tasted reasonably good to me with its relatively soft, moist texture and adequate flavoring. The flavor of the sauce or gravy tasted a bit sweet with a touch of sourness in my view. One of the biggest things that I noticed about this box of food was the smell. Even without reading the label, I was able to tell from the smell that it would have a bit of a sweet and sour profile. Can't say it was the most appealing smell.
Close-up
So, now then. This was a reasonably good box of food to me. I found it somewhat filling but had it with something else on the side. Would I buy it again? Probably on discount to mix things up. It didn't become a new favorite though.

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