Starfish Gluten Free Frozen Fish - Review

I look through the Price Chopper ad every week before I go grocery shopping, and last week (the 2/7 ad) there was a large section about a new product: Starfish brand gluten free fish. They carry three types of breaded frozen fish: Cod, Haddock and Halibut. (There is a difference in price -- last week Price Chopper had an AdvantEDGE sale on these fish: Cod was $3.99, Haddock was $4.99, and Halibut was $7.99). Well, not only are my husband and I always interested in trying new products, but convenience foods are a must in our household. On the nights I have class, my husband's either on his own or we're throwing something together with five minutes to spare -- and trust me, the limited gluten free fast food options we do have tend to get old pretty quickly.

So anyway, we picked up two boxes of the Starfish fish - we decided to try the Cod and the Haddock (figuring that if we liked them, we'd try the Halibut at a later time, just based on the expense). This evening we tried the first box, the Cod. And I have to say, it was pretty darn good! When I bought the boxes I was assuming the fillets would be larger -- kind of like what you'd see on a fish sandwich -- but they were a little smaller than that. (I suppose they'd make good sliders, if you want a frame of reference). I baked them -- alongside, we whipped up some tartar sauce to go with the fish and had fries and peas.

The batter was really good -- crunchy, but not overdone, and definitely not soggy. You definitely needed tartar sauce with it for flavor, but they're more satisfying than Ian's fish sticks (which have been our only option for quite some time). I'm looking forward to trying the Haddock next time, and when I go back to Price Chopper I'll definitely be picking up more of their fish and trying the Halibut as well!

Let's just hope that the Starfish fish sticks around and doesn't suffer the same fate as Bell & Evans gluten free chicken (which we still dearly miss).

Review: Bell & Evans Gluten Free Breaded Chicken Breast Tenders

Vince and I, though newly wed, have lived together for a few years now. Having had the time to get to know one another and settle into our weekly rituals, one of our Sunday morning (or, I'll admit, sometimes early afternoon) rituals involves the Sunday paper. We bring it in the house, and of course the first thing Vince grabs is the Sports section and the Best Buy ad, while I go right for the comics (gotta love Dilbert), the coupon circulars, and the Price Chopper ad. Well, imagine my surprise a couple of Sundays ago when I saw a new featured item, Bell & Evans Gluten Free chicken. Of course, my curiosity was piqued, and Vince and I made a point to add it to our weekly shopping list.

Now, we haven't shared quality chicken tenders since his celiac diagnosis. We have purchased Ian's products in the natural food section of our grocery store - while the fish sticks are decent, the "chicken" tenders leave a lot to be desired. Keeping that in mind along with the fact that, hey, we both work full time and we're in the process of house hunting, well, quick and easy dinners are A-OK in my book! So, Thursday afternoon comes and we head to Price Chopper, shopping list in hand. We located the new Bell & Evans frozen chicken in the meat case, and despite the relatively steep price of almost $6 per box we picked up a box of their breaded chicken tenders as well as a box of their chicken nuggets for our usually well-stocked freezer.

Monday evening rolled around and I, being the slacker that I am, couldn't bring myself to row in the muggy heat. We hadn't planned anything for dinner but were very sick of burgers after the BBQ-filled holiday weekend, so we eyed the chicken tenders. According to the boxed instructions you can either pan-fry the tenders or bake them in the oven - I chose to go the somewhat healthier route and bake them. The box came with five decent-sized chicken tenders - I'd say they're about the same size as you'd get if you ordered them at a diner. It might not have been enough had we been absolutely famished or had we not had a ton of BBQ leftovers to use up, but paired with green salad, gluten free macaroni salad (Vince's specialty, using Tinkyada pasta), and corn on the cob it was just the right amount. I've also recently learned that Jack Daniel's Honey Smokehouse BBQ sauce is also gluten free (yay!), so we heated some of that up to dip the tenders.

I baked the tenders for 20 minutes, and it might have been a shade too long or else I should have greased my cookie sheet because they were just starting to get dark on the bottom. Still, they tasted done to perfection. The chicken was real chicken, not the fake-tasting stuff that Ian's uses in their chicken nuggets. It cut easily and was moist, tender and juicy. The breading has just the right amount of crispiness, and you couldn't tell it's gluten free at all from the color, flavor or texture. We devoured them, and immediately decided to add them to the short list of frozen convenience foods we keep permanently stocked in our freezer. We also decided that next time we'll have to try pan-frying them (or maybe experimenting with the deep fryer) to get the taste and texture of chicken tenders from a restaurant.

All in all - I would highly recommend Bell & Evan's Gluten Free Breaded Chicken Breast Tenders, and I look forward to trying the Bell & Evan's Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets in our freezer. According to their package and website, Bell & Evan's makes several other gluten free products, including gluten free breaded chicken patties, gluten free breaded chicken breasts, gluten free Italian Style breaded chicken patties, and gluten free parmesan breaded chicken breasts. I hope that Price Chopper realizes what a great find this is and starts carrying more chicken products from Bell & Evans!

If you get a moment - pick some Bell & Evan's gluten free chicken up at Price Chopper - you won't be disappointed, whether you follow a gluten free diet or not - and let them know not only how much you enjoy this product but also how great it is that local grocery stores are expanding their gluten free selection!