Sifting Through Austin

I previously wrote about the process of ordering from the Soup Peddler and what the delivery experience was like, but did not actually comment on the items we had ordered. You can view that post here. To catch everyone up, we had ordered two entrees and ate one of them the night it arrived at the doorstep, and had put the other in the freezer for a rainy day. We finally thawed out the Shrimp and Grits and wanted to share our thoughts on both.

So, let us start with the one we cooked up the day it arrived. The Chicken Muffuletta was super simple to prepare. It was just a matter of turning on the oven and popping the tin container in for 15 minutes. This dish was basically a hammered out chicken breast wrapped around a mixture of Salami, ham, provolone cheese and a black olive tapenade mixture. There were two portions and each were sprinkled with dijon bread crumbs. The chicken was moist and you could distinctly taste all the different flavor components of the stuffing. The bread crumbs came out nice and crunchy and added a great texture to the dish. The stuffed chicken breasts were served over some dirty rice, which was fluffy and seasoned well. Overall this was a great tasting dish and you could not beat the ease of preparation. The packaging indicates it serves 2 and we were pleasantly satisfied without any other additions to the dinner. On the Soup Peddler website you can rate each dish on the soup-o-meter scale and look at its ranking before ordering. The rankings are anywhere from 1 to 5 spoons. We rated this one 4 spoons, which equates to: “Damn good. I look forward to seeing this on the menu soon”.

I got a chuckle from this the moment I saw it. A picture of Flo from Mel’s Diner graces the label of Shrimp and Grits. Some of you may not get the reference, but it was from a sitcom named Alice that was a popular tv series back in the early to mid 80′s. The character’s main catch phrase was “Kiss My Grits!” and it was in a definite southern twang. This dish took just a bit more preparation, but not much. You actually had to take it out of the tin container and heat it up in a pot (tres dificile); then add some water to get it to your desired thickness and consistency. I made the mistake of adding a little bit too much water, so it turned out more like soupy grits. I only added about 3/4 of a cup. I would advise maybe adding a Tablespoon at a time. The ingredient list is short (shrimp, grits, bacon, cheese, butter, bell pepper, onion, scallions, parsley, garlic, spices) and the flavor is wow. The marinated shrimp had a good texture and were very plump and large. He did not skimp on the number of shrimp either. The grits were rich and cheesy, despite the soupy texture and it was all seasoned nicely – it deftly embodied the spirit of the dish. It held up to the freezing process well and I’d say you wouldn’t have been able to tell that it had been frozen for a few weeks. This one ranked in at 4.75 spoons and I would have rated it around that range.

Now I am on their e-mail list and get the weekly menus. Each week there seems to be a great deal of variety and most of the dishes sound intriguing. So far I have not seen any repeats, but there probably has been. I would definitely order from the Peddler again. Very convenient and easy and so far has been tasty. He entices you too. He threw in a $5 off coupon for the next order. Maybe next time we will actually try a soup.