Trader Joe's Patagonian Scallops

Scallops are one of my favorite foods of all time. As a youngster, the family would often head to the local Bonanza Steakhouse at the mall for weekend outings and special occasions. Their fried scallops were a favorite of mine. Since then, I've sampled scallops from fancy restaurants in various cities around the country. The absolute best I can remember came from The Warehouse in Marina del Rey. That scallop was about as big as a baseball and came served in a gourmet butter sauce.

The scallops I'd grown up with at Bonanza, on the other hand, were about the size of golf balls. And these "petite and sweet" little morsels from Trader Joe's are roughly the size of marbles after cooking. They're very tiny on the tongue, but they pack a big flavor.

Imported from the Patagonia region of Argentina, these teeny scallops are quite possibly the second best scallops I've ever sampled. They've got that same rich, buttery flavor that other scallops tend to have, but these are sweeter and more delicate. They're ten bucks for the four serving bag. Bonus: each serving is only 80 calories and flaunts 13 grams of protein.

Sonia did a great job of pan-searing these little guys, with a bit of help from Gordon Ramsay. They were thoroughly thawed, patted dry between two layers of paper towels, and then tossed into butter and oil for 90 seconds on each side. We made sure we had a temp of 145°F+ and they came out lightly crispy on the outside and tender yet slightly firm on the inside.

That first batch had nothing but a bit of butter and it was amazing. The next batch was fried in a butter mixture with garlic and lemon. We also used the garlic and lemon sauce on our radiatore pasta. This was one of the best, most luxurious meals we've ever had from Trader Joe's in our nearly 16 years of reviewing their products.

I'm sure it's quite easy to mess up the timing on the cooking, especially with such small scallops, but the value and flavor are absolutely there in Trader Joe's Patagonian Scallops. We'd both buy these again in a heartbeat. As much as we loved the recently-reviewed Black Cod Sablefish with Miso Marinade, we think this product is even better. The beautiful wifey will give these nine out of ten stars. I'll go with a very rare nine and a half.

Bottom line: 9.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Crunchy Corn Kernels

I mean, we pretty much assumed these would be like chocolate covered Corn Nuts and that's pretty much what they are. If that sounds good to you, you might like 'em. I thought they'd be kinda weird...and they are.

Not the worst thing I've sampled from TJ's, but not the best either. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Crunchy Corn Kernels are actually imported from Colombia. The resealable bag will run you about four bucks. There's an interesting balance of bitter, sweet, and salty in terms of the flavor.

Texture-wise, the kernels aren't as hard as I thought they might be. They're brittle and crunchy, and they break apart easily enough without shattering violently. Sonia and I both have sensitive teeth and neither of us were bothered by the mouthfeel at all. The chocolate is smooth and there's a fairly generous coating of it on the outside of each morsel.

For us, it's just something that was interesting to try. Don't think we'd buy this product again but it's not like we're returning the bag for a refund either. Sonia and I both agree we'd try a milk chocolate version if they ever offered one. Seven out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey for Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Crunchy Corn Kernels. I'm down for six and a half.

Bottom line: 6.75 out of 10.