TJ’s TACO SEASONING MIX spice blend

08 Nov 2019 7 Comments

by promacnyc in condiments, General, Pantry, Products, Rave, Trader Joes Tags: blend, Mexican, mix, seasoning, spices

My headline: “Its not just for Tacos”

This little bag is possibly one of the cheapest things in the store, but I’ve discovered this is a great thing to have on hand. It’s certainly worth buying for 79 cents. “Taco Seasoning Mix” is a spice blend of a seasoning that is really good and very versatile. Is it just for Tacos? Well, this is a spice blend… You know like the ones you see in some fancy shops for $10 for a little bag? Even if you have some or all of these spices in your spice rack they are probably not as fresh as whats in this foil package from South Africa (!) The blend of spices and ratio of all the seasoning are spot on. This “taco” seasoning blend is better than any I’ve tried. The spices are :

Sea salt, cumin, cayenne, paprika, onion, garlic, black pepper, oregano, dried bell pepper, dried chile pepper and smoked paprika.

An excellent spice blend thats packed with flavor with a bit of chile heat, but not massive heat. I’ve used it with ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, as well as to marinate and grill chicken breasts, or frankly practically anything you can think of, even to season steaks or other things. Try it and see if you like a sprinkle or a nice amount. I am pretty generous, especially for “Mexican” things.

This little bag of spices can makes it super easy to come up with something tasty for dinner or lunch, or make something a little boring more exciting and flavorful. For example, Ground Turkey can be boring, right? Try giving ground turkey a nice coating of this seasoning the next time you are grilling up turkey burgers or tacos. Brush a little olive oil on your meat, season it (this has salt so you may not need any or much). Throw the seasoned meat into a very hot cast iron pan, or non-stick pan with some olive oil. The lovely aroma of the spices will hit you immediately. Your old boring turkey burgers or tacos are now mouth waveringly exciting and spicy delicious. Seriously! I make great turkey tacos with this, or use ground beef. Cook it up. Warm some corn tortillas, and you have the makings of Taco Night at your place. On steak? Why not? On some Tofu? Ditto.

Spiced Chicken Breasts: Brush them with oil, season with this mix, marinate for maybe say 30 minutes. Grill in a hot pan till one side is well browned, flip and sear the other side. COVER THE PAN AND TURN HEAT OFF. LET IT SIT COVERED FOR 10 MINUTES. This method will make the juiciest chicken breasts you ever had. If you don’t use gas but have an electric burner, probably 5 minutes as the resident heat on the burner will continue the cooking more than a gas burner.

“PRODUCT OF SOUTH AFRICA” – where they know a good barbecue and how to grill with spices.

Vegetarians: Did I mention it will even perk up your beans?

This is worth a try!

Italian Tomato Paste (in a tube!)

12 Oct 2019 5 Comments

by promacnyc in condiments, General, Pantry, Products, Rave, Trader Joes Tags: healthy, homemade, no preservatives, Products, Rave, review, Trader Joes, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian

u·ma·mi (pronunciation: u -ˈmämēe)

A category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), corresponding to the flavor of glutamates.

What genius invented this product? No, really I’m serious… whoever thought this up is a bloody genius. Putting tomato paste in a tube like toothpaste might be the greatest invention since the napkin. You might think of this as a minor advancement of our civilization but honestly this is so practical and useful. How many times have you needed perhaps just 1 tablespoon of tomato paste to add to something and thought, “Jeez, I don’t want to open up that whole little can of tomato paste for a spoonful. I’ll just end up throwing most of it away”. Well, now when you need a spoonful or two you don’t have to open a whole little can of tomato paste. You just squeeze out what you need from this tube, and keep the rest in the fridge for the next time. It will last at least a month or two in your fridge. Actually a few months (even though they say on the box, use within 2 weeks…my experience says it lasts for a few months once opened). So for practicality this is a great item. Every cook should have this in the cupboard/fridge, always. This wonderful little item is only a little over a buck!

Tomato paste, which has a great deal of glutamates present = UMAMI

Tomato paste, dried mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, soy sauce, miso, seaweed – these are just a few food items that, as they contain natural glutamates, and bring UMAMI (aka the 5th taste) to what your cooking. A spoon of tomato paste will add a depth of flavor to many things. Unlock its secrets! See some of the links below.

Having said all that, when you need a can of paste and will use up the whole thing, or most of it, get the little can, which is cheaper in the long run, and thats only about 89 cents.

LINKS

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/what-is-tomato-paste

https://www.brit.co/how-to-use-tomato-paste/

https://www.today.com/food/chef-s-secret-how-use-tomato-paste-right-way-t75761

Trader Joe’s SWEET CHILI SAUCE

29 Jul 2019 5 Comments

by promacnyc in condiments, Prices, Products, Trader Joes Tags: Asian, chinese, Food, fresh, no preservatives, product, Products, Rave, sauce, spicy, sweet, vegan, vegan gluten free, vegetarian

RAVE

Apparently this is one of Trader Joe’s most popular products, and not without reason. I know it’s one of my favorite TJ products, on my “gotta always have in fridge” list. As the name says, this is a delicious sweet chili sauce that is pretty much the same traditional Asian sweet and spicy chili sauce you will find at any Asian grocery. It’s both sweet and spicy but not crazy spicy, with a perfect balance of the two tastes plus garlic of course. This sauce is typically served with chicken in many Asian cuisines. I had been buying Chinese brands of this stuff for years whenever I went to a special Asian grocery or supermarket but now Trader Joe’s make a version of it so even more convenient, as we put this sauce on many things though its terrific with most any chicken. If you bought a store cooked rotisserie chicken for dinner, serving with this sauce will that roast chicken 10x as tasty. What else can you use it for. Really anything… Chicken sausages? Yes. Fish? Yes (in fact you can put some on top of almost finished broiled salmon and put it back for a minute for a sweet spicy glaze). Grilled pork. Sure! Eggs? Yes. Get it? Seriously I think there is little this would not be good on, except may ice cream.

Easy dipping sauce for dumplings: a 2 tablespoons of this sweet chili sauce, a tablespoon of soy sauce, a little rice vinegar. Fresh grated ginger if you have it. Easy. Some extra garlic wouldn’t hurt either. Now you have a sauce for all those pot sticker dumplings in the freezer. Dinner in 10 minutes.

A bottle used to sell for only $1.29. Last time I checked it went up to $1.49, not bad. I can’t live without this stuff.

TJ’s Fresh Cranberries (and RECIPE)

23 Nov 2011 3 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, can, condiments, DIY, Fall Season, fresh, General, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: canned, cranberries, cranberry, fresh, healthy, no preservatives, Products, recipe, review, sauce, Thanksgiving, Trader Joes, vegetarian, vs

Every year this post becomes the most popular post around Thanksgiving, ENJOY~

FRESH VS. CANNED CRANBERRY SAUCE

To me the greatest sin one can make for Thanksgiving is not making the cranberry sauce from scratch and just opening up a can.

There is simply no comparison to MAKING YOUR OWN CRANBERRY SAUCE fresh, and no reason not to. It’s literally the EASIEST thing in the world to make. If you do it this year, I promise you everyone will say how wonderful the cranberry sauce is. Seriously it could not be easier to make. Recipe follows….

If you’ve never made your own cranberry sauce and are used to opening a can of that jiggly jelly stuff (ugh!) you owe it to your family to make it this year. The “work” involved may take you about 1 minute, plus maybe 15 minutes just letting it do its own thing cooking. TIP: Make it at least an hour ahead of eating so it can be served at room temp (hint, even better do it one or two days before to get it out of the way). It will set up beautifully in the fridge. Take it out of the fridge an hour or so before eating.

EASY “RECIPE” : Open bag. Dump berries in a pot. Add one cup water* and one cup of sugar. Bring to a boil. Basically that’s it. When it boils, just lower the heat down to a simmer and let it alone until the cranberries “pop” in about 15 to 20 minutes. When the berries have popped, they’re done so just turn off the fire. DONE! Let it cool for 30 minutes or so. As it cools it will thicken up (cranberry skin contains a great deal of pectin, a natural thickener).

If this easy recipe seems “too easy” for you and you want to get a tiny bit fancier and more creative, here are things you try… * Instead of water, you can use orange juice. A bit fancier? Grate in a little orange zest. Even more creative? This year I added a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and a pinch of fennel seeds and some lime juice. Ginger can be nice in a cranberry sauce.

Once you try this you will be shocked at how easy it is to make and how infinitely better this fresh sauce is over the canned stuff. At the time of this writing a 12 oz. bag cost $1.99, a decent price. (UPDATE: 2018, a bag was $3.49 at TJ’s) Update 2: 2022, a bag was back down to now $2.29. UPDATE 2023: Organic ones are $3 a bag so buy those!

You can even buy an extra bag of berries and throw it as is in the freezer where it can keep for a few months if you want it outside of just Thanksgiving. It goes great with grilled chicken breasts.

Once you make your own, you will realize how easy it was to make and and like me, will never buy the sauce in a can again, or even TJ’s pre-made stuff.

Now go, and sin no more…

#DIY #CranberrySauce

RECIPE VARIATION: Indian Cranberry Chutney. In a saute pan, melt a tablespoon butter, and add some chopped garlic, a quarter chopped onion and saute stirring for 3 minutes. Add a teaspoon of TJ’s curry powder (or more to taste) and cook one minute. Add the zest of one orange and its juice with 1/4 cup of water and 1/4-1/2 cup of brown sugar or Palm Sugar (or more or less to taste). Add the package of cranberries and simmer 25-30 minutes stirring frequently. If you want heat add a few dashes of Cayenne or your favorite Hot Sauce (PeriPeri, Green Dragon.…) to taste.