“The mild, slightly briny flavor and tender, meaty texture of Trader Joe’s Calamari Pieces in Olive Oil should win over even the most ‘tin-ative’ tasters; especially when incorporated into a charcuterie board with toasted Organic Baguette slices, Mini Heirloom Tomatoes, Colossal Garlic -Stuffed Olives, and fresh lemon wedges. And these Calamari also score a definite tinned-fish win when added to a bowl of Spanish Rice, or to a batch of prepared Linguine with Pesto & Tomatoes.”
Are you Tinned Fish aficionado? If so try this new product Trader Joe’s just introduced which could be interesting to all of those into exploring canned/tinned sardines and other fish, as this is a current popular craze that has really caught on big time via social media. This CALAMARI is a good addition to your tinned fish options.
Trader Joe’s newest addition to their line of canned seafood is: “Calamari Pieces in Olive Oil”. (calamari aka “jumbo squid). This is a Product Of Spain where fishermen catch the squid in the traditional manner, jigged/line caught. The squid is cleaned and the tentacles are cooked in olive oil and canned. When I opened up a can I thought the small pieces of the calamari (tentacles only) looked appealing. Nothing too scary.
The squid had a nice briny taste and was both tender and slightly chewy at the same time. Its good as-is out of the can however this was certainly improved with a squeeze of lemon and a few grinds of black pepper, so I say those are a must with this.
You could enjoy this as right out of the can as an appetizer with perhaps some toasted baguette or other good bread, or on some crackers. Or you might use this in a dish, for example to make a rice dish. You could make an easy Japanese style rice bowl – just top a bowl of warm rice with some of this squid and the juice. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of soy sauce.
I could easily envision using a can of this to make something like a “linguine with clam sauce” type of pasta just using this calamari instead of clams. Add lots of garlic, parsley, lemon, white wine and olive oil, either just like that or perhaps with a tomato sauce. Or using this in perhaps a Paella type of rice dish…
Use your imagination with this Calamari in Olive Oil! Let us know in the comments what you come up with.
$3.99
I would buy this again.
“The large tentacles of the captured Calamari are cleaned & cooked just enough to yield a firm, yet tender texture. They’re cut into 1.5-centimeter chunks and packed with extra virgin olive oil & salt.”
Read more about this on Trader Joe’s website here:
My recommendation? Don’t buy the version of these noodles which are in the red package. Get this one (black package) they came out with later, as it has a way better sauce (“Spicy Garlic and Sesame”)!
They came out with an improved sauce flavor of the popular SQUIGGLY KNIFE CUT NOODLES – this one with “spicy garlic sesame” sauce, as opposed to the the original one’s packet of “soy and sesame” sauce (which I found so crappy I suggest you not use it and make your own sauce)
This one comes with the sauce in 2 packets, one being the sesame sauce in a separate packet.
“Great for salads. On a cracker. With Cream Cheese. Or Creme Fraiche”
TJ’s smoked rainbow trout will definitely satisfy fans of smoked fish (raises hand).
You will find this in the Refrigerated case near all the kinds of smoked salmon Trader Joe’s sells. These fillets of Smoked Rainbow Trout are delicious. At $8.49 a package (8 oz) yes it might be a bit of a splurge, however the quality is definitely gourmet level, and smoked fish ain’t cheap eats. We find it worth the occasional splurge as it is so good, and I can get stretch one package into two meals.
As with smoked fish a little goes a long way, I found I can usually come up with two meals out of a package. For instance, the first night I used one fillet as an appetizer, served on crackers, and that was very yummy. The next night, I used the other fillet and came up with a Japanese style rice dish for dinner. That in particular was really tasty., and a big hit in our house.
Open up this package and you will find a half side of a rainbow trout, skin on, filleted into two pieces, one thick piece plus the thinner tail half.
This trout has been delicately smoked with four fruit wood chips (Maple, Oak, Apple and Cherry). Which gives this an appealing smoky aroma. As a huge fan of smoked fish over a lifetime, I can tell good stuff and I would call this gourmet level. While not exactly cheap, TJ’s price for this is less. For instance I saw a similar package of trout at Whole Foods going for about $12.
The fish has the typical pellicule (glossy coating) from being smoked which is normal and of course edible. I found the trout to have a nice smoke from the 4 fruit wood chips they use; The smoke is not too heavy, its just right, it doesn’t overpower the trout, it enhances the flavor of the fish. I did find it the tiniest hair on the salty side but this is normal for smoked fish and its counter balanced when you eat the fish with other things which balance out the salinity.
You could prep the fish by taking off the skin, then breaking it up in bite size bits. I broke up the fish with my fingers. You will get smelly fingers but just wash with soap and lemon. If you don’t want to use your fingers you could try doing this with two forks.
Use the pieces any way you wish. One idea TJ’s has is serving this on top of a salad, which is a good idea. A similar variation I came up with is “smoked trout potato salad“. I served the smoked fish with a lemon mayo dressing on top of cold boiled potatoes. The combo was so good. The smoky fish matched perfectly with the potatoes. We really enjoyed this for a summer dinner. Next time I will toss in some capers too, which will make this even better.
PS – I made this in fact a few weeks after I wrote this. We loved it! This potato and smoked fish salad was delicious and so easy.
SMOKED TROUT AND POTATO SALAD
Boil up golden or red potatoes cut into large cubes in salted water till cooked. Drain. I added a cucumber and quarter of a large Sweet onion on top of the potatoes. I put one fillet of the trout on top which I shredded up into bite size chunks (I did it with fingers, or use two forks). Dressing: My dressing was half mayo, half Greek yogurt, lot of lemon juice and dill seasoning. Lot of black pepper.
You can easily make a smoked trout salad the same way, mix your fish up with some mayo, sour cream, or greek yogurt, lemon juice, maybe a little chopped celery or scallions…. Try that on top of a toasted bagel.
I thought this smoked trout would match perfectly with CREME FRAICHE as they suggest, and it did especially with a drizzle of lemon juice. You could use sour cream or even plain Greek yogurt instead, maybe with a little dill or dill pickle season blend. Or mayonnaise with lemon juice….
The trout would be great on a bagel with cream cheese too of course like smoked salmon.
The first night I did an appetizer with the trout. We spread creme fraiche on crackers and topped it with shredded up smoked trout. For the next night, I had saved one fillet for another dish. I came up with an idea to use the smoked fish for a Japanese rice dish with the trout. The finished dish turned out great. I used my traditional clay pot (donabe) as I love cooking with it. A rice cooker would work just as well, or even a heavy pot on the stove-top. Not liking to waste anything I even used the skin to make an easy fish stock (dashi) before hand to cook the rice in and add that flavor. The cooked skin went to the cats later as nothing should be wasted as per the Japanese philosophy of waste “Mottainai” (Mottainai: A Japanese Philosophy of Waste ).
All I can say is my wife, who is Japanese, loved my rice dish and deemed it delicious, which is saying something as she is not easy to please! A recipe follows below.
JAPANESE STYLE RICE WITH SMOKED TROUT – you can make this in a clay pot, rice cooker, or just any heavy pot on the stove. (DASHI/BROTH) Remove skin from the fish and put it in a pot with 2 cups water with 1/2 inch thinly sliced ginger. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes (you can add carrots or other vegetables for additional flavor and put them in the rice later) Or you can use Dashi powder (Hondashi) for a fish stock.
Wash 1.5 cups of rice (short grain rice preferred but Jasmine rice will work in a pinch) Place drained rice in your pot and cover rice with broth by a 1/2 inch. Place the Smoked Trout fillet on top of rice. Add fresh ginger slivered or grated. Cover and cook the rice as you usually would, being sure to not overcook it (as a rule I would say cook 16 minutes, then turn off and don’t open lid. When the rice is finished cooking just let it sit 10 minutes with the cover on and don’t peek. When ready use a wooden spoon or spatula and gently break up the fish into the rice if it still has large pieces. Gently mix it all up adding a drizzle of soy sauce. Add 2 chopped scallions. Option: add edamame or peas or other cooked vegetables too if you like.
I would buy this again. This smoked trout is gourmet quality. Worth the occasional splurge of $8.49 a package I can get two meals out of a package.
By the way, once you learn how to make rice in it you will find that these traditional clay pots make the best and tastiest rice, especially if you love “o-koge” the slightly browned up crunchy rice from the bottom of the pot, which is popular in so many food cultures (Japan, China, Spain, Iran….) I adore that crunchy brown part.
Oh those French! They have such wonderful charcuterie and other pork products. However I wasn’t expecting to see it listed in these sweets which are a PRODUCT OF FRANCE.
A friend gave us these pretty tasty chocolate marshmallows to test out. They are pretty good if a bit sweet for my tastes. However as we were looking at the ingredients listed, we were all a bit surprised when when one of us noticed something we weren’t expecting.
She said “hey did you know this has pork in it?” I wasn’t expecting that! We looked at the label yes its got “pork” (“pork gelatin”). Now gelatin is in lots of food products (as gelatin or collogen) and I believed it was usually made from (cow) bones. However it can be made from other products too.
Just so you know.
Anyway just so you know!
So this could make this problem a bit of a no-no for some people, like Kosher Jews or Muslims. Sure Kosher products are clearly marked “K” for Kosher but but not Halal items have no markings to my knowledge. And there are many people who avoid pork for other reasons…
MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM BETWEEN TWO CHOCOLATE WAFERS
Well, my wife bought these for us to try. All I can say is this… about two days later she told me I had to go buy her another box as she found only one left. I had eaten most of them.
She barely got a chance to eat any of them and she wasn’t too happy about it. OK I confess this was true. I did eat almost all of them. I couldn’t stop myself! These are “Dangerously Good”, as we say in our house.
Basically these are small ice cream sandwiches; with mint chocolate chip ice cream between two chocolate wafers, like an Oreo/Joe Joe’s but these wafers are pretty soft.
The combination of mini and double chocolate inside and out is really good!
Eating just one of these is nigh on impossible, in fact I dare you to try eating just one (you will want another as soon as its finished)
Four of these have 240 calories, so figure one of the mini mouthfuls comes out to 60 calories.
The box goes for $4.49 (15 oz/12 mini ice cream sandwiches)
I would buy these again. (I have to. I ate almost the whole box myself)
“It would be difficult to overstate just how delicious a plate of mango sticky rice can be.”
Trader Joe’s starts off their description of this new snack with that. I have to agree with that as if you ever had that amazing classic Thai dessert of Mango Sticky Rice, you instantly fall in love with it.
The flavors in this new crispy snack reminds one of that classic dessert, now compressed into a a small bite size crunchy snack. These are made with most of the same ingredients one finds in the classic dish, sticky rice, mango and coconut milk. Of course here the stuff has been baked into a very crunchy slightly sticky treat.
“Made for us by an expert supplier Thailand, Trader Joe’s Mango Sticky Rice Crisps are made with a mix of sticky rice, coconut milk, sweetened dried mango, mango syrup, and sesame seeds. Each bite evokes the tropical sweetness, bright fruity flavors, and faint, toasty nuttiness of this classic, Southeast Asian sweet treat, while adding the textural twist of overt crunchiness into the mix.”
All I can tell you the bag went pretty fast in our house.
“...an unexpected delicacy. Upon tasting it, we were enchanted by the soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture and the smooth, almost squash-like eggplant flavor that came to life amidst the bright, savory-sweetness of the tomatoes and onions. Our tasting panel was taken by surprise—these wondrous, not-at-all-bitter eggplants really came from a can? Really? Really.”
Ingredients: Fried Eggplant, Tomatoes, Onions, Salt, Parsley, Sugar, Garlic, Red Pepper, Black Pepper (natural sounding stuff)
HOT SUMMER – Now I don’t know about you during mutiple heat wave this summer but I’ve been racking my brains trying to come up with really easy things we can eat for dinner. Things that make for as little use of the kitchen as possible. Many days this summer you didnt even want to think of turning on the stove and cooking. You just want EASY. Right?
So if I can buy something at Trader Joe’s that is decent and all I have to do is open up a package…. And it’s actually tasty, as I’m concerned, that’s terrific in my book. This eggplant dish is one of those kinds of items. It’s surprisingly good.
Yes, I am a cook/foodie so maybe I will fix it up a bit. Add a sprinkle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice. I wanted more garlic in this, so I smashed up a clove of garlic and added it in and it did improve it but even just out of the can, doing nothing really, still this eggplant dish is good and very tasty.
A can of this eggplant dish is super convenient to have on hand in your pantry. Along with some other Mediterranean food in cans from TJ’s which I also like (for example, the DOLMAS STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES & GIANT BEANS IN TOMATO SAUCE)
The eggplant dish is rich and smooth, with the eggplant falling apart and is well matched by tomato and onion also melted into the mix. Its not terribly far from a Ratatouille – which you could turn it into by adding some cooked zucchini and garlic. The Trader Joe’s description in this case is so right on I’m quoting what they say….
“…Our tasting panel was taken by surprise—these wondrous, not-at-all-bitter eggplants really came from a can? Really? Really. The Grecian Style Eggplant with Tomatoes & Onions is made for us in Bulgaria, where the eggplant is grown, by our famed Greek Dolmas producers. (They have a production facility in that Southeastern European country, so the eggplant can be cooked immediately upon harvest from the fields.) Whole, long, narrow eggplants—harvested at the height of the season—are split in half lengthwise and stewed in a rich, flavorful “sauce” of tomatoes and onions. Seasoned with parsley, garlic, red pepper and curry powder, and canned with soy oil, the gently- flavored, purple fruits of the nightshade family blossom with seductive Mediterranean essence.”
You can serve this as-is at room temperature with some good bread or crackers or flat bread/naan. Or warm it up if you like. Either way I would suggest giving it a little drizzle of good EVOO, maybe crushed garlic and chopped parsley. All of which will improve it even more, and then you could tell people you made it. Shhh… that it even came out of a can will be our secret!
I had about half of the can left over for another meal. Believe it or not the next night we were going to eat some Indian food. I wondered if I could mix it into some CHANNA MASALA? Guess what? The two worked surprisingly well turning it into eggplant and chick peas with Indian flavors which we enjoyed with Naan and Basmati Rice. So this could become other things…. Mix even with pasta and Feta cheese? Let us know if you have ideas to share.
Trader Joe’s Yuzu Kosho – Japanese Citrus Chili Pepper Paste
NEW ITEM!
“Savory, zesty and invigorating with a nice even level of heat”
Trader Joe’s recently introduced this new condiment which you could call an “Asian Citrus Wonder Paste”. Their new Yuzo Kosho paste has an amazing taste that is citrus-y, spicy, zingy and just loaded with Umami. This condiment is made by combining the Japanese citrus, yuzu with green chili peppers into a paste, which typically is then fermented.
Yuzu as you probably know is an Japanese citrus that looks like a cross between a lemon and a grapefruit.
Yuzu has an incredibly unique flavor. Chefs all over the world have fallen in love with yuzu, the juice as well as the flavorful peel. You see yuzu a lot in restaurants now and its a hot trendy item, no doubt one of the reasons Trader Joe’s is really going “all in” on yuzu stuff – they’ve just come out with 3 new Yuzu based products: this Yuzu Kosho, as well as Yuzu Miso and Green Tea and Yuzu spread.
Yuzu Kosho is a traditional Japanese condiment, which I have bought a few times in Japanese stores. I love that Trader Joe’s is carrying it now and for a good price too.
Using Yuzu Kosho: First thing to know is a little goes a long way so just a small dollop will give a big pop of citrus flavor with a bit of heat to your dish. Tasted on its own you will think its salty but you use it small amounts. Of course you may reduce adding the salt you might have used if you use this depending on what you are making.
What is it good with…? Just mentioning one thing, this stuff is just great with fish.
I was going to make broiled salmon yesterday, and remembered I had this new yuzu kosho paste to try out, and was waiting for something to use it with. I was going to make Miso Glazed Salmon so I thought what if I mixed a bit of the Yuzu Kosho in as well into Miso?
I took about a tablespoon or more of the Miso and maybe a scant teaspoon of the yuzu kosho. I mixed the two pastes up together and spread this mixture all over the salmon and just let it marinate for about 5 minutes.
I pre-heated my broiler and popped in the fish in a cast iron pan. I cooked it for about 6 minutes or so, keeping a close eye on it to make sure it didn’t burn. As soon as the top was a lovely deep golden brown I took it out and let it sit for a few minutes to finish cooking in the hot pan.
All I can tell you the salmon was delicious this way. Very yummy, people I promise you if you try this you will like it. I served the salmon with rice and edamame, and the whole dinner was was delicious. The miso and yuzu kosho combo was perfect. Even my Japanese/Korean wife gave my Miso Yuzukosho Salmon dish a big thumbs up. And she is tough !
As well as fish you could use yuzu kosho (and possibly the miso/yuzu combo) with chicken, tofu, mixed into vegetables… frankly almost anything.
Now Trader Joe’s just came out with Miso Yuzu too alongside the Yuzu Kosho. Its probably also good but I do like my miso/yuzukosho combo for the added kick.
“Use yuzu kosho whenever you want to enliven a dish with punchy citrus flavor and heat. But use it sparingly; a dollop goes a long way. Start by swirling a teaspoon into stir-fries, salad dressings, meat marinades, and sauces.”
Trader Joe’s is selling these potted sunflower plants for $4.99 each (Summer ’24)
I think these are so cool looking, don’t you?
They will really brighten up a room.
After I saw them at the entrance to my Trader Joe’s, I just could not resist.
I picked up one and then actually went and got another to give to my neighbor. She thought this might be a special mini variety that will stay fairly small. I’ve seen sunflower plants grow to be 6 feet tall or more. But this size is perfect for any room or entrance way. We will see if it grows into a monster but if it stays in fairly small pots will probably stay fairly small.
The nice thing about this living plant over the cut sunflowers I’ve also seen at Trader Joe’s is as this should stay around for longer than the cut sunflowers, which I think probably look best for about four or five days.
There are a number of buds below the flower that may flower themselves in time. I will probably re-pot this in a week or two as its very root bound.
I may update this with another picture in future as more buds open up and if it gets more flowers. Here are some tips on growing i found…
UPDATE: The plant looked healthy and for a few weeks but after about a month it doesn’t look great anymore. Oh well! I confess I didn’t replant it, which might have helped it last longer.
Trader Joe’s new GREEN OLIVE FLATS Italian Lingue Crackers.
These are typical Italian style crackers, almost in the bread stick family. These ones however are flat and long, thin with a few bumps. They are very tasty. Light and crunchy, and one can definitely taste the flavor of green olives which you see a few bits and pieces of.
My review is these are yummy. Three of us tasting these for the first time all agreed that these were quite a good new Trader Joe’s product. Frankly we all liked them so much we pretty much devoured most of the box tasting them! “Just one more bite….”
Of course these would match well with a pasta dish, again kind of like bread sticks. But naturally they would be good with almost anything you could think of. I just imagined wrapping prosciutto or any good thinly sliced ham around them, again like one might do with some bread sticks. I can seeing these being great on a cheese plate.
BTW- “Lingue” means tongue in Italian. As in, that’s what it looks like!
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