Double Concentrated Tomato Paste, Ingredients: Tomatoes. Salt
For some time I mourned the loss at Trader Joe’s of their handy Italian TOMATO PASTE in a tube which they “discontinued” maybe a year or two back. At the time I asked the TJ’s Captain to look it up and he said it was not even on order and that he was pretty sure it was gone for good. Fortunately it magically appeared back on the shelves recently at my Trader Joe’s and for that I say, HOORAY! So did Trader Joe’s change their minds? Did they lose a supplier and could not find one for years? Who knows? In any case I’m just glad to see this as this is a product I used to buy all the time.
Sometimes you don’t need that whole little can of paste, so the great thing about the tubes of tomato paste – an essential kitchen item, people – is obvious. Say you just need 1 tablespoon of tomato paste for something. Now you don’t have to open a whole small can up. Then figure out what to do with the rest. With the tube one just squeezes out the tablespoon. The paste in the tube can last a few months in the fridge. Which is better than finding that half used up can of tomato paste in the back of the fridge which I forgot I had, which now looks bad so I throw it out.
$1.49 (which is half what the tomato paste in a tube costs at regular grocery stores)
BTW did you know that tomato paste is one food that is Pure Umami*?
GOOGLE:
*Tomato paste is a great source of umami flavor:
Umami-rich Tomatoes are naturally high in glutamates, which are chemicals that create umami, the savory depth of a food. Concentrating the flavor of tomatoes into tomato paste makes it a powerful umami ingredient.
Versatile – A small amount of tomato paste can add a lot of flavor to many dishes, including soups, sauces, stews, braises, and bread dough.
Easy to use – A tablespoon of tomato paste can have the same flavor as 100 fresh tomatoes.
Flavor develops with browning – Browning tomato paste in the skillet caramelizes the natural sugars in the tomatoes, which enhances the umami flavor and reduces acidity. To brown it, just add some tomato paste into oil or butter on med/low heat and gently stir for about 3 mins or so till it darkens in color.
Other ingredients that are high in umami include: Miso paste, Soy sauce, Aged cheeses, Potatoes, Dried mushrooms, Anchovies, and Fish sauce.
“Our newest Cream Cheese Spread is celebratory, creamy, super savory, and full of flavor for all your summer schmearing needs. Trader Joe’s Red Bell Pepper, Garlic & Parmesan Cream Cheese Spread is a zesty combo with a heavy-handed sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, is flecked with red bell pepper, and studded with minced garlic throughout.”
( FYI it says “Limited”) so you may or may not find this…)
When I just tasted it on a spoon by itself. It seemed a bit on the strong side, predominately tasting of parmesan cheese. Of course its meant to be a spread, so I put a shmear of this cream cheese on a cracker. They were very good together. I used this spread the next morning on a toasted bagel spread with this stuff, topped with lots of slices of cucumber. That was quite good. It was good on bread and many things. In fact, I can easily see using some of this added to a pasta dish, thinned out with a bit of pasta water to make a creamy sauce. I’ve learned recently that some Italians actually use cream cheese mixed into pasta to make it creamy! I think this could match well in a sauce with sauteed cherry tomatoes.
So I do think this is worth a try if you see it. I would buy it again and experiment some more with it on different things, IF I can find it.
“NOT FROM CONCENTRATE” – We were really impressed at how good this pineapple juice tastes. Pretty simple ingredients. “Pineapple juice from Costa Rica”. Just 100% pure pineapple juice. No preservatives, no nothin’ extra. No doubt like me you love finding simple, pure ingredients.
Both of us thought the juice tasted delicious. So yummy, not too sweet, a little tangy. So refreshing. If you blind folded me, I would probably ask if someone just squeezed a pineapple for me.
Find it near the fresh orange and other juices, in the Refrigerated case.
“A crispy crunchy combo of rolled outs, cornflakes, sprouted quinoa, almonds and more”
GLUTEN FREE
This is another decent granola at Trader Joe’s. Unlike a few others now, this one doesn’t have the large clusters. Its got flakes. Its GLUTEN FREE (it contains oats, coconut, roasted almonds, cornflakes, maple syrup, quinoa… All Organic) Very tasty with a nice coconut flavor. Not too sweet either. And of course naturally GLUTEN FREE (oats, nuts, corn…)
I typically enjoy this with yogurt and/or kefir perhaps some dried cranberries and sliced banana… its worth trying especially if you are GF
Chefs and pro cooks love these as its the purest, most natural form of vanilla. “Bourbon Vanilla” is considered the best vanilla, from Southeast Asia. I did check the label but assume these may be from Madagascar.
Pro cooks scrape out the tiny seeds inside these pods with a knife and use that in recipes that call for vanilla. Don’t throw out the pod after using either as they still have lots of aroma. You can put the pods into a large jar and and cover them with about a pound of sugar. Let that sit for a few days or more as the vanilla beans infuse the sugar so it becomes yummy Vanilla Sugar.
$2.99 for two vanilla beans
In addition to these Trader Joe’s has lots of other vanilla products like BOURBON VANILLA BEAN PASTE and they are all on the shelves now for the FALL/WINTER baking season.
“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.
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.
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.”
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