Canned Fish | Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

PRODUCT OF SPAIN

“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:

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/calamari-pieces-in-olive-oil-076536

#tinnedfish #tinnedfishtiktok #tinnedfishlovers

TJ’s Smoked Herring Kipper Fillets

RAVE

I saw these on the shelf at Trader Joe’s, where this bright green can beckoned at me among the tuna and other canned fish items shelf. At the time, priced at just 1.99* I thought I’d try them and give a report. Well the report is simply that these are a great product, and immediately made it into my ‘always buy these things’ category. as these are extremely handy to have on hand at all times in the pantry.

A can of these may easily be the basis for a super easy quick lunch – or even dinner if you added some side dishes. The can was easy to open using the pull tab, and inside were fat, meaty smoky dark-colored fat fillets of herring (aka “kippers”, which are very popular in Britain) packed in Canola oil which in itself had a lot of flavor (don’t just dump it out!). These smoked Herring Fillets taste wonderful. We both went crazy for their flavor. If you enjoy smoked fish – which I love – these will send you into heaven as they have a nice but not overpowering smokey flavor. I decided they would be good served with a mustard sauce, which I whipped up in a few minutes. I even used a little of the oil they came in my sauce.

To make it into a “dinner”, I made a healthy salad of whole grains, Barley and Wheatberries, with chopped veggies. They were a good combination with the fish. Or just make some boiled potatoes for a very quick easy side. Trader Joes’ Smoked Herring Fillets; A can cost 1.99 the first time I bought them, then a few weeks later they went up to $2.29 (oh well!) Again very handy to have on hand in your pantry. These taste quite “gourmet” like something you would have gotten at “Zabar’s”, or any high end smoked fish emporium. Equally I could see mashing these up with some finely chopped green onions and spreading thickly on some nice whole grain or dark bread smeared with butter, and lemon slices, for a Scandinavian style open faced sandwich.

CANNED SMOKED HERRING FILLETS WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

Dice up a few tablespoons of ONION. Place the onions in a bowl. Mix in 2 tbs of a good MUSTARD (Dijon or other french style mustard, which Trader Joe’s sells) Add a little OLIVE OIL. Add a little vinegar or LEMON juice till the sauce is of a spoonable consistency. Serve the sauce with the Smoked Herring Fillets with some lemon wedges on the side, and perhaps some parsley. Eat with a good whole grained or dark bread.