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

Trader Joe’s Clarified Butter (aka Ghee)

There is just one ingredient in this: “unsalted butter”. This is sold on the shelf as you don’t need to it in the fridge, only “store in a cool dry place”.

Clarified butter is a process where regular butter has been “clarified” (cleared/purified), meaning the milk solids have been separated, and removed. This leaves a clear yellow liquid: (clarified butter). In India there is something similar called, Ghee. One reason for doing this is once butter has been clarified it has a higher smoke point. Another big reason especially in India with Ghee is that ghee does not need to be refrigerated.

Ghee is used all over Indian cuisine. The label on the jar of Trader Joe’s Clarified Butter says that is is “Produced according to authentic Indian practices”

In Indian cooking “ghee” is ubiquitous. Many Indian recipes specify using ghee. A big reason ghee is practical in India is once you clarify to butter it requires no refrigeration which is why you will find Trader Joe’s clarified butter on the shelf along with their oil and such.

Some classic French recipes also call for clarified butter including many classic sauces. Once you clarify butter it raises the “smoke point”. You can heat clarified butter to a higher temperature without burning it. (Sidenote: “Brown Butter” (Beurre Noisette) is the opposite! Called for in some French recipes and classic sauces, brown butter on the other hand is regular butter heated up until it becomes a toasty golden brown color, just this side of being burned/blackened (that’s beurre noire folks). Brown Butter tastes and smells incredible and is simple to make and quite an amazing thing if you’ve never tried it (try it with Gnocchi).

If you wanted to make clarified butter, you do it by heating up butter slowly in a pot, let any milk solids settle and slowly pour off the top yellow liquid on top so you end up with just the clear yellow liquid. That liquid is “clarified butter” or ghee.

https://www.culinaryhill.com/how-to-make-clarified-butter/

Or just buy this “Ghee” already made at Trader Joe’s for $4.99 (8 oz)

Trader Joe’s “SPICY JOLLOF SEASONED RICE MIX”

Trader Joe’s “SPICY JOLLOF SEASONED RICE MIX” with dried tomatoes, onion and garlic

There was actually a little controversy across the internet when this product first came out, as some viewed this as a bit of cultural appropriation on Trader Joe’s part. What is JOLLOF RICE ? It’s a very famous African dish eaten widely across parts of West Africa, especially Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and The Gambia. Even in Africa the dish has a little controversy. Whose version is the best? Is it Nigerian or Ghanaian – or Senegalese where it has a different name (Tchebu Jen) ? The dish is considered the national dish of Senegal where it’s Thieboudienne or Tchebu D’jen. (The word “Jollof” is an English variation of the word “Wolof” which means both a language and a people/tribe)

In my lifetime, I’ve eaten many many plates of authentic Senegalese Tchebu D’jen in many African restaurants back in the day when there were a dozen African restaurants on 116th Street in Harlem when the street used to be known as Petit Dakar . I love this dish and variations of it. Taste a real version of this dish if you ever have the chance. An authentic “JOLLOF RICE” (aka Party Rice, aka Tchebu Djen) from Nigeria, Ghana, or Senegal is an amazing dish. It’s complicated to make with a number of ingredients, another reason that Trader Joe’s coming out with this “instant” version caused a wee bit of controversy on the internet. The mix was developed by a Nigerian family here I believe.

Here’s my take. Out of the package, this is a far, far cry from an authentic African Joloff Rice. I fixed it up when I made it. It has some potential if you fix it up to make something better, not close to what your Nigerian granny would make but something semi-OK and better than just making this package as is.

Here’s my suggestions on how to fix this up: In a large pot, put a tablespoon olive oil and butter (you probably don’t have Palm Oil which is best) Stir in a huge tablespoon of tomato paste. Cook for 30 seconds and add a chopped up tomato, 1/2 a chopped onion, 4 cloves of garlic minced. Cook 2 minutes, then add your cooking liquid (water, but chicken or veggie broth would be better). 3 cups as the package says is a lot. I reduced to about 2 3/4 cups as the veggies have water. Add a few carrots and a 1/4 cabbage. Boil for 5 minutes. THEN add the package of this “JOLOFF RICE” mix. Add some Smoked Paprika and as much as you like of some spicy mix of PERI-PERI, BOMBA, or ZHOUG . Once it boils lower to a simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes. Turn off heat. Let it sit 5 minutes covered to absorb all liquids. When you are ready, serve rice with vegetables on the side/top, and serve some of those spicy sauces on the side for people to adjust to their tastes.

Tchebu Jen is made with smoky dried stockfish in the broth and served with fresh fish. I ate it with some fish on top (smoked sardines and salmon) Other ideas are serving this with grilled chicken or maybe grilled SHAWARMA chicken.

TJ’s SPICY JOLLOF SEASONED RICE mix is $2.69 for an 8 oz package.

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/spicy-jollof-seasoned-rice-mix-070883

“Originating in West Africa as far back as the 14th century, Jollof rice is more than just an esteemed and storied dish, it’s a cultural force of its own. It’s served as the inspiration for countless recipes across the African diaspora, including jambalaya and gumbo. It’s even sparked a friendly (if not, at times, heated) rivalry between a handful of nations regarding who makes the best version. If you’ve ever had the chance to try it, you know exactly why it’s remained such a vital part of African cuisine for over 700 years.”