TJ’s PERI-PERI SAUCE

18 Jul 2021 14 Comments

by promacnyc in condiments, hot sauce, New, News, Pantry, Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Food, Products, Rave, review, Trader Joes, vegan gluten free

Trader Joe’s PERI-PERI SAUCE with fermented and dried chilies

RAVE

This is as the label says: “A CONDIMENT WITH RICH, COMPLEX HEAT”. Peri-peri sauce is one of those Trader Joe’s products that currently seems to be all over the Internet. So naturally I decided I better check it out. First thing to let you know, is that this Peri-Peri sauce is HOT! And when I say hot I mean it. It’s hot people, with a capital H! As in this is surely the spiciest product I’ve ever tasted at Trader Joe’s. It reminded me of the first time I tasted TJ’s (original formula, and sadly discontinued) Organic SRIRACHA RANCH dressing (sigh!). I opened the bottle of this Peri-peri sauce and just tasted a wee bit on a teaspoon all by itself. OMG. My mouth lit up, taste buds on fire. I’m not a chili-head but I enjoy “spicy” and can tolerate most levels of heat. However this Peri-peri was way up there. It took a while for my mouth to calm down and I thought, this sauce is too spicy. However I found the “secret” to using Peri-peri, is to just use it really sparingly. Use it in small even tiny amounts and you will get it’s flavor. Note, it’s quite liquid-y so be careful pouring it lest you get way more than you want. I usually put some on a spoon to gently dole it out in little dots of sauce. Once I realized about using in sparingly I started to really love this stuff. It’s very flavorful and complex with a ton of umami going on in addition to being spicy. The orginal bottle which I expected would last me a few months is already 2/3 gone in just a few weeks! So Peri-Peri may even be addictive. This label says Product of South Africa. Peri-Peri sauce is popular in South Africa, though it’s origins are from elsewhere in Africa, Mozambique or going even back going back to Portugal.

https://www.nandosperiperi.com/what-is-peri-peri

Peri-peri recipes traditionally call for tiny birds eye chilies which are super spicy. The label does not specify exactly what chilies are in it but it does say “fermented” as well as dried chilies. As TJ’s BOMBA SAUCE also uses fermented chilies, from which you get a lot more complex flavors than just “hot”. It also lists garlic,salt, dried chilies and xanthan gum (it’s a thickener). It’s a lovely orange color. The first ingredient listed on the label interestingly enough is LEMON JUICE. So there is a citrus-y background level behind the spiciness which I find works perfectly.

What is PERI-PERI SAYCE good on? Perhaps a better question is what haven’t I tried this on. I’ve tried it on almost everything. For one, a simple thing, I love this sauce on something as simple as cottage cheese (on toast or a bagel or crackers…) Again I just need a few dots of sauce here and there. It’s simply magnificent with chicken, which is what it was created for (Peri-peri chicken). I will next try it on chicken breasts marinated in the sauce. So marinate some white or dark meat chicken in Peri-Peri sauce. You’ll find its just stunning. Use oil in the marinade too of course and go easy on the peri-peri till you learn its heat level, though cooking will of course mellow the heat out. I’ve mixed a little of the peri-peri even into ketchup – that spicy ketchup combo is fantastic with hamburgers. A bit on grilled shrimp or fish? Yes, yes, yes. If you experiment with this (and go cautiously) you will come up with great combinations this sauce is good on. Oh and you can of course mix it with something, say mayonnaise or greek yogurt in whatever ratio you like and come up with a fantastic sauce in seconds. Trader Joe’s PERI-PERI sauce comes in a glass bottle of about 7 ounces for $3.29. I think this is really worth checking out. And check out this recipe for grilled Peri-Peri Chicken below which you could whip up using this I think.

https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/peri-peri-chicken/

Want to learn about the peri-peri (piri-piri) chili ?

https://hotsaucefever.com/hot-peppers/piri-piri/

(update: summer 2022: unfortunately this seems to be MIA…. production issue? or discontinued ? I’ll update here if I see it again)

UPDATE: Jun 2022 SAW IT BACK IN STORE!!

TJ’s POTATO GNOCCHI (& recipe ideas)

06 Jul 2021 9 Comments

by promacnyc in General, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: chewy, dinner ideas, Food, healthy, Italian, pandemic, Pantry, pasta, product, Products, Rave, Recipes, review, Staple, thrifty, Trader Joes, vegan, vegetarian, versatile

TJ’s Pasta Emporium Gnocchi. “Autentico Italiano”. Made in Italy. Shelf stable package.

These gnocchi are one of my favorite TJ items. They are so handy. I almost always pick up a pack every time I go so I have one in the pantry. Available in the pasta section, these packages of TJ’s POTATO GNOCCHI are terrific and a bargain at just $1.69 (1.1 lbs). The package is shelf stable and can last months in your pantry (you could store them in your fridge if you like but you don’t have to). I probably usually use them within about 1-3 months? The cooked gnocchi have a pleasantly chewy texture, which you can accentuate even more by pan frying them (see below), one way I recommend cooking them.

COOKING: Simply toss these into boiling salted water for about 3 minutes and they’re ready to serve with your favorite sauce. They will float to the top of the water when done. Perhaps even better I’ve found is one can boil them for 1 minute, drain, them throw them in a non-stick or cast iron pan with 2 tablespoons of EVOO to pan fry them until they are golden brown. The crispier texture from this is terrific. Actually an even easier way which I discovered and clearly others have figured out too, is you don’t even have to boil them at all. You can just pan fry them without the boiling. The even chewier crispy texture is great.

PAN FRIED GNOCCHI: Just toss these gnocchi right into a pan with 1-2 tbl. of olive oil and pan fry them until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. I do a variation on this. I put 2 tbls of EVOO (or even nicer, a mix of half oil and half butter) in a black cast iron (or nonstick pan). Get the oil hot on med. heat until it shimmers. Toss in these gnocchi and stir till coated. COVER THE PAN. Cook covered 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. They kind of pan fry & steam at the same time for the best of both worlds. After 5 minutes or so, take off the cover and continue pan-frying till GDB (Golden Brown and Delicious) maybe another 5-10 minutes.

What to serve with them for a sauce? Almost anything you can think of which you would do for pasta. Of course great with with your favorite TJ tomato or marinara sauce. TJ’s jarred Pesto works quite well with these. It can even be as simple as just butter and grated cheese plus some black pepper, a kind of Cacio E Pepe. Speaking of which – In TJ’s C&P sauce! Or get inventive. In the photos below you will see I cooked them with greens (swiss chard but you can use any greens like kale, spinach, arugula…) I used lots of garlic and lots of grated Rosemary Asiago *. The gnocchi were delicious with greens. Of course any Italian cheese works Parmigiano, Pecorino, Asiago) even some Mozz cut into cubes to melt in. I had these last week with some leftover Bolognese sauce I had in the freezer and they were simply amazing with Bolognese sauce. TJ’s even has a vegan bolognese sauce.

Are these better than the frozen Kale and other Gnocchi? For me actually they kind of are and frankly these are half the price of the frozen gnocchi which I feel don’t have the same textural integrity when cooked this way (pan fried) though I could experiment some more.

Anyway if you never tried these packaged Gnocchi, check them out. I can’t tell you how many times when we “had nothing in the house to eat” I found we had a package of these in the pantry and then had a dinner ready in 20 minutes for a few dollars.

Pan fried Gnocchi with Swiss Chard and Asiago

*RECIPE : PAN FRIED GNOCCHI with Swiss Chard & Rosemary Asiago Cheese – Separate leaves and stems from Swiss Chard. Cook the cut stems with 3 cloves of garlic smashed until tender in olive oil. Remove greens from pan then into same pan, toss in a pack of gnocchi with a tablespoon of EVOO and 1 tbl butter. Cook covered as discussed above till browned all over. Now add back the swiss chard plus chopped up leaves. Cook and toss around in pan till leaves are cooked till your liking. Toss in some chopped parsley or arugula. Season to taste with a little salt, sprinkle of lemon juice and lots of black pepper (optionally – a spoon of BOMBA) Grate a few ounces of Asiago, Pecorino or Parmigiano over all and drizzle with good EVOO. Serve 2 as dinner or 4 as a side.

(Can substitute Kale, Arugula, Spinach or any green)

How To Fry Gnocchi (and why you should want to!)

SEARCH : Pan Fried Gnocchi Recipes – IDEAS

https://bit.ly/3hIZLHo

TJ’s GREEK YOGURT with HONEY

25 Jun 2021 2 Comments

by promacnyc in dairy, General, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: dairy, Food, healthy, product, Products, Rave, review, Staple, Trader Joes

This is what I have started to buy at Trader Joe’s pretty regularly. It’s very lightly sweetened from the honey and I find perfect especially for breakfast with some fruit and my granola in the morning. But I also find other uses for it. I use it like “creme fraiche” or whipped cream as a topping for desserts with a bit lower calorie count than either of those. TJ sells it in a big 32 oz container for $4.99 or small cups for $1.29. It’s quite yummy.

TJ’s Giant Peruvian Inca Corn (Choclo) Snacks

24 Jun 2021 1 Comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, Prices, Products, Rave, snacks, Staple, Trader Joes, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Food, healthy, Incan, Incas, natural, no preservatives, Products, review, Trader Joes, vegan, vegan gluten free, vegetarian

Trader Joe’s Giant Inca Peruvian Corn salted snacks.

JUST CORN!

I think these are just delicious. These are my new favorite snacks. Crunchy… we’re talking Super Super Crunchy. They are a “PRODUCT OF PERU”. From a variety of Inca Corn called “Choclo“. which has HUGE kernels, grown way up in the Andes Mountains. It says only three ingredients, CORN, oil, salt. OK, I wish the oil wasn’t palm oil but still very simple, with only 3 ingredients with the main one of course being just corn. That’s pretty Natural and probably way healthier snacks to munch on I think say compared to your potato chips.

Filled with corn-y goodness. $1.99 an 8 oz bag.

Gluten Free of course!

TJ’s CHANNA MASALA (spiced chick pea curry)

11 Jun 2021 6 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, Asian, frozen, General, Indian, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, spices, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Food, gluten free, healthy, no preservatives, product, Products, Rave, review, Trader Joes, vegetarian

Trader Joe’s Channa Masala (spiced chick peas with onions, tomato and spices)

Vegetarian

Trader Joe’s has quite a number of very good Indian foods in Frozen. Many of them are worth exploring, but this is one of my favorites. The next time you are thinking of an “Indian food night” I would definitely recommend checking this dish out.

Trader Joe’s frozen “Channa Masala” is very flavorful and very authentic tasting. Whenever I eat this I usually think, this could have been delivered from an Indian restaurant. That is how well spiced the dish is.

To cook it, you can either heat it in the microwave or you could cook it on the stove which is the way I usually do it. I let it defrost for about a 1/2 hour, then slip the frozen puck out of the package and put in a pan with a tablespoon of water. I always eat this with Naan or TJ’s excellent Malabari Paratha and Basmati Rice.

PS – no one says you can’t add something to this. I often add something ; for example frozen spinach or some packaged “greens” (kale, etc) then another pat of butter. This variation with added greens is an excellent combo.

~~$1.99~~ (10 oz package). Higher now due to price increases.

Trader Joe’s frozen Wild Raw ARGENTINIAN RED SHRIMP, reviewed

17 Jan 2021 26 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, fish, frozen, Prices, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, review, seafood, Trader Joes, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Food, frozen, healthy, inflation, no preservatives, pasta, pescatarian, price hike, price increases, ramen, Rave, recipe, review, seafood, shrimp, wild

RAVE

“Trader Joe’s Argentinian Red Shrimp are caught off the southern coast of Argentina. They have a sweet lobster like flavor and texture. Grill, barbecue or sauté. Serve with pasta, on salads or as an entrée…” (Wild, Raw, Peeled, Cleaned and Deveined Frozen Shrimp)

WILD CAUGHT, PRODUCT OF ARGENTINA

Ingredients: shrimp, salt

FYI – Shrimp is the most popular seafood in the United States, but in reality only a tiny fraction comes from domestic U.S. sources. Ninety percent of the shrimp we eat is Imported, and almost all of that comes from shrimp farms in Southeast Asia and Central America.

If you’re looking to buy shrimp at Trader Joe’s I would check out their wonderful Wild Argentinian Red Shrimp. These are the best shrimp Trader Joe’s sells. In fact these are some of the best shrimp out there, period. These Patagonian Red Shrimp are from Argentina. First off, these are Wild Caught, not farmed, shrimps. Wild shrimp are said to have better flavor than farmed, plus be better for the environment.They’re large, meaty and actually do have a sweet lobster-like texture and taste. Some people think of these shrimp as “poor man’s lobster”.

Patagonian Red Shrimp, are fished from the icy waters off Argentina’s coast in Patagonia. They are individually flash frozen, cleaned (and deveined) and ready to use. They’re a quite decent size (20/25 count aka “Large”).

Are these truly “the sweetest shrimp in the world”? … well even if some marketer came up with that, they actually do taste kind of sweet and have what many people think of as a “lobster-y” texture as well as taste.

(If you are interested in learning more at these here’s detailed info about “Patagonian Red Shrimp”)

How To Use These Shrimp: You use these red shrimp the same as any other. Be careful NOT to overcook them of course. If I’m not using the whole bag I just take out as many shrimp as I need , and close the package up super tight with a twisty, and double bag the package inside a Ziplock freezer bag (double bagging these will help keep out freezer burn).

So first things first, what are the best defrosting method(s) for these frozen shrimp?

DEFROSTING : The best method to defrost them is the traditional overnight thaw in the fridge in a covered glass bowl. Thats the best way. Still if you didn’t plan ahead to do that, the next best option is to put them in a plastic baggie, and run a light stream of cold running water over the bag (you can weigh down bag with a cup or plate). The shrimp should be defrosted in about 15 minutes or so. This last method works OK too in a pinch: I’ve simply put the frozen shrimp in a bowl, covered them with an inch of cold water, and stirred them every 5 minutes or so. Defrosting this way should take maybe 15-20 mins. Cooking from frozen: No way, I would not recommend doing that. They will shrink up a lot and be tough. Microwave also a no-no, you will ruin the texture of the shrimp.

Cooking: Cook these red shrimp the same way as any shrimp. However these do seem to cook a wee bit faster so be careful not to overcook them. If you are say using a sauce, you can simmer the (defrosted) shrimp slowly in the sauce at the very end, cooking them in the sauce for maybe 2 minutes or so (turning them over once). As soon as they are no longer translucent and look firm these are cooked, and/or at least should be removed and then added back to your dish at the end. Not over cooking will keep them plumper and juicier. When you overcook shrimp they become chewier and shrink up.

TIP: If grilling them, you can marinate them for 15 min in lots of TJ’s CUBAN SPICE BLEND. Or any spices of your choosing. Ajika blend also is terrific as is TJ’s spicy Peri-Peri Sauce. Another great spice for these? TJ”s new blend HOT & SMOKY PAPRIKA

These shrimp are terrific simply sautéed in olive oil with lots of garlic, scampi style. You can blot them with a paper towel, optionally sprinkle them with a little seasoned flour and sauté them in oil and butter. One trick I saw on MilkStreet recently was to pan fry shrimp on one side only, then take them out of the pan and later finish them in your dish for 30 seconds at the end. This is a great idea, as you won’t overcook them.

These shrimp are of course great grilled / sautéed and excellent in a pasta dish. You can put them on a skewer and broil or grill them (brush with oil). They are equally great gently poached, about 3 minutes, which is a good way to make them for cold cooked shrimp or for the top of a salad.

If you try these shrimp you will probably like them as much as we do. I find them super convenient to have in the freezer. TJ’s sells the Wild Argentinian Red Shrimp (1 lb. bag) for ~~$9.99~~

*UPDATE-1 (Feb 2021) price increase to $10.99. UPDATE-2 (Apr 2022) price up again, now 11.99

On this site not only do these get top ratings, they are called the “lobster impersonator”

More cooking ideas follow.

Dishes: I made a nice Thai Shrimp Curry with the shrimp, veggies and TJ’s Thai Red Curry sauce – adding the shrimp the last 2 minutes (a no-recipe recipe follows below).

THAI STYLE SHRIMP CURRY – Sauté some onions, garlic, and chopped ginger in oil for 4-5 minutes. Throw in chopped up carrots, celery, potatoes (optional add ins: mushrooms, peas, sweet potatoes, scallions) …sauté everything for 5 more minutes, then add 1/4-1/2 cup liquid (water or broth (Option: Add a 1/2 cup Coconut Milk for the liquid)) Simmer for 10 minutes, then add in a jar of TJ Thai Red Curry sauce and simmer another 10 minutes or until all the veggies are just tender. The last 2 minutes of cooking, you add your shrimp and simmer gently in the sauce, stirring occasionally. Serve the curry with jasmine rice and add chopped scallions on top.

Shrimp Roll on Brioche Bun (aka The Poor Man’s Lobster Roll)

Here’s one more: As these shrimp are kind of “lobster-y” they are perfect to make a New England style Shrimp Roll (aka the Poor Man’s Lobster Roll). Gently poach the shrimp 90 seconds or so just until opaque and pink (don’t over cook them). Rinse them under cold water. Split or cut them up and mix with a little mayo and lemon juice, then put them in a lightly toasted buttered Brioche bread or Brioche Bun (spread with a little mayo). If you have some, sprinkle a little Old Bay seasoning or dill seasoning on top. Easy and delicious.

RECIPE: RED SHRIMP WITH HONEY ALEPPO SAUCE – https://www.traderjoes.com/home/recipes/honey-aleppo-shrimp

(NB: TJ’s recipe here says cook the shrimp for 5-10 mins; I suggest thats too long unless you want overcooked shrimp. I say cook these shrimp about 2-3 minutes)

Ramen? Yes. I used the shrimp in (“Roy Choi style”) instant ramen with a slice of cheese and butter.. (crazy but it works, see video below). For this dish which was a dinner, I made a veggie stock instead of using the included packet of seasoning* and added some fresh mushrooms. I added the defrosted shrimp at the very end of cooking, and only cooked them about a minute or two. See they look juicy (not overcooked)? TIP: That little flavor packet included with instant ramen is just loaded with Sodium (like 50-70% of daily recommended level)? Bad for you, so better to use your own stock or a low sodium stock and maybe just add a pinch of the flavor packet. Worst case, use only half the packet and if it tastes too flat, add something to flavor it up without adding much sodium (a dash of low sodium soy sauce or a few drops of Nam Pla (fish sauce).

ROY CHOI’S INSTANT RAMEN WITH CHEESE

Another idea? Vietnamese style rice paper shrimp rolls (search Asian markets for the rice wrappers) https://justasdelish.com/vietnamese-shrimp-rolls-peanut-hoisin-sauce/

One more idea? Fried rice with shrimp.

Trader Joe’s SHELLED EDAMAME

03 Jan 2021 1 Comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, Asian, frozen, General, Prices, Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Asian, Food, healthy, no preservatives, Products, Rave, trader joe’s, vegetables, vegetarian

Trader Joe’s sells two versions of EDAMAME (Soy Beans), these shelled ones as well as unshelled, in the pod.

Both kinds are excellent, really tasty and not to meantion super healthy. You should add either or both to your diet if they are not already on it.

Maybe you first encountered Edamame in a Japanese restaurant when a waiter put a bowl of kind of fuzzy and weird looking pods on the table? Someone told you to nibble on them and to suck the beans out that were in these pods. Served this way edamame are typical “bar snacks” you would find in a restaurant or Izakaya (pub).

These are beans/legumes so of course edamame are good for you. As well as very being quite DELICIOUS. They have a taste a bit like peas but nuttier and earthier. I like them both versions, in the shell and out of the shell, so I usually buy a bag of both. As a side dish you can’t go wrong with Edamame with a pinch of salt and some butter. Yummy!

TJ’s frozen Shelled Edamame are convenient, as you don’t have to peel them of course if you just want the beans. Useful as a side dish, the same way you would serve some peas, or for adding to a dish, such as a rice dish*, again exactly as one might add green peas. When I add edamame, say to rice in the last 3 minutes, I don’t cook them first as the bag suggests (they are already cooked in fact). I just put them in a colander, rinse them till they are no longer frozen and then toss them in the pot of rice (or whatever) for maybe 3-4 minutes. Or use them, as an addition to your favorite recipe. Soy Beans contain Lots of protein (9 gr in a half a cup!), lots of fiber, vitamins and basically everything that is Soy Good for you. Maybe one of the healthiest things you can eat. A 12 oz. bag of the shelled version is $1.99 which is less than in a Asian specialty store where you normally find these goodies. And about $1.69 (1 lb) in the shell, which are of course great to serve people to nibble on and suck out of the shells in the traditional style. Maybe the kids would like those, as they are very hands on, play with your food.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-edamame-3376830

RAVE

TJ ORGANIC RED LENTIL PASTA

11 Dec 2019 1 Comment

by promacnyc in Products, Trader Joes Tags: Food, gluten free, homemade, natural, no preservatives, pasta, rant, review, Trader Joes, vegan gluten free, vegetarian

Trader Joe’s (Giotto’s) ORGANIC RED LENTIL PASTA

Normally we eat pasta in my house at least once if not two or more times a week. My wife and I adore pasta. I’m good at making it. Or I should say “we used to” eat it that often! Recently my wife decided to try going “Gluten Free” and that has changed things not just for her but for “Us”. To keep life simple as far as eating and cooking, whats happened is basically we stopped eating pasta, much to my chagrin as you could say I’m a bit of a pasta freak. As Italians usually do, I could eat pasta almost every day. Really, I could be happy as a clam eating pasta every day, in fact I’d be super happy eating Linguine with clams!

So I really wanted to try something in the pasta department that we both could eat together, meaning I would give “Gluten Free Pasta” a try.

So I saw this Red Lentil Pasta at TJ. Unfortunately I was not impressed with this for cooking as a substitute for regular pasta. For me at least – that is someone who can eat gluten and wheat products – this lentil pasta would not be something I would willingly sub in for my “normal” pasta.

TJ Red Lentil Pasta is made from “red lentil flour”. Its even made in Italy! (I can imagine them rolling their eyes at making this stuff for all those crazy Americans) Uncooked, it looks quite nice, like a beet colored pasta. It has an interesting shape I was not familiar with, “sedanini”, a ridged, curved long ziti type shape.

When I cooked this, well this gluten free pasta just didn’t do it for me. This could never replace pasta for me, but again I don’t have to be Gluten Free. I had made a nice meat sauce sauce to go with this, a kind of Ragu for the lentil pasta, and cooked it up a bit with some some sauce just as I would normally prepare regular pasta. When we ate the finished pasted with the sauce we both kept commenting on that it was just not the same as eating pasta. Honestly we didn’t really enjoy it due to the somewhat odd texture we found. It didn’t have the chew of pasta. It seemed to get kind a bit grainy or granular when chewed, not smooth like real pasta.

To top things, the GF pasta’s at TJ are a bit expensive as well. A 12 oz package goes for $3. This is about 2 to 3 times the cost of TJ’s extremely good “regular” pastas made with semolina flour.

So I wanted to like this but didn’t, as I don’t have to eat this. it was a choice. On the other hand, my “gluten free diet” wife, found it to be not great but OK as in it was kind of “acceptable” if you can’t eat normal pasta but you want to eat something like pasta. If you HAVE to be on a gluten free diet, then you may find it OK too. I can’t think this will fool anyone as an excellent substitute for real pasta. For me, its kind of fake pasta frankly. A knock off.

Still I will try some of the other gluten free pasta products TJ sells, and see if they work better than this one made from lentils. TJ does have a few gluten free pastas: a black bean ziti, and a spaghetti made from brown rice and lentils. So if you must be gluten free, try all three and see which you like best out of what they have to offer. So just saying if you must be gluten free, then there are a few choices. Everyone raves about the Cauliflower Gnocchi (frozen). Again I tried it. I found it pretty good, but I still prefer TJ’s regular gnocchi. If you don’t need to be GF, like me, I find regular pasta and related products are superior to any GF ones.

If you are not gluten free and want an excellent pasta, get TJ’s Organic Spaghetti or Ziti. That is excellent high quality pasta, made in Italy, and is the equal to top Italian import brands sold in the US for 3-6 times what TJ’s sells it for, $1.29 for 1 lb, which is an excellent value.

If you are GF then this may be OK for you with a lot of sauce.

TJ Soy Ginger Marinated WILD COD FILLETS

20 Nov 2019 1 Comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, fish, frozen, Rave, Trader Joes Tags: Asian, cod, fish, Food, healthy, natural, no preservatives, pescatarian, Products, Rave, recipe, review, Trader Joes

soycod1

I picked up a package of Trader Joe’s “Wild Soy Ginger Marinated Cod Fillets” in the Frozen section at TJ’s to try. I was quite satisfied, this dish turned out to be really good. This marinated cod costs about $7/lb. – very much on the lower price end for almost any fish these days, and this is wild caught cod from the Atlantic, so another good find at TJs.

This cod is tasty, and easy-peasy to make. I followed instructions on the package about defrosting them overnight in the fridge. An overnight thaw in the fridge is always the best method for defrosting as thawing slowly is best to preserve the original quality. So just remember you need to think about this the day/night before if at all possible. If after an overnight thaw, you find its not completely defrosted when you are ready to cook you can put it in the sink in a pot and run a stream of cold water over the unopened package for 5-15 minutes till it feels completely defrosted. I didn’t try the method on the package where they say you can defrost in a bowl of warm water, in fact I would completely say never use warm water, its too fast and damages cell structure. If you really need to do a “quick defrost” again run a stream of cold water on it till defrosted (again, “emergency only” method). A fish monger told me to do it with cold running water.

On the package they suggest 3 methods to cook the cod – in a skillet, bake it or microwave it. Me, I decided I would cook the miso cod by broiling the fish and glazing them with the marinade. Broiling is a typical Japanese method of cooking. I took the fillets out of the package with tongs careful to reserve all the marinade for later use. I placed the drained defrosted fillets in a black cast iron pan (my favorite cooking utensil), dotted them with a little butter and put the pan under a very hot (pre-heated) broiler. The fillets were not thick. One was a little bit thicker. So I cooked the fillets for about 3 minutes then took the pan out of the oven so I could pour over that reserved marinade over the fillets. Aha! The reserved marinade will make you a very nice soy miso glaze. So I immediately put the pan back under the broiler to finish for about just another minute or two, keeping a close eye on the fish and the glaze which was all bubbly and browning up. As you can see the glaze browns up beautifully, thickens, to make a nice sauce for the fish, and obviously keeps the fish moist and not dried out. You can even put another little bit of butter in the pan and hit the fish with freshly ground pepper, and a squeeze of fresh lemon. I forgot to mention I threw in some frozen shelled Edame (soy beans) around the fish to cook with it. The edamame were a perfect match with the fish, along with some some rice. There’s a Japanese meal for you.

We really enjoyed this. Sometimes cod fish can be a bit boring but this miso / soy marinade treatment makes this product very good. You can hit it if you like with even more freshly grated ginger (I generally do).

To sum up I found TJ’s Soy Ginger Marinated Wild Cod Fillets to be super convenient, easy to make, and really tasty. I would buy it again, and in fact have a few times since I first tried this. This is becoming a Go-To item for me at TJ now and I usually have a package in our freezer.

RAVE

soycod1

Trader Joe’s CUBANO WRAP SANDWICH

16 Nov 2019 1 Comment

by promacnyc in Trader Joes Tags: Food, Products, Rave, review, sandwich, Trader Joes, wrap

Pretty rare that I buy pre-made sandwiches but I saw this in the case at Trader Joe’s recently and was intrigued at the name, Cubano Seasoned Wrap. The label say its”Roasted Pork, Ham, Swiss Cheese and Dill Pickles on a flour tortilla with Cuban inspired mustard dressing”.

Just in case you’re not familiar what that is, a Cubano is a pretty famous, not to mention, amazing sandwich concoction made with both Roasted Pork and Ham (yes two kinds of pork!) Swiss cheese and pickles. This traditionally goes on a very soft “Cuban bread” with a good smear of butter and goes into a special grill press which is like a “panini” press. It gets pressed and grilled until its toasted up and golden brown and delicious with that swiss cheese now all melty and gooey and everything warm and yummy smelling. Trust me, if you ever had a really good Cubano, you would love it, they are to die for.

The Cubano sandwich is super famous in Miami as you might imagine with its large Cuban population. But fortunately its available in other places, especially with a large Hispanic speaking population, like New York City for one, where you can get a good Cubano. I used to go way uptown in Manhattan to a little Dominican bakery on Dykman Street in Inwood that makes them right in front of you, super non-fancy but amazingly good.

So I decided to try Trader Joe’s “Cubano Wrap” and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, its pretty good if “inspired” by a Cubano. It contains a good amount of roasted pork with ham pluss Swiss cheese and pickles. However instead of the traditional bread they have come up with a tortilla for a burrito style wrap. The wrap variation is different from an authentic one, but still tasty. I got one to make for lunch for my wife and we found it to be pretty tasty. Since then I’ve bought it a few times.

Please note, you must heat this up. Don’t even think about eating this at room temp or cold. Check out that grill mark in the picture? Thats what you want. Personally I would not nuke it, I suggest you grill it in a pan. Put the wrap in a non-stick or cast iron pan on med-low heat and heat it for about 4-5 minutes a side, pressing down gently till its one on one side, then flip it till both sides are G.D.B. and the cheese all melty inside, and eat it while hot. As you can see in the photo here it looks pretty yummy and for $3.99 this not a bad deal. It could be a dinner, for me. My wife and I usually split one for a light lunch, with some other stuff on the side. I served it with some TJ Horseradish Aioli, which was perfect with this Cubano Wrap. That is a very good sauce (I will review in future). So all in all, this Cubano Wrap gets a Thumbs Up, a Worth Trying, and Good Value seal of approval.

Let’s be real though. Its a little high in calories and sodium, so I treat this as a special treat for once in a while. I would not eat one every day no matter how yummy it is.

If this video doesn’t make you want to get a on plane to eat one in Little Havana, Miami, somethings wrong with you. Making Cubanos. From the film “Chef” with John Leguizamo and Jon Favreu.