Trader Joe’s “LIGHTLY SMOKED SALMON” (gourmet canned salmon)

26 May 2022 12 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, can, fish, General, New, News, Pantry, pescatarian, Prices, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, seafood, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


RAVE

TERRIFIC! – “Skinless, boneless salmon in Extra Virgin Olive Oil“.

21 grams of protein per portion!

Trader Joe’s came out with this product they call “Lightly Smoked Salmon“. You will find it in a pink can along with the tuna, sardines, and two or three other kinds of canned salmon they carry. I was intrigued and curious when I first saw this and frankly a bit confused by the name (“smoked salmon”? in a can?!) Forget about the “smoked” in the name, basically just know this is maybe the best and I do mean the BEST salmon in a can you probably ever had. Really great stuff! Trader Joe’s has a hit here. I find it’s so popular, it sometimes sells out. Now frankly to me the word “smoked” is a bit misleading, even confusing, so I would just forget the name…. This is not anything like what you and I think off when we hear “smoked salmon”. I would have named this something like “Premium Canned Salmon” or “Gourmet canned salmon”. This stuff even made me think about those imported pricey gourmet tins of fish like high end canned tuna from Spain (Ortiz for example) which can sell for $15 a can! TJ’s “Lightly Smoked Salmon” is actually a nice pure hunk of salmon poached in extra virgin olive oil. When you open the can you see an appetizing piece of Atlantic salmon. Completely skinless and boneless unlike many canned salmon, just pure meaty salmon. The salmon is swimming in a yellow/orange oil, EVOO and the orange color came from the salmon. Because of this EVOO, the salmon is so flaky and incredibly moist. It has an excellent flavor and texture from being poached in the can in some decent quality extra virgin olive oil. Yes, it farmed salmon but of a very good quality. (“Product of Chile”). As far as “Applewood smoke” which is listed in the ingredients I would say that it’s so light as to be non-existent. I can’t really taste any smoke flavor so forget the word “smoked” and just know that I found this salmon so tasty I couldn’t stop eating it. I kept saying “umm, let me just try one more little bite” and soon noticed the can was almost empty. Oh and that golden oil it’s swimming in? If you dump out this golden elixir you are going to miss out on one of its best points, so I implore you do not dump out this precious oil/juice, the way one usually drains off all that oil in say a can of tuna. This golden sauce is delicious. It’s the salmon juices mixed with decent Extra Virgin Olive Oil which it is cooked in, actually make for a delicious built in “sauce” oozing concentrated salmon flavor. UMAMI. I just spoon a bit of this golden juice over the fish with a squeeze of lemon. So Perfect. You could equally spoon this flavorful golden olive oil over your salmon salad, boiled potatoes, rice bowl or protein bowl, or what have you.

Open faced salmon sandwich on TJ Norwegian Crispbread, cucumbers, cream cheese, lemon. Delicious, try this!

You can use this salmon exactly like you would a piece of poached salmon. You can simply open this up and put the fish on a plate or put it on top of a salad or greens, or in a protein bowl, or mashed up into an avocado for an almost instant delicious (and healthy) dinner or lunch with no effort. This salmon is wonderful as-is right out of the can. On a toasted bagel, on toast, or on crackers. I found it a perfect match with TJ’s great Norwegian CRISPBREAD for a Scandinavian style open faced sandwich. This salmon is especially perfect for summertime heat or whenever you don’t feel like cooking. Mix a bit of mayo and lemon juice into this and you can have a wonderful salmon salad in about a minute. The other night I didn’t feel like cooking. I found I had a nice ripe avocado I needed to use, so I just mixed a can of this salmon with a little mayo, lemon juice and some Peri-Peri sauce and voila! I ate this lovely avocado stuffed with salmon for dinner, which took me less than 5 minutes and was so tasty.

Avocado Stuffed with Salmon
Seaweed Hand Rolls with Salmon and Cucumber

One serving contains 190 calories but best off you get a whopping 21 grams of protein in a can of this. The 5 oz can has about 3.6 oz of drained salmon. It’s $3.69. Product of Chile. Great pantry item. I would gladly buy it again.

RECIPE IDEA – Japanese Salmon Rice Bowl: Put some fresh rice in a bowl. Top with this salmon flaked up. Sprinkle on a nice amount of Furikake seaweed blend and chopped scallion. Optional: a sprinkle of Soy Sauce with a sprinkle of Toasted Sesame Oil. Mix gently. YUM.

One might even get extra cans of this salmon and put it away in your larder for a year or two, to improve with age like fine wine*….

*Spain and Portugal have places which specialize serving tinned fish and seafood, aged for a year or two or three… Believe it or not the canned fish actually improves as it ages just like wine. Here’s a video of the late great Tony Bourdain visiting one of these bodegas in Spain, eating from cans of seafood and loving every bite…. EL ESPINALER

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Trader Joe’s ATLANTIC SALMON FILLETS (frozen)

01 Nov 2021 7 Comments

by promacnyc in fish, frozen, Prices, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, Trader Joes, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


(Product of Norway, Farm Raised)

Each 1 lb package contains 4 x 4 oz. portions of boneless Norwegian farmed Atlantic salmon, perfectly flash frozen. So first things first, DEFROSTING: The best method to defrost anything is always an overnight thaw in the fridge. In a pinch however you could do the quick thaw method written on the package (bagged, in cold water 30 minutes) however try to think ahead if you can for the best texture . Obviously if you are not using it all, just seal the package back up for the freezer with the nice built- in air lock of the package being sure to squeeze out excess air.

COOKING : I tried the quick brine technique of giving the defrosted salmon fillets a 30 minute soak in brine and I liked the results (see link below for full info at The Kitchn)

https://www.thekitchn.com/best-salmon-cooking-method-skills-showdown-23004976

After drying off the salmon, I gave it seasoning on both sides with a nice sprinkle of AJIKA which will give great color as well as flavor (in my case as it was brined, I added no more salt). I cooked the fillets using the pan fry method in a cast iron pan (or use a non stick pan) in a mix of oil and butter for about 5 minutes on the skin side first till the skin looked crispy. Flipped them, then cooked about 2 minutes on the second side which needs less time than the first. Personally I hate overcooked fish. Don’t overcook it. Cook fish just till it’s no longer translucent and flakes easily with a fork. You can always put it back for 30 seconds if it needs it.

If you want to serve with a sauce, TJ’s tzaziki sauce would be very good with this salmon. Or Greek yogurt mixed with lemon juice, or tartar sauce. Even simple lemon juice and butter is great. Fresh dill is wonderful with salmon. This time I plated the salmon up with some lemon butter, and served it with a side of TJ’s Harvest Grain Blend (shown) which is perfect with this. The salmon was tasty, if a bit mild of course as this is farmed. Wild salmon, which I love is usually about double the price of this. Trader Joe’s sells this for $8.99 for a 1 lb package (a bit little over $2 a portion). For the price I think this salmon is very tasty and a good value. I find Trader Joe’s version, superior to Costco’s version. So giving this a thumb’s up for value and quality. INGREDIENTS: Atlantic Salmon (no added salt) Protein = 23 grams! EAT FISH

(note: price has increased)

Don’t feel like cooking but want some good salmon? Check out Trader Joe’s new product, LIGHTLY SMOKED SALMON . Gourmet quality.

TJ’s (fresh) SALMON BURGERS

03 Sep 2021 1 Comment

by promacnyc in fish, fresh, Products, seafood, Trader Joes, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,


“Made with Norwegian farm raised salmon” Bake, pan fry or broil. Ingredients – Salmon, parmesan cheese, panko breadcrumbs.

Trader Joe’s uncooked SALMON BURGERS are in the fresh fish refrigerated section. They come packaged on a tray with vacuum wrapped plastic tightly covering the two burgers. Made from ground salmon, these burger are quite soft. So soft that removing them from the package was tricky without breaking them. I ended up carefully cutting around the plastic wrap with a sharp knife. They kind of wanted to fall apart on me just trying to get them out, so I ended up sliding a spatula under each one to lift it out intact. So be careful, lest they fall apart. Frankly if this was my recipe I would have put egg in the mixture with a bit more binder so they would stay together better (bread crumbs / panko….hmm, that may not be a bad idea, I may do exactly that next time and re-shape them.) I am guessing TJ’s wants you to know they are mostly all salmon with little binder, however in this type of burger made from ground fish, the binder in reality help keep things together.

“Cook 4-5 minutes, flip and cook another 4 minutes or to desired done-ness.”

I cooked these pan fried in a tablespoon of butter, first dusting them with some more panko breadcrumbs. I found these a bit under seasoned so I would give them a hit of salt and pepper. I could not taste Parmesan cheese though it’s listed as an ingredient, probably as a binder.

We ate these salmon burger patties on a toasted hamburger bun. They were good. I put some Tzaziki sauce on them but realized what I should have actually used: TJ’s Tartar Sauce – Of course that would match with these! I will get some next time. These were good on a bun but they might be equally good without the bread just served on their own with some sauce and some sides (rice, potatoes, veggies…). They really do need a bit of some sauce to liven them up, and TJ’s tartar sauce should match perfectly with these.

Two salmon patties are $6.29, or about 3 each. I would buy these again. SHOPPING suggestions: Salmon burgers, buns, tartar sauce, lemons, soft greens for garnish. Maybe your fish-hating kids will eat it if you disguise it as a burger!?

UPDATE (FALL/WINTER ’21) I have not been able to find these for some time so I am afraid they are discontinued. Anyone seen them ? Can you still buy them? TJ’s does sell frozen salmon burgers.…