blue_dolphin

Yeah, grocery margins are notoriously low, which Amazon must know from Whole Foods, it's hard to figure they could make a killing going head to head on top selling TJ's products. Especially since so many are refrigerated or frozen items. Now, I could give them a list of discontinued TJ's products that I'd be happy to order if Amazon decided to resurrect them! They certainly do sound pretty ruthless!

Thanks for bringing that recipe up, @NadyaDuke. Not sure how I haven't tried it yet as Eric's single-serving recipes usually suck me in!

The Whole Turnip Pasta from Tenderheart. Half of the turnip greens are blitzed into a bright pistachio pesto and the other half are sautéed and tossed with the pasta along with the pan browned, then steamed turnip roots. At first bite, I thought this was just OK but it really grew on me and I'd absolutely make it again. As written, and to my taste, this needs a hit of acid to brighten and contrast with the sweetness of the cooked turnip and bitterness of the greens. I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to the pesto and a sprinkle of diced preserved lemon rind to the finished dish and was happy with that. I think crumbled feta would also work. The crunch from the roasted pistachios is key but another crunchy ingredient could fill in. I always use 2 oz of pasta/serving rather than the 4 oz in the recipe and thought this was good as a vegetarian main but one could easily add shrimp, chicken or salmon, either to the dish or alongside.

That looks excellent, @Neely, but I’ve got to ask. What is ❓

My first experience with grits was on a family road trip somewhere in the southern US when I was a kid. The previous day, I'd ordered hush puppies and was rewarded, not with a shoe, but cute little deep fried balls of deliciousness. This emboldened me to try another unfamiliar corn product, grits. I was presented a little bowl of something that looked like cream of wheat with a big pat of margarine sitting on top but not melting at all. I didn't try them again until Vivian Howard and her Deep Run Roots convinced me to give them another try and I've been a fan ever since. If you decide to try them, see if you can get something stone ground. I order them from Marsh Hen Mill but I don't know if they ship to Canada. Anson Mills is another good brand. On to today's lunch, a shrimp roll with yuzu kosho mayo from The Global Pantry Cookbook, using the little Oregon bay shrimp I got in this week's fish share.

What country are you in, @Yoda? You might search for "cake flour substitute in @Yoda's country" Google told me that in Italy: "For cookies, bars, cakes/cupcakes, biscuits, scones, or anything that needs a tender crumb, use Farina di grano tenero, 00" And in Germany: "Type 405 is finest ground flour you will find in Germany. It has the highest starch content which makes it ideal for the baking of cupcakes and cakes where you want a finer crumb" You might find something that will work for you.

I only use fleur de sel for a finishing salt so I've never much worried about measuring it out but I would expect it to vary depending on the brand and style. Serious Eats includes a generic "fleur de sel" in this article that compares mass/volume measurements and shows fleur de sel comparable to Morton's kosher salt. I have Jacobsen's pure flake sea salt that came in at 10 g/Tablespoon and a gros sel de Guérande (coarse grey sea salt) that's 14 g/Tablespoon

Savory Corn-on-Corn Pancakes with Butter-Basted Eggs from The Global Pantry Cookbook I was curious to try these pancakes made with masa harina. I used the stuff from Masienda and they have a great corny flavor but are very light and fluffy as compared with a cornmeal cake that's usually heavier and sometimes a bit gritty. These would be great with either a sweet or savory topping. The corn topping has corn, scallions, jalapeño and red pepper, all sautéed in butter and seasoned with Tajín.

Yes, that’s the right kind. They’re quite tasty - crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. Mmmmm!

Ghee-Basted Hasseltots topped with sour cream and bacon from The Global Pantry Cookbook and scrambled eggs The little spuds are in the snacks and appetizer section of this cookbook but I figured they'd be fine for breakfast, too. It would be a little tedious do up a couple dozen of them but they are quite cute. Here's a couple out of the oven, without toppings: They get basted with ghee three times so they're quite buttery and tasty. Caviar and crème fraîche is one of the suggested topping combos and would be excellent washed down with some nice Champagne!

@rotuts pretty much captured it but if anyone wants to read the whole article, here's a gift link. I agree that most of these have been thoroughly debunked but they continue to be perpetuated in cookbooks, new and old. The pasta water tasting like the sea is especially odd as many people have never tasted the sea or have no memory of it to reference but almost every one knows how salty they like their soup.

Chile Shrimp with Coconut Grits from The Global Pantry Cookbook by Ann Taylor Pittman and Scott Mowbray with steamed sugar snap peas. This was very good. Never would I ever have thought to cook grits with coconut milk and lemon grass but it worked really well. The shrimp are marinated in a mix of sambal oelek, fish sauce and soy sauce. I'll have more to say about this book over in the cookbook topic after I've cooked a few more recipes.

My electric wall ovens use the third heating element behind the back wall of the oven, near the fan, during cooking for all convection settings. Once the oven is turned off, the fan will continue to run for a bit without the element on, which I assumed was to prevent that area behind the oven from building up excess residual heat. My understanding is that there are some inexpensive "convection" ovens sold in the US that just have a fan but no third element. I haven't run across one but I've seen articles that say to look for "true convection" or "third element convection" or "European convection" to make sure to get that functionality.

Inspired by @Ann_T's recent post, but sadly lacking her amazing bread, I made do with my egg salad on a brioche bun:

I would imagine there are.

The other lemon confit recipe that I like uses whole slices of lemon instead of just the zest so it has a much more complex and tangy flavor with some bitterness from the pith. I think it's a much more interesting condiment than the one above. The recipe can be found online here: Master Class Lemon Confit Recipe. This one gets cooked in a low oven for 2 hrs and is great on pasta, fish, tossed with white beans, on toasted crostini. As with the recipe above, you can give this one a rough chop, add capers and parsley for a nice lemon confit relish. The recipe gives the option of using rosemary or thyme. I've always used rosemary and used more than they say but I think I'll try a batch with thyme. Might also try this with a mix of citrus, including some of the "quats" like kumquat, limequat, mandarinquat, etc. The recipe says you can use either regular lemons or Meyer lemons. I've used and liked both but will caution that with Meyer lemons, it's best not to slice them super thin as the slices tend to disintegrate. I also like the tartness of the regular lemons a bit better. Here's what this one looks like before going into the oven: And after 2 hrs:

A while back, in another topic, I suggested lemon confit as an option for using up extra lemons. What I had in mind was not the salt-preserved lemons that have been mentioned by some in this topic (which I love and always have on hand) but the sort put up in oil. I've made 2 versions and like both of them, for different purposes so I figured I'd share in case anyone else wants to try them. The first one is from Naomi Pomeroy's Taste and Technique cookbook and basically yields oil-poached slivers of lemon zest floating in a lemony olive oil. The slivers have just enough pith left on to hold them together and you can use either the zest, the oil or both. Lemon Confit from Taste and Technique Combine the following in a small saucepan: Rind of 3 lemons, removed with 1/16" of pith remaining and trimmed into strips 1/8" wide by 1" long 1/4 t fennel pollen (I have never used this) 2 t sugar 1.5 t salt 2 cups extra virgin olive oil 2-3 cloves garlic Simmer over very low heat for ~ 20 min, until the rinds become soft. She recommends using a diffuser and specifies the bubbles be no bigger than those in Champagne. Ever detailed, that Naomi is, but it is important to not to get the oil too hot as the zest will fry and get tough. Rest overnight at room temp for the flavors to meld, then store in the fridge for up to 3 months. That yields a LOT of oil. It's very nice in a vinaigrette but I don't usually need that much so I usually make this with just one cup of oil. The lemon strips and a drizzle of the oil are great on fish, chicken or vegetables. For fish, I like to add some capers and freshly chopped parsley to make a little relish. Naomi makes this in the book with fried capers and a bunch of other stuff and it's delicious but my quick version is pretty good, too. I find it easiest to remove the strips of zest with the appropriate amount of pith with this Boska cheese slicer. Here's the finished stuff, made with 3 lemons and one cup olive oil:

French toast with maple syrup and breakfast links The bread is a fruit-nut loaf that contains dried apricots, figs, cranberries, pecans, hazelnuts and walnuts

Another new-to-me TJ's item I picked up the other day is this lemon pasta. I believe it was around last year but I must have missed it. The color is quite a sunny yellow (there's turmeric added for color) and the lemon flavor is noticeable and pleasant. Cooking time is listed as a quick 6-7 minutes but if you are going to finish it in a pan, then I wouldn't go beyond 5 min. The bite is rather delicate, similar to a fresh pasta. I cooked some up for today's lunch with asparagus and red bell peppers and added lemon confit and some lemony breadcrumbs. Would be quite nice with shrimp or other seafood, I think.

I tried a new-to-me cheese, this Ivy's Reserve Somerset Red Vintage Cheddar. It's from the UK, aged 12 months and has a nice tang. It reminds me of a Red Leicester. It's TJ's April "spotlight cheese" so it probably won't be around for long. It was $5.49 for a 7 oz package. The best by date was Dec 2024 so I might pick up a few next time I'm there. They also had Dorothy's Garden Secrets the soft ripened cheese with herbs that comes in a little flower shape. They've carried this before as well as other Dorothy's varieties and they have all been very good but it doesn't usually hang around for very long. It's $7.99 for a 7 oz package.

There's a little cap that flips up on the top of the oven, right above the button panel, in the front, right corner. The manual says to pour 1 cup of water into the reservoir. Better be careful to avoid pouring it down the front of those buttons!

It looks like a nice little oven. They currently list 2 models. The “Pro” version ($50 more) has a steam setting but the base model apparently does not. I can’t tell whether it can do steam+bake or steam+broil like the CSO or if it’s just a straight steam setting. The ovens alone are $249 or $299 (for the Pro) with a $50 meal credit and no meal purchase requirement. Or, you can pay $69 or $119 (for the Pro) and agree to order meals 6 times within 6 months. It looks like each meal order has to be a minimum of 4 meals, or up to 12 meals. Shipping is a flat $10.99/order. Nutrition info is available on the website. They offer gluten-free, low carb, vegetarian and “calorie conscious” options. No low sodium options listed. Looks like enough options that you wouldn’t get bored. Most meals are single servings for $12.99. If you ordered the minimum 4 meals x 6 orders, you'd be paying $15.74/meal for a total of 24 meals at $378. Pricier than efficient home cooking but much less than takeout. Tovala has lists of the items that work with their bar code scan feature on their website here here. I searched for the TJ's items and there are 180 listed.

Must be a different model. On mine, it's rather hidden. For dehydrate, I press the "Options" button next to 0 on the numeric keypad, then press 5, choose the upper or lower oven and enter a temp between 100 and 200°F. Oh, and I especially like the three racks. I can fit a LOT of cast iron pans in the lower oven that I never use!

There is another spike in bird flu but not sure it’s to the point of affecting egg supplies already, let alone chicken. A bird flu outbreak at the largest U.S. chicken egg producer could affect egg prices

No shallots in the Crunchy Chili Onion. Per the TJ's website, ingredient are: OLIVE OIL, DRIED ONIONS, DRIED GARLIC, DRIED RED BELL PEPPERS, CRUSHED CHILI PEPPERS, TOASTED DRIED ONIONS, SEA SALT, NATURAL FLAVORS, PAPRIKA OLEORESIN (COLOR). The cranberry one has: OLIVE OIL, ANCHO CHILI PEPPER FLAKES, SWEETENED DRIED CRANBERRIES (CRANBERRIES, CANE SUGAR, SUNFLOWER OIL), DEHYDRATED ONIONS, DEHYDRATED RED BELL PEPPERS, CRUSHED CHILI PEPPERS, BROWN SUGAR (CANE SUGAR, MOLASSES), NATURAL FLAVOR (ORANGE OIL), SEA SALT, PAPRIKA OLEORESIN (COLOR). The jalapeño lime has: OLIVE OIL, DRIED ONIONS, DRIED GARLIC, DRIED JALAPEÑO, DRIED GREEN BELL PEPPER, SEA SALT, CILANTRO FLAKES, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVOR, LIME OIL.