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Trader Joe's Products (2012–2015)

Katie Meadow

By Katie Meadow
in Kitchen Consumer

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Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted (edited)

Kale/Parmagiana chips. Nasty, nasty nasty and then the aftertaste hits you. Almost funny it's so bad.

Glad you posted that. I saw them at the checkstand today and might have purchased a bag had I not read your message. Thanks!

Edited by Shel_B (log)

 ... Shel


 

heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted

They were sampling pesto gouda the other day as grilled cheese sandwiches. I picked some up along with the sampled Tuscan wholewheat bread. I am enjoying it melted on the toasted bread.

Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted

Rumour has it that TJ has aseptic packages of whipping cream. I've searched high and low for it elsewhere. Instructions have been given to bring me some to the chocolate workshop. I relish the idea of not having to boil cream to ensure safety when making ganaches.

the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

Lindacakes

Lindacakes

Posted
Posted

I've bought the whipped cream in New York/Chelsea branch. Haven't tried it yet.

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

Lindacakes

Lindacakes

Posted
Posted

I am a huge fan of Trader Joe's and buy many of their products, lots of frozen vegetables. The vegetable masala burgers (really just a spicy potato patty) are really handy. I'm crazy about the frozen artichokes.

One of the best items they make are the graham crackers. Brand name graham crackers taste like chemicals and health food alternatives taste like sawdust. Trader Joe's taste exactly like they are supposed to.

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

  • 2 weeks later...
kaneel

kaneel

Posted
Posted

I used to be on this forum lmost everyday years ago then live got crazy busy after 2 more kids and I stopped visiting egullet :shock:

This is where I heard of Trader Joe's. Fast forward to about a year ago they opened their first location in houston (We have 2 now) :rolleyes:

Both locations are about 25 min away. Living in Houston we have a variety of great grocey stores, Central market and HEB being my favoties. I love T Trader Joe's because of their quality, affordability and the size of the store. I shop their once a month for certain products .

Here is my list: Coffee, great coffee and affordable price, Olive oil, Baking chocolate, they have great pastas, their produce, for this I wish I live closer because they're organic produce for better price than the leading grocey chain. I coudn't figure out how to post a pic.

http://kitchentalescuisine.blogspot.com/

Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Noticed the kale chips, passed, thank you.

Had a yen for red licorice so I tried the TJ brand "Cast off the Licorice Lines" strawberry (essentially twizzlers) that boast no artificial anything. Actually they weren't bad at all and I'm ashamed to say how quickly the package disappeared. Good alternative to standard twizzlers, which really are 95% plastic. Not that these are exactly artisanal.

Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted

Trader Joe's Prunes: TJ's has two varieties of this dried fruit, one with and one without sorbate. Toots and I bought a couple of bags of the non-sorbate prunes. I was very disappointed. They were hard, lacked any depth of flavor, and were not at all satisfying. I returned my package.

Toots was satisfied with her prunes, although she cooked them. I also found them to be much more satisfactory when cooked.

 ... Shel


 

rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

I like there dried apricots. slab. I grew up in California in a place called Los Altos. nothing altos about it.

but we had 2 ( TWO :huh: ) acres of apricot trees , mature. it was the 'sticks' back then.

we dried some of them, well a lot of them and they still suit me.

on those 2 acres now are about a bazillion homes. no more trees.

you can sneek to the Los Altos Library at night and ' see ' ripe apricots. :smile:

you have not lived well until you have picked a really ripe apricot from the tree.

you will have about 1 week to do this. there for dried!

rancho_gordo

rancho_gordo

Posted
Posted

I'm not a huge fan but I find what they do kind of interesting. But hats off for the Kona Shortbread half dipped cookies. They're a very lightly sweetened shortbread with coffee (it would be impossible to tell if it was Kona) half dipped in a very sweet icing. They're delicious.

Visit beautiful Rancho Gordo!

Twitter @RanchoGordo

"How do you say 'Yum-o' in Swedish? Or is it Swiss? What do they speak in Switzerland?"- Rachel Ray

FrogPrincesse

FrogPrincesse

Posted
Posted

Trader Joe's Prunes: TJ's has two varieties of this dried fruit, one with and one without sorbate. Toots and I bought a couple of bags of the non-sorbate prunes. I was very disappointed. They were hard, lacked any depth of flavor, and were not at all satisfying. I returned my package.

Toots was satisfied with her prunes, although she cooked them. I also found them to be much more satisfactory when cooked.

I have the regular ones at home and they are great, very plump and flavorful.

Instagram @frog_princesse

Twitter @frogprincesse

My eGullet foodblog

My blog, Tartines to Tikis

  • 1 month later...
Toliver

Toliver

Posted
Posted

I tried their Sweet Potato Tots this past weekend. It was a mixture of a little success and mostly failure.

Due to their high moisture content, they failed to get crisp after oven baking them for a half hour at 400°F (single layer of tots on a cookie sheet...turn the tots at the halfway mark and bake for another 15 minutes). The instructions suggest a 5 minute broil at the end of the baking time to crisp them up but due to my thin, dark cookie sheet they didn't brown during the baking time but blackened instead where they contacted the cookie sheet so I didn't want to subject them to any more "browning". Plus, at the halfway mark when I turned the tots, a lot of them ended up getting squashed when I used the tongs to turn them.

Obviously they needed to be pan fried to get them properly crisped but that sort of defeats the purpose of eating something semi-healthy such as baked sweet potato tots. :hmmm:

The only positive thing I could find was that they had a nice sweet potato flavor.

Live and learn...

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

I had the same issue with those tots. I looked forward to them as a heather version of white potato tots. never got crispy

took them back and asked them about it. they said, lots of people had trouble with the crispyness

I think its the sugar in the sweet potatoes that does this very hard to get a sweet potato 'french fry' cut to get crispy in the oven

they do have lower salt sweet potato 'chips' in a bag that are pretty good.

Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted

And for those of you who haven't tried their smoked herring -- do it! So good -- try a smoked herring, avocado, and arugala sandwich with lemon juice on ciabatta -- heaven!

I made that sandwich for Toots. She enjoyed quite a bit. She loves arugula, ciabatta, and smoked herring, something she enjoyed growing up in Argentina.

 ... Shel


 

Toliver

Toliver

Posted
Posted

I had the same issue with those tots. I looked forward to them as a heather version of white potato tots. never got crispy

took them back and asked them about it. they said, lots of people had trouble with the crispyness

I think its the sugar in the sweet potatoes that does this very hard to get a sweet potato 'french fry' cut to get crispy in the oven

they do have lower salt sweet potato 'chips' in a bag that are pretty good.

I've had those sweet potato chips and loved them. I rarely buy them now only because I'll eat the entire bag sooner than later. :laugh:

I don't think it's the suger in the sweet potato that prevents these tots from getting crispy. If anything, I'd think the sugar would help with caramelization. Hopefully, an SSB or food science geek can chime in as to why sweet potatoes can't crisp up.

I guess I will have to try the tots again but with a pan fry instead of baking to see if crispiness can even be possible with these tots.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

judiu

judiu

Posted
Posted

Toliver, have you tried a lite shot of Pam on the tots, or a couple of spritzes from a Misto? HTH!

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

Toliver

Toliver

Posted
Posted

Toliver, have you tried a lite shot of Pam on the tots, or a couple of spritzes from a Misto? HTH!

When I baked them, there was no Pam on the tots themselves. I did use Pam just on the foil lining the cookie sheet so they wouldn't stick.

As I said in my original post, where they made contact with the foil-covered cookie sheet, they blackened instead of crisping due to the cookie sheet being a dark brown metallic pan.The sheet overrode any crisping effect the Pam on the foil could have had (I should have used an air-cushioned cookie sheet).

I may try a split experiment the next time. Half the package on a cookie sheet, spraying the tots with Pam, and the other half fried in a skillet. We'll figure this out yet!

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

I don't see a thin coat of veg spray helping much. if you figure this out, Kudos your way as id love to have crispy not burnt SP tots.

  • 1 month later...
rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted (edited)

TJ's has a new Panag Curry FZ. just curry no rice. they were demo-ing it and it was quite good.

looks very similar to KB's Panag posted yest in her current 'memories' thread.

:huh:

TJPanag.jpg

Edited by rotuts (log)
andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

Toliver, have you tried a lite shot of Pam on the tots, or a couple of spritzes from a Misto? HTH!

When I baked them, there was no Pam on the tots themselves. I did use Pam just on the foil lining the cookie sheet so they wouldn't stick.

As I said in my original post, where they made contact with the foil-covered cookie sheet, they blackened instead of crisping due to the cookie sheet being a dark brown metallic pan.The sheet overrode any crisping effect the Pam on the foil could have had (I should have used an air-cushioned cookie sheet).

I may try a split experiment the next time. Half the package on a cookie sheet, spraying the tots with Pam, and the other half fried in a skillet. We'll figure this out yet!

I baked them on a wire grid over a sheet pan with much better results than directly on the sheet pan. They did not get super crispy but they were more crisp than with the basic instructions. They did take longer even in the convection oven - almost 40 minutes, however ovens vary so much that you have to check them during the last 10-15 minutes.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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