Trader Joe's Products (2015–2017)

[Deryn]

On ‎03‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 11:17 PM, blue_dolphin said:

I tried these frozen crab cakes recently.  I don't recommend them.  They are $6.99 for a box with two 3 oz crab cakes.  Unlike many frozen crab cakes, they are almost all crab, very little in the way of filler.  Most of the crab is very fine shreds but each cake has a 4 or 5 larger pieces on the top and bottom surfaces.   

All crab!  Large pieces!  Sounds good, right?  Not so, in my experience and I suspect it's almost impossible to cook them in a way that achieves a little surface browning without drying the crab into sharp splinters.

 

When I cooked the first one, I followed the package instructions (which caution against overcooking) 425 deg F for 10 minutes, flip and cook 2-4 minutes longer, until golden brown.  I got this:

which looks OK but like I said above, the bigger pieces on the surface of the cake were basically sharp little splinters of crab.  The middle of the cake was fine, with moist shreds of crab, the flavor is good and they really taste of crab.

For round 2, I went for 10 minutes at 400 deg F on steam-bake in the Cuisi steam oven then into a saute pan with butter to get a little color on them but they weren't any better.  

 

I think a good crab cake should have a lightly browned, crisp exterior and moist interior filled with small to medium pieces of crab.   I don't think there is a good way to get some surface browning on these guys without overly drying those larger pieces, which should really be the best part!  

If anyone else can report better success, I'd consider giving them another try but for now, I'm giving them a thumbs down!

 

blue_dolphin - While it may defeat the purpose of buying a pre-prepared, cooking-ready food, I wonder if ... if you coated the outside of the cakes with a bit of flour (or perhaps quickly dipped in egg and then flour), you might be able to stop the formation of the 'sharp bits of crab from hell' when baking (although I think if you did that, you might just pan sauté them and be done with it). I have been tempted to try those myself however so thanks for the heads up about the issue.

[blue_dolphin]

29 minutes ago, Deryn said:

blue_dolphin - While it may defeat the purpose of buying a pre-prepared, cooking-ready food, I wonder if ... if you coated the outside of the cakes with a bit of flour (or perhaps quickly dipped in egg and then flour), you might be able to stop the formation of the 'sharp bits of crab from hell' when baking (although I think if you did that, you might just pan sauté them and be done with it). I have been tempted to try those myself however so thanks for the heads up about the issue.

 

I think that's a good idea, @Deryn. I did consider some sort of coating - I was imagining poking the big crab pieces deeper inside the cakes and then doing some sort of panko or other crust.  I think it might help but I figured if I was going to do all that fiddling I might as well just buy some nice crab and make my own!  

[paul o' vendange]

On 3/24/2016 at 3:07 AM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I have had TJ's employees comment on my purchases too, but it has always seemed genuine to me. Maybe I am just socially naive, but I have always enjoyed my engagements with TJ's employees in my local store much, much more than anywhere else I shop.....

 

Absolutely my experience as well, Crepes.  We love our TJ's and especially the folks who work there - on a first name basis with many of them and there is not one whiff I get about upselling, etc.  Just the nicest folks, and my wife knows going in that we'll take longer with me.....because I love talking with them.  I've never seen anyone there who wasn't just a sincere, happy person.

 

I worked for WF, for awhile.  Totally different culture, and I hated it.  I suspect there's something magic in the TJ's culture, unless we just lucked out and found the best place in the world to buy a good many products from.  I've written in to their corporate people many times, commending various folks for what they do at our store. 

[rotuts]

I might have said this way up- thread :

 

probably in the WSJ or the NYTimes a while back there was a comment from an executive about their hiring practices.

 

take it or leave it :  you would not do well at all in an interview if you didn't simile, for what ever reason.

 

this makes a great deal of sense to me as to 99% of their staff at My Local.

 

there is this one guy  :  he's the 1 %

 

just saying.

[heidih]

I alternate between 5 different TJs locally depending on where I am working. They are consistently efficient and friendly. I think they do lots of tastings with their employees so that they are in fact able to honestly converse about the products. I interviewed at their headquarters once (Monrovia, Ca) - they were adamant on the no tele-commuting as their overall culture is all about face contact.

rotuts: I've never had the Red Boat or noticed there so will look out - I can go through a bottle of 3Crabs in several months....

The current product I'm having issues with is the olive oil popcorn - the trouble is my inability to resist eating the entire bag for dinner with a strong cheese

 

[rotuts]

there is another Listeria recall of fz fruits and veg

 

here are the TJ's items in question :

 

 

this info cam from this article

 

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/05/07/massive-nationwide-recall-of-frozen-veggies-fruits-after-listeria-outbreak/

 

look near the bottom for the complete list.

[ElsieD]

On Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 10:57 PM, blue_dolphin said:

My apologies  to blue_dolphin.  I don't know why,  but sometimes when I press reply, some odd things show up, this being one of them.

We went to Syracuse on Friday so we could go to Trader Joe's and Wegman's.   We bought a bunch of the stuff we know we like that I have not seen here, along with some new-to-us items.  One of the items was the Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits, shown below.  These are bad.  They are like eating slightly blueberry flavored sawdust.  Really bad.  A purchase that won't be repeated. 

 

On the way back, we had an experience going back through Canadian customs.  We were asked the usual, what did you buy, any liquor or tobacco, etc.  We said we bought groceries only and handed over our two receipts.  Well, says the customs officer, you are over your limit for dairy products,  please go over to that building and park under the canopy.   Which we did and two customs agents came out.  It seems we are allowed to bring back no more than $20.00 each in dairy products which in our case would have amounted to the grand sum of $40.00.  Our crime was that our purchases came to $40.30.  We were 30 cents over our limit.  So the two customs guys are standing there looking like what they really want to know is why the agent bothered to send us over for .30.  However, I guess they felt we needed a lesson in how duties applied so it seems that we are allowed $20 each in Canadian funds which meant that we were actually over by about $12 each.  Duty is 270% which meant that, if they chose to apply it, we would have had to pay about $33.00.  Expensive butter and cheese.  Anyway, they simply suggested we brush up on our knowledge of how much of what we can bring back.  They said that since we have Nexus cards, we are obliged to know the rules.  So, we said we would brush up on them and they sent us on our way.  My husband now thinks we will forever be flagged as smugglers or some such thing.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@ElsieD,

 

Sorry for your trying experience in customs that would have scared and stressed me out. Glad you squeaked by with your "contraband" dairy products that were 30 cents over limit. 

 

And those Blueberry Biscuits, judging from the package photo could only deserve that name of the British definition which is cookie on this side of the pond. They look like hardtack biscuits that used to be used on long sea vessel crossings. Oh, the soft fluffy and buttery blueberry scones I have both purchased, made from scratch and eaten!

 

I'm not interested in that TJ's product either, but thanks for taking one for the team.

 

I hope you also purchased many more satisfying old favorites that will delight you. Save the package from the Blueberry Biscuits. You can take it back with you on your next visit and receive credit toward your next purchase.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Thanks for the Crepes
felt like it :-D (log)

[Deryn]

ElsieD, I am always leery in late spring/early summer as I approach the Canadian border crossing since I think this is the time of year when a bunch of new university grads (or maybe undergrads with a summer job) have finished training and are allowed to be 'officers'. They tend to apply the rules exactly as they memorized them and are sticklers for everything as one might do when one is new to any job. I don't blame them and they may not be wrong but it can be very hard on good honest people who certainly do not mean to defraud or put one over on Customs. The exchange rate is also a big problem - $20 is NOT $20, especially right now but if one has to keep exact track of it every day it compounds the problem - and that limit is really too low anyway as we all know. Sorry you went through that interrogation, etc. Going through Customs at any time is never what I would call a 'fun experience'. I know my blood pressure goes down and I Iet out a sigh once I have cleared successfully .. every time.

 

And thanks for the heads up about the Blueberry Biscuits.

[rotuts]

Well , Spring is finally ( Officially ) here in my area :

 

 

Tj's has in early spring some nice potted herbs

 

i get basil from them these days, in the past I of course planted my own.

 

this year they are cheaper than last  :  2.99 !

 

those with Eagle Eyes note that the pots are in TJ's cookie containers to water from the bottom

 

a few nice sunny days here, and  no mosquitos yet !

[Toliver]

The weather was cool enough so I could finally cook something in the oven. I had the Trader Joe's Steak and Ale Pies (click) this past Sunday evening. 

The crust was very flaky and the beef mixture inside smelled quite "boozy" , which I didn't mind...really. 

I didn't see the alleged carrots and mushrooms that were supposed to be part of the inner mixture. I did see the steak and potatoes in the ale gravy and, overall, I thought it was good.

[blue_dolphin]

Just now, Toliver said:

alleged carrots and mushrooms

[blue_dolphin]

For @rotuts - I know you were bemoaning a lack of reliably good beets.  

On May 22, 2016 at 10:42 AM, rotuts said:

I wish I could get ' fresh ' beets ' more often  ie beets with green tops

the non-topped beets are a bit of a crap shoot.

I love cooking beets now that i have the IP

unfortunately the Rate Limiting Step is Now ''  Fresh  '' beets

 

My TJ's had small bags of organic beets.  Have you tried them?  

Looked like 5 or 6 beets for $1.69, I think.  No tops. They were a modest size, not as tiny as the pre-cooked ones but certainly not big honking tubers either.  Might be worth a try since you can always take them back if they're no good.

 

 

[rotuts]

Ill take a look   thanks

 

the IP has changed my beet use tremendously

 

if I can find good ones.

[ElsieD]

A couple more items to report on.  We bought two bags of the Churros. My husband liked them, I thought they were okay.  I have never had "real" ones so I don't know what they are supposed to be like, and maybe that is the problem.  I thought they were very crunchy, I had, rightly or wrongly, expected a softer interior.

 

On to the Cinnamon Roll Bread.  That deserves all the capitals.  It reminds me of the cinnamon buns you used to buy in the grocery stores years ago.  It is superb. Sadly, I only bought one loaf.  Since I don't recall seeing a picture of it on this thread, I have included one.

[Katie Meadow]

When my daughter was little she adored that TJ's cinnamon roll bread toasted with butter. Very rich! I prefer my cinnamon toast to be just plain toast with a dusting of cinnamon sugar, but for those craving something a bit more sinful this bread does the job and then some.

[rotuts]

did you toast the CBB ?

 

Ill put it on my list

 

I have had many time fresh out of the bubblih' fat Churos.

 

 

yes they are crunchy on the outside,  piping hot with a soft center.

[ElsieD]

48 minutes ago, rotuts said:

did you toast the CBB ?

 

Ill put it on my list

 

I have had many time fresh out of the bubblih' fat Churos.

 

 

yes they are crunchy on the outside,  piping hot with a soft center.

 

Yes, the bread was toasted and buttered with  Trader Jacques cultured salted butter from Brittany,  France.  That butter to is sadly almost gone.  It's delicious.

 

The Churros were crunchy all the way through.  So they are supposed to have a soft centre?  These are mini Churros so it may not be possible to heat them through without them getting crunchy.

[ElsieD]

And here is the TJ's croissant I had this morning.  I left it out overnight as per the instructions on the package and as you can see, it over-proofed. By a lot.  I sure did like the taste of it though.  I am going to try another one tonight although I will let it sit in the fridge overnight rather than on the counter.

[rotuts]

I don't think your TJCr was over proofed.

 

you will find out tomorrow

[rotuts]

Yikes!

 

got the cinnamon roll bread today.

 

toasted up some mid-slices in the CSB.  being a bit of an idiot  i did dial down the tie setting, but forgetting that there was sugar involved, not enough

 

ate those slices any way with generic butter.  delicious.

 

later in the day, I took the thick 'end-cut' and toasted it 'just right' and added some more generic butter.

 

a slice of heaven  I can see 10 lbs added to the wait line over time

 

keep that in mind.

[rotuts]

TJ's seems to be having a Mango Festival.

 

Mango this, Mango that.

 

I succumbed to the Mango 'O's' cereal.

 

I personally try to resist commercially added sugar, and salt, but this cereal seemed OK

 

Its going back after 1/2 bowl, which I forced myself to finish.  its not that bad but the mango chunks in there remind me off all the

 

'processed fruit pieces' you find in most cereal, esp kids.   not so much a chemical taste, but more a ........

 

they had mango cream sandwich cookies, lots and lots of mango-ish stuff.

 

I was told there was a very nice frozen mango chutney or salsa with some heat.  did not try ot

 

at the sample counter the had some fz shrimp nuggets.  they also had mango-pinapple jarred salsa with it

 

mighty fine pairing.  just a little heat from the salsa and the end of the chew.

 

the shrimp nuggets were sensational

 

Ill be snarfing those down latter, with a review.

[ElsieD]

Yes, that cinnamon roll bread is some good.

 

Rotuts, if you are into mango, you need some of what is pictured below.  We brought 6 jars back with us.  It's delicious, and has a bit of heat.

[rotuts]

Illl look for it next  trip

 

there might be something in the freezer department that's new with mango also

[rotuts]

TJ's shrimp Nuggets, demo'd today, with mango-pineapple jared salsa:

 

 

 

 

out of the box, still FZ  ready for the CSB

 

 

out of the CSB  400 from fz  steam-bake   instructions say a hot oven, I went with cold.  started at 9 min, watched carefully  added 3 min, then three min more

 

 

 

these were very very tasty at the demo.  crisp, not oily, and a perfectly cooked shrimp in the center that was very moist and perfectly cooked.

 

I think they add tapioca to the fz shrimp for out standing mouth feel and moitness

 

tartar-ish sauce  :  Mayo, horseradish, green tabasco  , rinsed chopped capers

 

I was surprised at how good this was.   I think they came out much better in the CSB, as they got as crispy as I wanted and did not even think

 

of drying out.

 

this is a winner and a keeper for me.