Trader Joe's Products (2017–)

[Kim Shook]

After thawing as instructed on the package, and unrolling THIS is what my TJ's pie crust looked like:

An email was sent to them, but I haven't heard back yet.

[blue_dolphin]

18 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

After thawing as instructed on the package, and unrolling THIS is what my TJ's pie crust looked like:

 

An email was sent to them, but I haven't heard back yet.

 

I've given up on their pie crust.  At its best, it can be a lovely buttery crust but at its worst....well, I think you've showed us!  

I buy pre-made crust to save myself time and aggravation and I spent way more time piecing and patching the last TJ's crust than I've done with any of my own homemade efforts.  

I'm sticking with the doughboy!

[Maison Rustique]

New to me at TJ yesterday. I had some in my morning kefir and I really like it!

 

Coffee Flour

[blue_dolphin]

38 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

New to me at TJ yesterday. I had some in my morning kefir and I really like it!

 

Coffee Flour

 

See @andiesenji's report on using coffee flour in baking in this post.

Sounds interesting.

[saluki]

On 3/19/2017 at 10:28 AM, rotuts said:

they demo'd this the other day :

 

 

 

 

I brought one home.   it was superb ! the chicken was moist and tender !  all the flavorings worked well together and the kalamata olives made the dish.

 

I plated the contents rather than use the plastic tub , and carefully micro's the chicken in stages.

 

I did put no more than one drop of white wine I was drinking on each pice of Ck. :

 

 

I don't know if this is a permeant refrigerated item at TJ's or not.

 

Ill get this again for sure.

 

Saw a recipe where they thawed the contents and used it along with halved  cherry tomatoes to stuff red peppers.  I think I'll pick this up next time and try that.

[rotuts]

its very decent ' as is '

 

remember you can take it back

 

I now make the orzo w good quality bulgarian feta and from the middle east makers near me  

 

kalamata olives in bulk where I get the Bulgarian

 

the sundered to mats come from

 

TJ's

 

and when I have a bit of freezer space

 

Ill SV  skinless boness CkBr

 

after removing the 1 or 2 tendons

 

in the greek oregano , kalamata olive oil  ( Tj;'s )

 

and have this dish when ever Id like it.

[pfcreep]

On 6/14/2015 at 11:12 AM, HungryChris said:

After searching for several years for a supply of shishito peppers without much luck, I started growing them in my garden. I still do an occasional web search which turned up the link below. Went out to the nearest TJ's which is in Warwick, RI, and sure enough they had them. Nice to know.

 

 

 

http://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/shishito-peppers

 

 

HC

I have been buying Shishito peppers at TJ's for a long time.  Always good quality and the only place I can find them consistantly.  H-Mart is a close second!

[ElsieD]

Has anyone tried their Heavenly Villagio MarzanoTomatoes?

[Maison Rustique]

16 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Has anyone tried their Heavenly Villagio MarzanoTomatoes?

 

I know I have had them, but not terribly recently. At least a year or so ago, which means I can't remember any specifics. I can say that I didn't race right back to buy more, so would guess that I wasn't that impressed.

[blue_dolphin]

18 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Has anyone tried their Heavenly Villagio MarzanoTomatoes?

I tried them last year and was not impressed. Maybe it was just a bad batch but I found them a bit mealy in texture. 

[MelissaH]

On 3/21/2017 at 2:30 PM, blue_dolphin said:

Yesterday, I broke a longstanding rule and went to Trader Joe's when I was hungry.  They seem to be having a bit of a coffee fest and I brought home two new-to-me cookies:  Mocha Joe-Joe's and Coffee Toffee Shortbread Cookies.  I managed to put them away in the cupboard and eat my planned lunch but I tried one of each with a cup of coffee today.  

 

The Coffee Toffee Shortbreads are $2.99 for a box of 12 cookies.  180 calories/3 cookies. The shortbread cookie portion has some crunch from both crushed toffee and ground coffee beans. The bottom is dipped and the top drizzled with chocolate. Very nice.  The small box limits the damage one can do.

 

The Mocha Joe-Joe's (product of Canada) are another flavor of the TJ's Oreo knock-off.  $2.99 for a box of ~ 22 cookies.  150 calories/2 cookies. There are bits of ground coffee beans in the "creme" filling, they seem less sweet than a standard Oreo and the coffee/mocha flavor does come through.  Maybe that's because I was washing it down with a mug of black coffee.  I need to conduct another test and take the cookies apart to taste the cookie separately from the filling.  That should be done with a glass of cold milk and include a dunk test.  I haven't scheduled it yet.  I'll report back if I remember.

 

When I got home from TJ's,  I found an email advert from them with more coffee items.  Good thing I didn't see some of these. I don't have a huge sweet tooth but I have a certain weakness for coffee and mocha flavors.   I'm pretty sure the Vietnamese Coffee Caramels and/or the Coffee Cocoa Batons would have come home with me as well.

I cracked open my box of Mocha Joe-Joe's yesterday. Those things are dangerously good, possibly enough to take over first place in my personal sandwich cookie ratings. (I was a Hydrox girl way back when they were a Sunshine brand cookie. The new things they're selling under the Hydrox name aren't worth bothering with. Regular Oreos are so-so; the two flavors of Oreo I liked best—golden cookie with chocolate creme and the Key Lime special edition from two summers back—both seem to be out of production. Something about the normal Joe-Joe's doesn't really work for me, but the mocha version is one I'll need to ration cautiously.

[MelissaH]

<nothing to see here.>

Edited June 2, 2017 by MelissaH
duplicate post (log)

[blue_dolphin]

I committed the error of stopping at Trader Joe's just BEFORE lunch and am now eating the evidence:

Sorry for the out of focus photo. 

[rotuts]

Yikes !

 

I was not aware of the above until now !

 

Im looking forward to my first bite

 

[ElsieD]

We picked up some chili lime burgers last Friday as we always do when we are fortunate enough to shop at Trader Joe's.  New to us was some mango jicama slaw that we topped our burgers with.  The slaw was really good on the burgs and we are having the rest of it tonight as a side with some spicy chicken. We also opened a package of almond thins cookies and they are really good also.  We also bought and have tried the mango black tea and are almost halfway through the first of 4 loaves of cinnamon roll bread.  And oh yes, Zeus is happy with his tuna cat food.  He loves the stuff and gave a can to Chanel,  his neighbour next door.

[ElsieD]

@Maison Rustique and @blue_dolphin Thanks for letting me know about the tomatoes.  I saw them but did not buy any.

[blue_dolphin]

I love that mango jicama slaw, too! 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

5 hours ago, ElsieD said:

@Maison Rustique and @blue_dolphin Thanks for letting me know about the tomatoes.  I saw them but did not buy any.

 

Elsie, the best tomatoes I've gotten at T.J.'s were the Campari and the Kumatoes. The "beefsteak" tomatoes at T.J.'s were nothing like the ones I used to grow in flavor, shape, juiciness or any durn thing; I recommend avoiding these even in the height of summer. Just terrible. I only found the Campari once and it was my first time eating these lovlies, but now they are (oh happy day!) available in the mainstream groceries here. T.J.'s brown Kumatoes are much better than the brown tomatoes I have found in other grocers' offerings, but T.J.'s doesn't have Kumatoes every time I have been. Another great tomato, that I haven't seen at T.J.'s are Scarlet Pearl grape tomatoes grown in the hot houses of your native country. 

 

And thanks to the ladies who took one for the team on the Heavenly Villagio Marzanos. I just hate tomato disappointment  , so thanks for saving us. I was excited when I saw them in the "Fearless Flyer", but not anymore.

[blue_dolphin]

Another new-to-me item - Trader Joe's Sliced French Brioche

 

I think it's been around for a while but I didn't notice it.  

Since it's made in France, it's not exactly a fresh-baked loaf but I figure I can keep this in the freezer and pull out a slice or two to make brioche french toast for an occasional treat.

I toasted one of the end slices and enjoyed it with butter and a sprinkle of toast dope.  Very nice.

It's $3.99 for the loaf. 

[rotuts]

@blue_dolphin 

 

Ive also seen this , and wondered if it would be nice for F.Toast, 

 

made w real F. Bread.

 

Im guessing it come frozen.

 

Im now going to have to try it

 

how Brioche-ey was it ?

 

100 %  to 0 % scale?

 

0 % is plain W. bread , 100 %  is brioche you might get in France at a nice local bakery ,

 

the kind of place that blasts you w incredible aromas when  you open the door

 

almost knocks you off your feet !

[blue_dolphin]

3 hours ago, rotuts said:

how Brioche-ey was it ?

 

I'd say it's like halfway decent day-old brioche that got put into a plastic bag.  It's something I'd use for toast or French toast but I wouldn't serve it on its own as I would do with a perfect fresh-baked version.

To me, the charm of a fresh brioche is the textural contrast between the delicate, but still slightly crispy/chewy crust and the buttery, soft interior.  Once you put it in a plastic bag, the crust gets soft so that's lost.

The crumb is finer and more even than my dream brioche.  It's rich and buttery but not quite as buttery as an all-butter version. Overall, more manufactured than hand-crafted.

Edited June 7, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Toliver]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

Another new-to-me item - Trader Joe's Sliced French Brioche

 

It sort of reminds me of TJ's Cinnamon Swirl bread  that is also cut thick. I love the Cinnamon Swirl bread but I stopped buying it. I can't eat an entire loaf quickly enough (before I think it's going to go bad/off).

[rotuts]

@Toliver  

 

if the C.S.B., is the one Im thinking of , and as delicious as it is , its not cut this thick

 

the B.R. is about 2 x as thick if not more than standard thickiness

 

aside from your waist-line ,  just freeze 1/2 of the loaf and you are set

 

dont blame me if nothing you own fits any more.

Edited June 8, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[ElsieD]

@Toliver  we brought back 4 loaves of cinnamon roll bread and put them in the freezer.  We pull out a couple of slices at a time.  It freezes well.

[rotuts]

@ElsieD 

 

nice  I completely agree with you

 

for full disclosure :

 

@Toliver 

 

would want to discuss this tailor first

 

for only completeness