Trader Joe's Products (2017–)

[Shel_B]

On 5/10/2024 at 12:45 PM, Shel_B said:

I'll be using the Red Island oil later today and I'm anxious to give it a try.  This will be the first Australian oil I've tried.

I made a turkey and bean chili and used the oil.  It was certainly satisfactory and I'm glad to have made the purchase. The price is reasonable for an everyday oil.  However, compared to some California oils, it's not a bargain ... I'd put it in the good value category.  It was also quite acceptable on my dinner salad last night.  Fresh-tasting, a little grassy, with a slight peppery finish ... nothing too extreme or over-the-top. Inoffensive but with some character.

Edited May 12 by Shel_B (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

This (new to me) guacasalsa is pretty good. It's a green salsa-spiked guacamole. My favorite salsa at Trader Joe's remains the roasted tomatillo salsa.

 

 

[lemniscate]

TJ's run today.  Overload on the sweets, I love Ube and I like mochi, so tried these selections.  Pretzels tiny and not too sweet with a good bite of salt; Ube shortbread are tiny and very vanilla-y and tender;  brown sugar mochi is the least sweet of them all and one bite packages (great for roadtrips), I enjoy the texture to sweet ratio and non-mochi eater liked it too, quite a surprise to me.

 

I think the ube limited run items are at the end now.  Felt lucky to find them.

 

Didn't want to put much energy into cooking tonight, so grabbed the karaage (pleases all in the house) and the chicken gyoza.  

Grabbed a frozen kimbap to see what the fuss is about.

 

Kickin myself for missing on the guacasalsa.   Will obtain later.

 

Edited May 17 by lemniscate (log)

[rotuts]

I decided to try this :

 

 

knowing full well that BigSausage   

 

a division of AgraCon

 

was trying to deceive me , in a never way :  celery juice ==>  nitrates  // Nitrites under deep cover

 

these tasted siri0usly ' oxidized '   its an unpleasant taste that lingers in the background.

 

a less polite term ,  ' a bit rancid '

 

the CJ was not effective on preserving this offering.

 

Illkn go back to the usual Salami  , if I go in the salami direction again.

[rotuts]

'  All TJ Dinner '  here:

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/166082-dinner-2024/page/56/#comment-2424868

 

PS the Fx basmati rice was surprisingly good .

 

Edited May 23 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

has anyone tried the various cuts of beef @ TJ's ?

 

I currently eat very little beef.

 

but I very much love the flavor of a ' fine cut ' 

 

treated accordingly , looking for good beef flavor 

 

cooked to desired doneness.

 

I may get something , and more or less SV it to rare 

 

reverse sear and see.

 

some of the beef , possible grass fed 

 

might be from australia , no matter

 

but a good deal of the beef thet i used to glaze at

 

was Vac's and east sigh had a strategic label 

 

preventing you from seeing any marbling or not.

 

thanks

 

 

[rotuts]

TJ's  Pizza - rsh :

 

 

cur w amendments :

 

 

doen in the AirFryer :

 

TJ's Mozarella , ' fresh '  in the log.   cut reasonably this , brought yo room temp , ripped into picecies the fit

 

TJ's jar'd tomato / basil Marinara .  will try the garlic next 

 

 

Ive varied the ingredients a bit and found my style version :

 

TJ's Nan-is   ue frozen   Marinara ( room temp )  a generous layer.  this is a tomato pizza - ish

 

take the sauce as close to the edge a you.

 

some Penzey's tuscan blends.  it has some anise in it.' tastes Italian '

 

add the mozzarella , rip it to fit .  thick enough to melt nd have chew.

 

AF 400 F until there above.  i use the AF w/o presses.

 

when done , cut and plate

 

amendments :  one of several TJ's EVOO , very generous dose.  I like the crust to absorb some

 

TJ's oregano , green dried chula dukes , and green tabasco.

 

there is no decent Pizza establishment  where i like.  a family the ran the Local retired

 

after a zillion years , and the repayment  is terrible , as are all the mothers areoun

 

this is a very very decent pizza fix.

 

I use the nan from frozen and don't dilly or dilly w the toppings

 

to the nan-is becomes cracker like.

 

ingredients always available , shichight n to ge s good think

 

but better than frozen , 

 

but  a ways from Pepe's , New Haven.

 

 

Edited June 4 by rotuts (log)

[Maison Rustique]

Been having this for dessert every evening (until last night when I had the cream cheese with a croissant). I love this cream cheese!

 

[Shel_B]

10 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

Been having this for dessert every evening (until last night when I had the cream cheese with a croissant). I love this cream cheese!

 

Ahh, @Maison Rustique ... You are an enabler.  I saw your post and when I went to TJ's this afternoon I looked for, and bought, the Peaches and Cream Cheese.  I'm looking forward to trying it for breakfast tomorrow.

[Kim Shook]

On 6/5/2024 at 9:11 AM, Maison Rustique said:

Been having this for dessert every evening (until last night when I had the cream cheese with a croissant). I love this cream cheese!

 

Just added this to my TJ list!

[gfweb]

@rotuts How are TJs fz pizza?

[rotuts]

I used to get the ' uncured ' pepperoni.

 

in the Brevelle , which I no longer use.

 

It was OK for an easy pizza fix.

 

they had two thin crust items from France.

 

 

https://chewingthefat.us.com/2017/02/attention-trader-joes-shoppers-this-tj.html

 

they were very good , w real 'French ' flavor  difficult to bake correctly 

 

there was a second one , w french ham , can't find a pic.

 

if you know what I mean :

 

the two French Croque's  Mr and Mrs  are very french'

 

difficult to produce outside of France , as the simple ingredients 

 

are hard to duplicate :   French ham has a  very different salt content than USA et.

Edited June 7 by rotuts (log)

[Maison Rustique]

I love the 2 French "pizzas". I have tried others but can't recall which or if I liked them.

[Shel_B]

On 6/5/2024 at 4:35 PM, Shel_B said:

... this afternoon I looked for, and bought, the Peaches and Cream Cheese.  I'm looking forward to trying it for breakfast tomorrow.

Sad to say, this item was a disappointment to me.  The flavor was pretty good albeit somewhat subtle. It got lost when the cheese was spread on my morning bagel. I tried one half of the toasted bagel with my usual, and preferred, shmear, and the other half with a greater amount of the spread. In both cases the peach flavor seemed to disappear far into the background.

 

The cheese itself was less than fine. It had a gummy texture that I found disconcerting. However, it's only fair to point out that I'm not much of a crem cheese user, and when I do use the product it's made by local companies that don't use gums, stabilizers, etc., so my point of reference may be somewhat skewed. However, I've not had the complaint when using Philly, which does happen.  There's a bagel shop near me that uses Philly straight and in their spreads, and I don't have that "gummy" experience there.

 

YMMV, and it probably will.

[Maison Rustique]

Sorry to hear that! 

[blue_dolphin]

47 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

I love the 2 French "pizzas". I have tried others but can't recall which or if I liked them.

I like them, too. The other one is the Tarte d'Alsace with Ham, Onions, and Gruyere. I wouldn’t call them pizza, but they’re very nice. 
I bake them in the CSO on a pizza screen for the best bottom crust crispness. Now, I'm going to have to go get one!  
 

They've had a some other varieties, one with Brie and tomatoes and I think there was one with Gorgonzola, pumpkin and tomato..  I didn’t care for them as much. 

[blue_dolphin]

I tried one TJ frozen pizza when I was staying at my mom's house. It was edible but not something I'd buy at home. 
Their refrigerated pizza dough blobs aren't bad for a semi quick pizza.  You do need to ball up the dough, cover and let it rest and relax for an hour or 2 (2 is better) before shaping as it's pretty cold and angry right from the fridge. 

[FrogPrincesse]

What some of you call “French pizzas” are Alsatian flammekueche. Very thin crispy dough, typically covered with creme fraiche, raw onions, diced bacon. Nobody in France would think of them as a pizza. I like the Trader Joe’s version (the classic one), it makes for an easy meal with a green salad on the side. 

Edited June 8 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[gastropod]

On 6/5/2024 at 9:11 AM, Maison Rustique said:

Been having this for dessert every evening (until last night when I had the cream cheese with a croissant). I love this cream cheese!

 

Interesting. I was eyeing that cream cheese at the store, but I couldn't think of what to eat it with so I didn't end up buying it.

[FrogPrincesse]

2 hours ago, gastropod said:

Interesting. I was eyeing that cream cheese at the store, but I couldn't think of what to eat it with so I didn't end up buying it.

My daughter loves it! She eats it on toast.

[rotuts]

decided to ty these :

 

 

decent.

 

the packaging suggest these might not do well re: crunch

 

in a humid environment.

[rotuts]

Lunch :

 

 

pizza-is in there AF

 

similar ingredients as mentioned above.  turned out very well for me

 

the Nan-ish can get cracker like  if one is not careful.

 

this was perfect for me 

 

to satisfy a pizza-dish itch.  everything from TJ's

 

except the green tabasco , my favorite.

 

can't get anything close to this in mymtown   ( bad =ish )

 

I can makenthis any time ( bad-is )

 

might have a second soon.

 

had it w an ice ice cold can ic cider , from TJ's :

 

 

its excellent ice ice cold , in an ice cold glass .  stands up to ice , it does !

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

6 minutes ago, rotuts said:

had it w an ice ice cold can ic cider , from TJ's :

 

 

its excellent ice ice cold , in an ice cold glass .  stands up to ice , it does !

 

Interesting-looking cider. How does it taste - is it dry or on the sweet side? 

[rotuts]

its on the dry side , w a bit of sweetness , but not too much.

 

TJ's also sells Stromalong :

 

 

its a bit drier , quite tarty.

 

6 pack of HH's is 9.99   4 cans of the above is 11.99

 

stormalong  ( at Total wine ) sells an un filtered , vey much like aging your own.  

 

'nice  similar price.   

 

Im happy q HH.    ice ice cold  w ice.

Edited June 10 by rotuts (log)

[Dave the Cook]

Going back a ways, but +1 to @rotuts for the Hatch chili salsa. We like to keep a couple of assorted salsas around. The TJs Hatch has now replaced Frontera (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) as our standby.