Archive for the ‘Trader Joe’s’ Category
07/04/2017
July 4, 2017
This is not a great eggplant parmigiana, but a pretty good eggplant as an eggplant.
This is another one of the seemingly endless variations of Trader Joe’s “eggplant with tomato sauce and melted cheese” products. This one features eggplant which are “grilled”. Now I suspect the grilling was done on one of those industrial strength machines that moves a conveyor belt of eggplant slices through some kind of flame. But the pieces had grill marks on them, so who are we to quibble about the method.
While I usually have no patience for waiting on an oven to cook these kinds of entrees, this time I followed the oven directions. Instead of large slices of eggplant, these are actually smaller pieces of a slice. That makes it somewhat easier to eat without needing a knife to cut through the usual slices. The tomato sauce was not very flavorful. Much of the mozzarella seemed to have melted into the sauce instead of forming a nice cover for the eggplant. The result was a somewhat watery tomato/cheese sauce without much flavor intermixed with a few small islands of melted cheese. As a parmigiana, it was disappointing.
However as just eggplant, the eggplant was pretty good. The best bits and tastiest, were those with the skin on – more flavor and more chew. The pieces without skin we’re still tasty, but no as much. Being grilled, there was no breading on the eggplant as is often done with fried eggplant slices. Overall I liked this, but not because it was a good eggplant parmigiana, but because it was good eggplant.
Price ??? (lost receipt) Calories 270 per container (1 serving)
Tags:calories, eggplant parmigiana, food, frozen entree, italian, nutrition, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 5 Comments »
06/20/2017
June 20, 2017
This is the first item I’ve ever seen marked down at Trader Joe’s. But that’s not why I picked it up. I picked it up because an Amancay red I had a few weeks ago was an okay and interesting wine. This purchase didn’t fare as well.
The wine has a clear pale yellow color. There’s a brief fruity aroma on first opening which soon disappears. In the mouth the wine is earthy and tart with something of the taste of concentrated unripe green grapes. The wine worked surprisingly well with an anchovy pizza. The wine balanced the strong tastes from the pizza, especially the saltiness from the anchovy. The pizza balanced out the acidity from the wine.
This is not a white wine for me. It’s too harsh. The wine is better with food than by itself, especially stronger tasting foods. Chilling helps the wine some. A few days in the refrigerator sealed after opening seemed to help the wine mellow some. Balancing out the negatives is the very low price (marked down). Price $3.99.
Tags:2014, amancay, argentina, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, torrontes, trader joe's, white wine
Posted in Trader Joe's, Wine | Leave a Comment »
06/14/2017
June 14, 2017
It’s not Italian sausage. BUT, for a meatless meat (yes it’s labeled vegan), it has the texture, if not exactly the taste, of a meat. The texture is the biggest problem with many meatless meats. They, or we, can always work on how it tastes. In its own right, it’s fairly good tasting, but on the bland side.
(more…)
Tags:calories, food, italian sausage, nutrition, price, review, snacks, tofurky, trader joe, vegan
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's, Vegetarian | 3 Comments »
06/03/2017
June 3, 2017
There are only three questions to ask of a curated coffee: how long has it been on the shelf, has anyone blown off the dust, and are there still overdue fines? It seems we’ve come a long way from curating book collections to curating bulk produce.
While claimed to be a 50/50 blend of light, Colombian Morales, and medium, Ethiopian Limu, roasted coffee beans, all the beans in the can looked the same. Judging by the color and the amount of oil on the beans, I’d call them a medium roast. When the beans were removed from the can, and compared side by side, there was a mix of small and medium size beans.
Aside from the marketing hype, this is a nice coffee. In the can and ground, the beans had a nice aroma. Brewed and in the cup, the coffee had a nice taste. There was a little bitterness, but nothing exceptional. Overall this is a smooth drinking medium roast coffee. Price $8.99 (13 ounce can).
Tags:coffee, colombia, Ethiopia, food, price, review, select harvest curated coffee, tj, tj's, trader joe's, whole bean coffee
Posted in food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | Leave a Comment »
06/03/2017
June 3, 2017
Everyone wants to be hot. Most of us are not. And so it is with these chips.
While still not for the squeamish, these chips do not live up to the reputation of the howling hoblin hotty Habanero ghost pepper (Bhut jolokia) for which they’re named.
Most of the heat in the chips is felt on the lips. The best way to bring a quick tingle is to hold a chip between the lips for a bit. Call it a lip lick. As the seasoning varies some by chip, the more seasoned chips can also be felt on the tongue. The rest of the mouth is mildly involved by comparison unless the chips are taken by the handful and held in the mouth for some seconds. There’s a little earthy taste to these chips aside from the heat. That gives them some added interest. Perhaps just overpowered by the heat, the chips did not taste salty.
If you like heat in your food these will satisfy that need without causing a trip to the emergency room (not guaranteed), because in these chips the ghost is just a will-o’-the-wisp.
Price $2.29 – 7 ounce bag
Calories 140/ounce (28g) (about 13 chips)
Click on images to enlarge
Tags:calories, chips, food, ghost pepper chips, nutrition, price, review, snacks, trader joe
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | Leave a Comment »
05/20/2017
May 20, 2017
The beans are light brown with no oil. Lys means light in Norwegian and Kaffe means coffee. All the pieces fit together to support the claim on the package of “light roast”. The advantage of a light roast is that the more delicate flavors in the coffee are brought to the front. They are not hidden behind stronger flavors brought out by a dark roast.
Made in a press, the coffee is on the thin and watery side. After all it’s a light roast by design. Once the mouth adjusts to the fact that this is supposed to be a light roast, there’s a nice flavor to the coffee. When cooled some there’s a bit of sourness. There’s little to no acid and no bad tastes, making this a very smooth coffee. It’s a different experience and an enjoyable one at that. The coffee reminds me of the Jacobs Kronung coffee reviewed a long time ago.
While the taste is different, for comparison purposes, the “strength” of the coffee is somewhere above a strong tea. For people who don’t like coffee, this may be a gentle way to give coffee a try. For an everyday dark roast drinker, this is a way to take a break and clear the taste buds – think of it as sort of a colon cleanse for the mouth? Price $7.99 (12 ounce can).
For another reviewer’s thoughts on this coffee, see Become Betty here.
Tags:coffee, food, lys kaffe, price, review, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in coffee, food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | Leave a Comment »
05/12/2017
May 12, 2017
There’s a very nice, strong aroma coming from the glass on first pour which portends a full-bodied wine. The wine is fruity and dry at the same time in the mouth. There are no real negatives. Although for the very critical among us, there are hints of things to complain about. This is a blend of mostly Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, according to the internet.
Generally this wine is a love or hate affair when reviewed on the web. About 2/3 of reviewers like this and think it’s a great value wine. The 1/3 of reviews which hate this may be due to some “bad” bottles. Although my guess is those bad reviews are prompted by personal preferences. Most of the reviews were for earlier vintages. There were very few 2015 vintage reviews.
While this is not a great wine, and would anyone really expect a great wine at this price, if you’re not afraid to challenge yourself by adding some complexity to a wine, this is an inexpensive way to do that. And you just might like it. I did. Price $5.99.
Tags:2015, bordeaux, cabernet sauvignon, chateau poyanne, merlot, price, red wine, review, reviews, tj, tj's, trader joe's, wine
Posted in Trader Joe's, Wine | 3 Comments »
05/08/2017
May 8, 2017
The aroma and flavor are pleasantly smokey, reminiscent of a barbecue. The cheese is semi-soft to cut and creamy in the mouth. The smoke flavor is a nice contrast to the texture of the cheese. For $4.99 a pound this is a nicely flavored smoked cheese from Holland. If you’re in need of a smoked cheese and in or nearby a Trader Joe’s, this is a good and surprisingly economical choice.
Price $4.99 per pound Calories 90 per ounce (28g)
Tags:calories, cheese, Dutch, food, nutrition, price, review, reviews, smoked cheese, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 7 Comments »
04/30/2017
April 30, 2017
This is a new small can which I hope does not indicate another trend of getting less for more.
Once opened, the beans have a nice medium brown color with a satiny finish. The beans seem a bit oily for a medium roast. This is a very earthy full-bodied tasting coffee with a bitter taste. The bitterness is different from that produced by some darker roasts and unfortunately not any better. Because of this bitterness this is not a coffee I’d pick up again. If you like dark roast coffee, this may be for you – with a big may?
The can is 10 ounces, but at a price more indicative of a coffee packaged in a 13 ounce can. That’s about a 30% increase per ounce for a coffee which is not very special. Now it could be there is a limited supply of this coffee and this is simply a way for Trader Joe to ration it out so more people can try it.
As is often the case, Trader Joe has some creative writers doing product descriptions. If you come across this coffee, be sure to read the story on the back of the can. But do that in the store. And after you do, put the can back on the shelf and drop a can of your regular coffee in your cart. Price $6.99 (10 ounce can).
Tags:coffee, food, monsooned malabar, price, review, tj, tj's, trader joe's, whole bean coffee
Posted in food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 4 Comments »
04/15/2017
April 15, 2017
Of the cheddars reviewed here, this one is the best cheddar yet at Trader Joe’s, if you like an American-style cheddar. Aged “over” 18 months, the cheese is just starting to get crumbly. Over that time the flavor has matured into a nice tasting cheddar. Compared to a Kraft sharp cheddar, this one is a bit tastier and definitely not as creamy. Both those things are good if you’re looking for an aged cheese. While tastier, the flavor is not overwhelming as the name might imply. Calories – 110 per oz (28g). Price $5.99 per pound.
Tags:calories, cheese, extra-sharp-cheddar, food, new york, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 6 Comments »
July 4, 2017
While I usually have no patience for waiting on an oven to cook these kinds of entrees, this time I followed the oven directions. Instead of large slices of eggplant, these are actually smaller pieces of a slice. That makes it somewhat easier to eat without needing a knife to cut through the usual slices. The tomato sauce was not very flavorful. Much of the mozzarella seemed to have melted into the sauce instead of forming a nice cover for the eggplant. The result was a somewhat watery tomato/cheese sauce without much flavor intermixed with a few small islands of melted cheese. As a parmigiana, it was disappointing.
Ain't Found A Good Title Blog 