Posts Tagged ‘food’
04/20/2018
April 20, 2018
Using oil to pan-fry, the patty stays together nicely. Scrapping away some of the breading the underlying patty sort of looks like chicken. Cooked; the breading is crisp, the mouth-feel is nice, the patty doesn’t fall apart. The patty almost has the firmness of a thin real chicken patty. Not surprisingly, the patty does not taste like chicken. In fact there’s an interesting hint of fried okra. Even with the slight taste of fried okra, the patty is perfectly edible as is without condiments. With some lettuce, tomato, and mayo (not vegan), the taste is even better, but that fried vegetable taste still comes through some. Substituting some aggressive guacamole for the mayo also worked well.
The product is labeled vegan. For non-vegetarians, this soy protein based patty is an acceptable substitute for the real thing. Unfortunately this seems to be one of those ALDI special items which are only around for a week or two. But like most ALDI special items this one will probably make its way back to the freezer cases sometime in the future.
Price $2.99 – package of 4 patties
Calories 150 per patty
click on images to enlarge
Disclaimer:
This is an independent review of a product purchased from ALDI. The author(s) are customers of ALDI and have no business or other relationship with ALDI. If you have an issue with the product and desire to contact ALDI, either see your local store manager or use the ALDI customer contact URL immediately below to send a message to ALDI.
ALDI customer contact URL – https://www.aldi.us/en/contact-us/
Tags:aldi, calories, chickenless patty, food, nutrition, price, review, reviews, vegan, vegetarian
Posted in ALDI, food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Vegetarian | 10 Comments »
04/20/2018
April 20, 2018
They must have spelt it wrong, because by most standards this ain’t risotto.
Risotto is typically a rice dish. More specifically it is a dish made from arborio rice. This product is made from spelt. No that wasn’t spelled incorrectly either. Spelt is an ancient grain. Basically, spelt is old wheat, or more specifically an ancestor of modern-day wheat.
Cooked and on the plate, the spelt in this product looks like small puffed wheat. Unfortunately the spelt cooks up to a very firm texture which takes away from that nice creamy feel associated with traditional risotto. Think of a creamy rolled oats oatmeal versus a steel cut oats oatmeal. I even added another 4 minutes in the microwave to try to soften up the spelt. No luck. Reheated the next day, everything was even firmer.
The sauce has a bacon-like aroma and flavor, even though there’s no bacon in the product. While not especially cheesy, the sauce had a nice flavor.
This is far from the best risotto I’ve had. It’s rather disappointing. But considering I recently paid about $16 for a restaurant risotto which wasn’t much better, you’re only gambling with $3 if you’d like to try this and see how your ancient ancestors lived.
Price $2.99 per frozen bag (about 2.5 servings)
Calories, 200 per serving (175g)
Tags:calories, food, nutrition, price, review, reviews, spelt risotto, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 2 Comments »
04/13/2018
April 13, 2018
This takes mac and cheese to a whole new level. Awesome sauce, that’s the only way to describe the gorgonzola based white sauce. It’s a beautifully flavored cheese sauce, rich in cheese flavor.
Like the Gnocchi alla Sorrentina reviewed earlier, in the bag are the frozen gnocchi and thin rectangular frozen pieces of sauce. A two-step cooking process in the microwave fist thaws and partially heats the two separate components. A quick stir blends both components together. Then another turn in the microwave completes the heating process.
The gnocchi varied from perfectly chewy to some that were a bit rubbery. The few that were rubbery may have been caused by a little over cooking in the microwave as a microwave tends to cook things on the edges of the container more than those in the center. Or there may have been some freezer burn from being in my freezer a bit long.
Regardless of chewiness, all the gnocchi did their job which was to provide a place for the sauce to adhere and keep the sauce in the mouth for as long as possible where the tongue’s tiny taste buds were temptingly tantalized to tear the tasty tidbits of sauce from the twirling gnocchi. This is a sauce that deserves to be savored as long as possible.
Price $2.99 per 16 ounce bag
Calories 250 per serving (about 3 servings per bag)
Tags:calories, food, gorgonzola gnocchi, nutrition, price, review, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | Leave a Comment »
03/31/2018
March 31, 2018
Little squares, that’s what quadratini means. But these are really little cubes. That would be six squares in a cube, if anyone’s counting.
These are just like sugar wafers in the US, except they’re different. The typical sugar wafer is a five layer combination of light wafer cookie and relatively sweet creamy filling, most often in the shape of a long rectangle.
The Quadratini are a similar layering of a light wafer cookie with a creamy filling between layers. Except in this case there are nine layers in the finished product. And instead of a rectangle, the cookies are cut so that the length and width of the cookie roughly equals the height of the layers leaving a nine layer cube of around 3/4 inches (19.05 mm) to a side. This creates a very bite-sized, very dainty and very light cookie.
The other difference between this and the US variation, is the sweetness. These are not very sweet. There’s a very European feel to the chocolate wafer and chocolate filling. The taste of high quality cocoa predominates, minus much of the sugar that makes cocoa into chocolate. Now, if this flavor isn’t for you, there are 10 other flavors available – but possibly not all at Trader Joe’s.
Price $3.69 per 8.8 oz. bag
Calories 150 per 8 cookie cubes
Tags:calories, dark chocolate, food, nutrition, price, quadratini wafer cookies, review, reviews, snack, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 6 Comments »
03/31/2018
March 31, 2018
The heat takes a few seconds to kick in, and then builds for the next few minutes. This is going to be a little more heat than some people like. For heat lovers, it’s not a “call the fire department” kind of heat. Along with the heat comes the flavor of the ghost pepper, which is very earthy. Try a little paprika straight out of the spice jar on your tongue to get an idea of the earthy taste. That’s another thing some people may not like. It is a different flavor.
While all the TJ flavored cheddar combinations reviewed so far, e.g., caramelized onion cheddar, have been more than good, this one doesn’t work for me. The combination of the cheddar, and both the heat and flavor from the ghost pepper just doesn’t work well together. Aside from the ghost pepper overwhelming the cheese, the flavors just aren’t complementary. Perhaps as a topping for a burger, this may work better.
Price $7.99 per pound Calories 110 per ounce (28g)
Tags:calories, cheddar, cheese, food, ghost pepper, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 1 Comment »
03/27/2018
3/27/2018
The beans are medium brown in color with the oil just starting to sweat from the beans. There’s a nice aroma coming from the ground beans. This is a solid medium roast coffee.
There were plenty of CO2 bubbles when brewed, indicating a recent roast. The aroma in the cup is mild. As a medium roast, there’s a milder coffee flavor to go along with the mild aroma. For the first few days I noticed a slight secondary flavor in the coffee beyond a coffee flavor. After a few days, either I became accustomed to the secondary flavor or it dissipated from the beans. In either case, it didn’t break the coffee. In fact after a few weeks drinking this, I sort of missed it when I switched back to my everyday coffee. The milder medium roast coffee flavor was a good break from my normal darker roast.
The coffee is labeled Fair Trade Certified and USDA Organic. At a savings of a couple of dollars, or more, over similar quality coffee, this is a bargain for a good cup of coffee. Price $4.79
ALDI customer contact URL – https://www.aldi.us/en/contact-us/
Tags:aldi, coffee, fair trade, food, medium roast, organic, peru, price, review, whole bean
Posted in ALDI, coffee, food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items | 4 Comments »
03/27/2018
March 27, 2018
This is a “vegetarian friendly”, certified organic, aged, sharp cheddar cheese. The texture of the cheese is firm, not hard, and not crumbly. There’s a touch of a non-cheddar flavor in the cheese. Regardless, this is a nice cheddar cheese, especially for someone looking for an organic cheese. Calories 110 per ounce, price $5.99 per pound
Roth cheeses can be found at other supermarkets also, click here to search near you.
One of my pet peeves about cheese labeling is the ambiguous references to “enzymes” in the labeling. Some enzymes (a minority now) come from animals – making them non-vegetarian. Animal enzymes are sometimes labeled as rennet (although even the word rennet can be used ambiguously). Other enzymes (many cheeses use these) are produced by bacterial cultures or are plant-based, and are vegetarian friendly. By not clearly labeling the type of enzymes used in making the cheese, the cheese makers make it more difficult for vegetarians to find cheeses which suit their dietary preferences. Even this one which is labeled “vegetarian friendly” – and I assume that means non-animal enzymes – doesn’t mention the source of the enzymes in the ingredient label. Here’s some additional reading.
Tags:calories, cheese, food, nutrition, organic, price, review, reviews, roth cheese, sharp cheddar, trader joe's, vegetarian
Posted in food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's, Vegetarian | 4 Comments »
03/05/2018
March 5, 2018
Certified vegan, certified organic, non-GMO, dairy-free, gluten-free, family owned, 100% recycled paperboard carton and re-recyclable, Amy ticks off almost all the check boxes. It even tastes pretty good.
The green curry is medium spicy. More than the heat, it also a nice flavor. The flavor is not as complex as what can be found at a good Thai restaurant, but still nice by frozen box-food standards. The rice and vegetables are a bit softer than I like, but not overly so. Like many commercial products, the amount of sodium in the product is on the high side, 780 mg. At 360 calories per container, it’s a light lunch, but still filling. The$3.75 sale price is getting up there for a single portion frozen boxed meal. However if you need one of those check boxes listed above, this product could be for you.
Price $3.75 (on sale, Target) ($4.19 regular price)
Calories 360 per single serving container
Tags:amy's, box lunch, calories, food, green curry, price, review, reviews, target, thai, vegan
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Vegetarian | 6 Comments »
02/09/2018
February 9, 2018
This is another grown-up mac & cheese. This has a nice earthy depth of flavor but less complex than the recently reviewed Truffle Mac & Cheese. This product adds Hatch Chiles to a classic cheddar cheese base. If you’re worried that the chiles make this mac & cheese spicy hot, no need for that. Only a very very mild heat can be detected in sporadic bites when a bit of the green chili actually finds its way to your fork. Mostly, the chiles just adds a secondary complementary flavor to the cheese adding to the depth of flavor.
Again, half the container was more than adequate as a side to dinner. While I prepared this in the microwave, using the oven, taking another 20 minutes or so, might add a nice browning to the top. But I leave that experiment for you.
What’s a Hatch Chili? Well it’s hard to say other than these chiles were grown in or around Hatch, New Mexico (according to information on the box). For those interested here’s the Wiki link.
Price $2.99 per frozen box (two servings per box)
Calories, 260 per serving (170g)
Tags:calories, food, hatch chiles, mac and cheese, nutrition, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 3 Comments »
02/09/2018
February 9, 2018
This is a nice cheese, a blend of parmesan and cheddar implied by the label. This cheese is mild with a gentle nutty sweet flavor. The texture is medium firm, and definitely not hard. The Syrah wine soak doesn’t add much to the flavor, but puts a pretty purple coating on the outside. The cheese slices nicely and is not crumbly. This is suitable for a cheese tray if you don’t mind some odd-shaped pieces as the cheese is sold as a wedge.
Now the interesting thing about using this on a cheese tray could be watching people try to decide if that purple coating on the outside is edible, or not. I’m not saying.
price $9.99 per pound calories, 120 per ounce (28g)
Tags:calories, cheese, food, nutrition, review, reviews, syrah, tj, tj's, toscano, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 5 Comments »
April 20, 2018
Price $2.99 – package of 4 patties
Ain't Found A Good Title Blog 