Port Salut is a semi-soft cow’s milk cheese developed by monks from the Port-du-Salut Abbey in the 19th century. It is now produced commercially.
While the cheese is not as soft as brie and the like, it is spreadable enough. It has a stronger flavor than brie, a bit more “rotten,” but it was quite enjoyable. In all, I think I prefer the consistency of brie, however.
Tag: Trader Joe’s (Page 2 of 6)
Nice fall dessert
Trader Joe’s Rustic Apple Tarte is a smallish galette that tastes like apple pie. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The tarte crust was lighter, and more flavorful than your regular pie crust, and the apple filling was on point: the apples had some firmness, they weren’t overly sweet and the sliced nuts provided a good crunch. It also had sugar crystals which I love. In all, it was quite enjoyable though a little on the small side. I’d get it again.
A disappointment for any yellow curry lover
I love yellow curry, and I particularly love getting yellow curry and roti at Thai restaurants. The appetizer is expensive, and not very filling, but oh, so delicious. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that Trader Joe’s Taiwanese Green Onion Pancakes made a reasonable substitute for roti, but I needed some yellow curry to complete my at-home hack. Enter Trader Joe’s Thai Style Yellow Curry Sauce ($3.50).
Alas, this yellow curry is just not very good. Indeed, it only vaguely tastes like yellow curry – I’d say the taste is closer to American or Japanese curry powder. It lacks the vibrancy and perfume of Thai yellow curry, and substitutes it for an unpleasant bitter undertone. The curry is also very thick and heavy – not surprising given that its main ingredient, after water, is oil.
Now, it might be that this sauce is better with actual meats after being heated u, and perhaps somewhat diluted – but I don’t think I’ll try to find out.
I am afraid that I’ll just throw away the whole bottle.
It’s all about the deep fried crust
I don’t think it was until I tried this Roasted Garlic & Pesto Pizza with Deep Fried Crust ($6) that I came to the realization that I don’t really like pesto. I always thought I did, though I could never quite get it right when I tried to make it, but I think it might be too bitter for my taste buds – at least at this stage in my life.
In all, I can’t say I enjoyed the pizza. In the areas without the pesto, it was pretty “blah”. It didn’t have much flavor – the lack of tomato sauce was really felt here. In the areas with the pesto, it was too bitter and salty. The one redeeming quality was the crust, which was pretty good – though not out of this world – particularly when dipped in honey mustard dressing .
It’s definitely garlicky.
Trader Joe’s has a lot of frozen pastas – makes sense, pastas are cheap – and this Garlicky Pasta ($4.30) is good, though not my favorite. It was very garlicky, but it has too much of a one-tone flavor. It did feel too oily/fatty, unfortunately. It did need something else, so I tried adding Parmesan cheese, but that made it too salty.
The spaghetti is cut in half, which makes it hard to roll onto a fork, but it’s still too long to scoop with either a fork or a spoon. It’s just a bad length.
In all, I’m glad I tried it but I wouldn’t buy it again.
An unexpected treat
I have had green onion pancakes at Chinese restaurants over the years, and I have never been overly impressed. Still, when I saw these Taiwanese Green Onion Pancakes ($2.50) at Trader Joe’s I still had to get them – don’t ask me why.
My first impression was that they were just OK. They didn’t much in the way of flavor – they were slightly salty. I did like the chewy consistency, which reminded me of Thai roti. While they are quite oily, they still felt pretty dry and screamed for something to dip them into. I tried chimichurri – but it didn’t work very well. They were delicious with honey mustard dressing, of all things. I thought they would be even better with Thai yellow curry, and they might be. But I got some Trader Joe’s yellow curry to try them with, and the curry was horrible.
You heat up these pancakes on a pan, but it only takes a couple of minutes per side and it leaves you with a clean pan that you can reuse without having to wash. I already bought more.
A solid – but not too solid – dish
I’m a fond of Trader Joe’s frozen gnocchi dishes and this Cacio e Pepe Gnocchi is no exception. The gnocchi were large, pillowy but with some weight in them – they really just that the perfect density. They come in a mild creamy cheesy sauce that is brightened by what you would swear is freshly ground pepper. If you like the flavor of black pepper, you’ll enjoy these.
The package should serve two if you add a salad. I cooked them according to instructions in the microwave, and that worked very well. It sells for $3.50
Microwave burgers suck, these are no better.
I don’t know that I need to say anything more about these Mini Cheeseburgers than what I wrote on the title: they suck. They don’t suck any more or less than any other microwaved burgers out there. Microwave is just awful for burgers, it makes them taste boiled. These ones taste exactly like the White Castle frozen burger you can get at the supermarket. At $4.50 for 3 burgers, they’re actually more expensive than the White Castle ones. Needless to say, I wouldn’t get them again.
Convenient but unremarkable
I found these Trader Giotto’s Bambino Pizza Formaggio – single-serve cheese pizzas – to be extremely generic as far as frozen pizzas go. They are fine, but there is nothing remarkable about it. My daughter liked them because she can easily cook them in the air fryer. And they’re the right size when you want a light meal. But otherwise, they’re unremarkable.
The package of four sells for $4.
A complete failure
The first trip Mike and I took after we were married was to Spain, and decades later I still hold fond memories of those amazing tortillas. They were cheap, filling and so delicious. I was thus pretty excited when I found this Tortilla Española at Trader Joe’s – only to become immediately disappointed after trying it.
The tortilla was too eggy and too dry – despite the fact that it did feel oily. The onions, if they were there, managed to provide no flavor whatsoever. It was just a dense, unappealing, flavorless mess. It may very well be that this is not a dish that freezes well and that its appeal is on it being freshly cooked. In any case, this should be avoided at all costs.
I threw out most of it. TJ’s sells this for $5.50.
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