Tuesday's Tasting - Trader Joe's Wild Mushroom & Black Truffle Flatbread

I've told this story before, life gets in the way and my writing suffers. While away this time I did some more traveling in Europe and had the incredible opportunity to eat at a very special restaurant. A restaurant so special that I have to keep you in the dark for now, but please come back tomorrow to read about my awesome dining experience.

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you about a relatively new Trader Joe's freezer case product, the Wild Mushroom & Black Truffle Flatbread with Mozzarella Cheese. I have made two of these over the last few weeks because they are that good. If you know and love the aroma and flavor of black truffles, you too will love this flatbread pizza. Keep reading to learn more, or just go to Trader Joe's and buy some of these right away. Come back and finish reading while your oven pre-heats.

I have to admit I was suprised when I first saw this in the case; I thought, truffle flatbread, at Trader Joe's, really? Well after 8 minutes in a 425 degree pre-heated oven I wanted to personally thank the buyer who found this gem for the Trader, I don't care how he or she did it, I'm just glad they did. When I opened the oven to remove the flatbread I was overcome with that amazing truffle aroma that so many of us cherish and love. The crust was crispy and chewy at the same time providing just the right amount of bite and a modest amount of mozzarella melted nicely over the mushrooms, truffles, and truffle sauce. My first bite had my taste buds dancing with joy, and my second bite had me craving more and more. This delicious, perfectly seasoned, truffle flatbread is a winner and is $4.69 for one box.Go buy some, now.

Tuesday's Tasting - Trader Joe's Mini Croissants

Better late than never seems to have become my motto here at One Food Guy, and if you forget to take these tasty mini croissants from Trader Joe's out of the freezer the night before you want to eat them, you'll be having croissants for dinner instead of breakfast. That is of course assuming you want to eat them for breakfast in the first place. In any case, just like the chocolate croissants I reviewed a few weeks ago, these mini croissants from Trader Joe's require 7-9 hours at room temperature to defrost and proof prior to baking. When ready, 15-20 minutes at 350F and you'll have light, delicious, fresh baked croissants. The box of 8 costs $3.99 and is well worth the money. I ate mine sliced in half and filled with a fried egg covered in melted manchego cheese but they are simply delicious all on their own.

When you can't fly to Paris for breakfast, or even make it to that little French bakery on the other side of town, be prepared and keep a box or two of these mini croissants in your freezer. They do take a little forethought since you need to set them out the night before, or in the morning for an evening snack, but trust me, they are worth it. Bon Appétit!

Next time on Tuesday's Tasting, a fantastic flatbread pizza: Trader Joe's Wild Mushroom & Black Truffle Flatbread

Tuesday's Tasting - Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants

Trader Joe has outdone himself. While at my local Trader Joe's last week I saw a box of Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants in the freezer case, a relatively new product. Recently back from a trip into Paris where I did enjoy an amazing pain au chocolat (known as a chocolate croissant in the US,) I thought I would give them a try. So, wow! You need to stop into your local Trader Joe's as soon as you can to pick up some of these amazing, bakery-fresh good chocolate croissants; one box of four croissants is $3.99

J and I decided to try them this past Sunday morning so as the directions indicate on the box, I took the frozen croissants from the box on Saturday night and placed them on a parchment lined baking sheet. I left them out on the counter to proof overnight and in the morning they had nearly quadrupled in size! I preheated the oven to 350F, baked 22 minutes (the box says 20-25,) then let them rest out of the oven for another 10 minutes. These chocolate croissants were light, airy, soft, chocolaty, and oh so delicious! There are four in a single package so J and I each had one Sunday morning, and then ate the rest yesterday. They were still delicious yesterday morning, exhibiting the slightly toothsome texture that a good French pastry should have. I strongly advise you to go out and buy a few boxes as soon as you get the chance, in fact I bought five more boxes on my way home from work last night! Once the word gets out about these, TJ's is going to have a hard time keeping them in stock!

Enjoy my Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissant experience in the following series of photographs -

So there you have it, Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants, go get some and enjoy. Tune in next week for my review of the chocolate croissant's little big cousin, Trader Joe's Mini Croissants!

The Triumphant Return of Tuesday's Tastings - TJ's Butter Chicken Masala

After several months of dormancy, Tuesday's Tastings makes a triumphant return with my review of Trader Joe's Butter Chicken Masala. When I was at my local Trader Joe's about a month ago, I noticed a few new frozen Indian meals that looked like they had some promise. I took a look at the ingredients of this Butter Chicken Masala and saw fenugreek, an herb commonly used in much of India's native dishes including curry. The inclusion of this herb added some credibility to Trader Joe's claim on the box that this was an "Authentic Indian Recipe"so I thought for a few dollars I would give it a try.

After about 10 minutes in the microwave - 5 minutes on defrost, 4 minutes on high, and 1 minute to cool - I peeled back the cellophane cover and was greeted with a familiar smell, that of slow cooked, tender, spicy chicken masala. The basmati rice lacked much of any fragrance and with my first bite I was greeted with some slightly rubbery grains, but the chicken was very tender, very flavorful, and actually quite good. Like many Indian dishes, the chicken was spicy, but not hot spicy, just spices spicy. It tasted very close to some real butter chicken masalas that I've eaten in India and that's a big compliment to Trader Joe. I did find that when I mixed the chicken and gravy (what Indian's call sauce) with the rice, the whole meal was very good and certainly tasted like an authentic Indian recipe.

If you like Indian food, real Indian food, I recommend you pick up some of this Trader Joe's Butter Chicken Masala the next time you're at the market. Once you've had a taste, come back here and leave a comment; let me know what you think.

Happy eating.

Tuesday's Tasting - Trader Joe's Eggplant Cutlets

Faithful readers, Tuesday's Tasting is back!

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably know that J can not have cheese or milk made from cow's milk. Sheep and goat's milk cheese are perfectly fine though. So when I picked up a box of Trader Joe's Eggplant Cutlets, I knew exactly what I was going to make, Eggplant Manchego! Well, that's what J and I are calling it. It is our version of Eggplant Parmigiana in which we substitute the parmigiana reggiano and mozzarella cheeses with manchego cheese, made from sheep's milk.

J helped out with this dinner by baking off the eggplant cutlets at 425 for about 15 minutes. I then layered the baked eggplant in a 9x9 Pyrex baking dish with Rao's Homemade Arrabbiata (Fra Diavlo) sauce and a mix of shredded manchego and midnight moon goat's milk cheese. I also sprinkled on some additional seasonings like oregano, crushed red pepper and garlic powder even though the sauce and eggplant cutlets were already nicely seasoned.

While I assembled the dish, I put on a pot of salted water for the pasta, Whole Food's 365 Organic Whole Wheat Linguine. Once the eggplant manchego was assembled, I baked it in the oven at 375 for about the time it took to cook the pasta, 12 minutes, just enough to melt the cheese and marry all the flavors together. I plated a nice helping of the eggplant manchego right on top of a nice sized portion of linguine and topped everything with some extra sauce. I also baked some homemade garlic bread in the oven along with the eggplant.

If you are looking for a quick and easy meal on a week night, I highly suggest you try out Trader Joe's Eggplant Cutlets. Whether you make eggplant manchego like me or want to make an eggplant parm sandwich, these eggplant cutlets are great. They cook up fast in the oven and come with 4-5 servings in the box. On your next trip to Trader Joe's you should pick up a box of these eggplant cutlets.

Tuesday's Tasting - Trader Joe's Shepards Pie

Can you believe it's been almost a year since I've posted up a Tuesday's Tasting? I certainly can't. Tonight marks the triumphant return of Tuesday's Tasting with a selection that is sure to please. Reader's, I give to you Trader Joe's Shepard's Pie.

When I was growing up, Shepard's pie was a go to for my Mom, along with tuna casserole, meatloaf, and baked chicken and rice. When it comes to Shepard's pie, what's not to love about beef, vegetables and mashed potatoes layered on top of each other. It is, and always will be comfort food at it's best. Well, comfort food for non-vegetarians at least. As good as this Shepard's pie is, it can't touch my Mom's...love you Mom!

Now let's talk about TJ's Shepard's Pie. The beef is tender and flavorful, not ground but shredded like it might be brisket. The vegetable medley consists of peas, carrots, corn and green beans, and they actually taste fresh. The peas really stood out in the mix, still somewhat crisp, and still bright green, I did not doctor the photo below. There were no green-gray mushy peas here folks. As for the mashed potatoes, they were good, not great, but good. J said she thought the mashed potatoes could be better, but overall it was good Shepard's pie. Finally the gravy, rich and tasty, it adds a nice bit of flavor to the whole package.

It couldn't have been any easier to make either, 9-10 minutes in the microwave on high and 1 minute of rest and it was done. I will warn you though, I peeled the plastic off one corner of the plastic dish to vent it during cooking, just like I was told too, and the gravy bubbled out and over the sides, making a nice mess of the glass dish that spins in my microwave. Save yourself the microwave cleanup and put the Shepard's Pie dish on another plate to cook.


If you remember Shepard's pie from your childhood, or if you're just a shepard's pie fan in general, I strongly encourage you to head to your local Trader Joe's and pick up a package or three of Trader Joe's Shepard's Pie, it's good. Really.

I'm still eating....

Where have I been? Tuesday's Tastings have been absent for months. Restaurant and neighborhood reviews have been missing for just as long. All this really means is that I haven't had time to write. It doesn't mean that I haven't been eating out and trying new products from Trader Joe's freezer case. In fact I have, quite a bit.

I rode in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge on August 4th and 5th; a 192 mile bike-a-thon raising money for Cancer research and treatment. I rode my bike nearly 1,500 miles over the summer months while training and burned thousands and thousands of calories doing so. That means I've been eating, a lot! Especially on the weekends when I might burn six or seven thousand calories from cycling alone.

So where have I eaten? Well I posted about my dinners at Great Bay in Boston and Rendezvous in Cambridge. I've also had dinner at Via Matta, Michael Schlow's third restaurant, I've had drinks at Cuchi Cuchi and Excelsior, sushi at Sushi Man in Chestnut Hill, and lots of great food at Big Fresh in Framingham. And of course lots of pizza from my favorite pizza place, Goody's, also in Framingham, the cheese-less veggie special.

What's new in my freezer from Trader Joe's freezer case? How about some buffalo burgers, they were great; and Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burgers, they were also great, especially on a toasted whole wheat english muffin with tomato, sliced avocado and dijon mustard. I'll post complete reviews soon, I promise.

I also started a new job at the end of August that brought me to the other side of the world. I spent a week and a couple days in Chennai, India. Here's a taste:

Breakfast,

Lunch,

and Dinner

I'll be sure to write more about India, too. The food was amazing, the people friendly and welcoming, and the flights from Boston...REALLY long!

Stay tuned, One Food Guy will be back soon with plenty of new musings on food.

Jinius, this post's for you!

Tuesday's Tasting - Seasoned Mahi Mahi Fillets

Tuesday's Tasting is back in a big way this week. I know I've been busy and slacking on Tuesday's Tastings for the last two weeks, but this week, we're talking frozen fish. Frozen, seasoned Mahi Mahi fillets to be precise. I'm usually a fresh guy, fresh seafood, fresh beef, fresh veggies. Trader Joe's has a large stock of frozen fish, seasoned and unseasoned, so when I saw these in the freezer case I thought I'd give them a try.

The Mahi Mahi is seasoned garlic, lemon juice, parsley, salt, black pepper, red chili flakes and olive oil. The packaging suggests baking, grilling or pan sauteed on the stove top. I chose the latter method and sauteed them on the stove top. I served them up for J and I with baked sweet potatoes and steamed asparagus. I liked the way it came out and I'd buy these Mahi Mahi fillets again. The seasoning was right on and the fish cooked up well. Not fishy, not rubbery, not bad. Really good actually. I'm glad I decided to take on the frozen fish category, and I'll be sure to try out some of the other offerings.

One food guy is back. As spring time approaches here in Boston I'll be busy playing outdoors. I'll be looking for healthy options from the freezer case, so stay tuned.

Don't mess with Texas

If you came looking for Tuesday's Tasting this week, it's been postponed until next week. I was in Dallas, Texas for the last couple days. I hope you enjoy these pictures I took of the view from my hotel room at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport and some longhorn cattle grazing on my client's land in Westlake, Texas:

Tuesday's Tasting - Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers

It's true, I love food. And it's true that I'll try almost anything at least once. So last week when I posted another positive review for a Trader Joe's product, I thought to myself, my readers must think that I either a) like everything that passes my lips, or b) I'm on Trader Joe's payroll and I want you to go out and try everything in his freezer case. I promise that I am not on Trader Joe's payroll and this week I'm going to review a product that I suggest you avoid. It's just not that good.

This week's Tuesday's Tasting is a Trader Joe's product that I first tried about a month and a half ago. I didn't like it too much and thought it may have had something to do with the fact that I cooked it in my toaster oven. Trader Joe's Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers came out of my toaster oven chewy and stringy, I thought I overcooked them.

That brings us to this week. Since I had three skewers left in the box, I decided to try Trader Joe's Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers again, this time using my conventional oven. I decided not to post a cooked version of the cooked chicken skewers, they weren't pretty when they came out of the oven. I cooked them on an oiled baking sheet placed on the middle rack of my 400°F oven for 18 minutes, turning once about halfway through. The chicken was cooked through when I cut in to investigate, but it was just as chewy as the first time I cooked last month. Not to mention the chicken didn't have much flavor. Considering the box states that up to 8% of the flavored marinade is contained within, these chipotle chicken skewers were relatively flavorless. I ate the chicken with some Trader Joe's Organic Jasmine Rice and decided, after a few bites, to douse the whole dish with some Sriracha hot sauce. Without the Sriracha, I probably would have thrown the whole meal out. The chicken was just not good.

Seeing as how Trader Joe usually does a good job finding food that his customers like, this one surprised me. The back of the box suggest grilling the skewers as a cooking option. I almost want to buy these again and try them on the grill. Just don't hold your breath for that review because I probably won't. I suggest you pass these by for something else.

I've reviewed many of the appetizer offerings from Trader Joe's freezer case, stay tuned for more main course ideas.

I'm just one food guy, thanks for reading.