I've heard they're looking at a late fall opening.

I've heard they're looking at a late fall opening.

According to the TJ website, the Evanston store will be opening on September 6th.

Hi- Has anybody tried the flour at Trader Joe's? I am particularly interested in the TJ White Whole Wheat flour. I love King Arthur's version of it. but Trader Joe's version is only $2.99. Is their flour in general as good as King Arthur's? I usually just buy King Arthur's flour, because I love it so much, but occasionally I buy Arrowhead Mills or Bob's when I can find it on sale. Right now King Arthur's white whole wheat flour is $4.99 a bag at WF. Thanks, Nancy

Hi- Has anybody tried the flour at Trader Joe's? I am particularly interested in the TJ White Whole Wheat flour. I love King Arthur's version of it. but Trader Joe's version is only $2.99. Is their flour in general as good as King Arthur's? I usually just buy King Arthur's flour, because I love it so much, but occasionally I buy Arrowhead Mills or Bob's when I can find it on sale. Right now King Arthur's white whole wheat flour is $4.99 a bag at WF.

BTW- The new TJ Evanston store is doing really well. The parking lot could be larger, but they get a lot of pedestrian traffic. It is right down the street from WF and Jewel. WF still seems to be doing OK.

I redeemed my coupon at TJ for a free reusable bag, and even though I should not complain because it was free, something tells me that the bag is not very sturdy. Thanks, Nancy

WF still seems to be doing OK.

Not in my estimation. I've visited that WF twice since the Trader Joe's early September opening, both at the peak 5:30 - 6:30 post work commuter rush (most recently just yesterday), and it was nearly devoid of customers. I'm interested to see what WF's long-term plans will be for this store, as two WF locations within a mile of each other (and on the same street!) seems rather silly, from a marketing logistical viewpoint.

Hi- I was there yesterday too late in the afternoon, and come to think of it, the lines at the registers were longer at TJ, I have also seen some people at TJ that would never shop at WF too. WF has said that they expect their business to diminish temporarily, but to come back up to normal in a few months. It does not make a lot of sense for WF to have two stores so close to each other, but I also know a lot of people, including me that hate the downtown Evanston WF parking lot. I rarely park there. When I shop there, either I walk there, or I shop on Sunday and park in the city lot next to the library.

The South Evanston store is not nearly as nice as the downtown store is, but they have not downsized their bulk food department like the downtown store has, and they carry guiltless gourmet spicy black bean chips, which the downtown store quit carrying. They also carry a few other things such as a large container of bread yeast for $3.99 that the other store does not carry. The South Evanston store is more coupon friendly too.

NFriday wrote:Hi- Has anybody tried the flour at Trader Joe's? I am particularly interested in the TJ White Whole Wheat flour. I love King Arthur's version of it. but Trader Joe's version is only $2.99. Is their flour in general as good as King Arthur's? I usually just buy King Arthur's flour, because I love it so much, but occasionally I buy Arrowhead Mills or Bob's when I can find it on sale. Right now King Arthur's white whole wheat flour is $4.99 a bag at WF. Thanks, Nancy

Actually, I made a loaf of whole-wheat sandwich bread with the TJ's brand, and it was quite tasty. I usually buy King Arthur's, too, and now can't remember why I didn't. I also make a big batch of pancake mix that I keep in the freezer until I need flapjacks, and it has the TJ's WW flour in it, too. These also turn out very well, and the original recipe is from the King Arthur website.

New sighting/purchase at TJ's: frozen U-bake Kouigns Amann (!), presumably the brainchild of Pascal Rigo, the SF-based bona fide French baker behind the wonderful frozen U-bake almond and chocolate croissants at Trader Joe's, as well as the La Boulange line of pastries at Starbucks. I haven't had time to make them yet, as they have a bit more prep involved, and include baking cups in which to let them rise and bake. Rigo knows his stuff, so I am looking forward to baking these off on the upcoming frosty weekend.

Please let us know how they turn out!

Please let us know how they turn out!

Will do, mais oui. Also, I neglected to mention that they are at the same 4/pack for $3.99 price point as the other French U-bake pastries.

mamagotcha: The Kouigns Amann turn out very nicely, though a bit flat in shape. They are packaged with ovenproof paper baking vessels, but the pastries are a bit large for them, so they have a tendency to spead out horizontally. Very nice flavor and texture, though. Pascal Rigo has really cornered the market on frozen rise-&-bake pastries.

I did have a tough time finding them again at the newish Evanston TJ, though. Several store workers looked at me as if I had dreamed them up, and swore they'd never seen them. I finally found one fellow who vouched for their existence, and we eventually found them stashed next to the frozen pie crusts, rather than with the other frozen rise-&-bake pastries (which is where I found them initially, albeit at the Northbrook store). Shopping at Trader Joe's is always a bit of an adventure.

Thank you!

I had the kouign amann too. I thought they were pretty good. I would definitely get them again and I think they are as good or better than the ones I've had in Chicago.

I had the kouign amann too. I thought they were pretty good. I would definitely get them again and I think they are as good or better than the ones I've had in Chicago.

It's great to have a four-pack of these babies in the freezer, especially on a cold snowy weekend. They make a dandy Sunday morning treat for we with a sweet tooth.

Unexpected find: Soup & Oyster Crackers, with the painting of the windmill on the box. Not a genre I demand excellence from, and yet these are large, sea-salt flaked, deeply browned, and very much like little individual biscuits in appearance and leavened flakiness. I halved a few and spread on a little fig jam or nutella for a gnomish tea with my daughter. Recommended.

Santander wrote:Unexpected find: Soup & Oyster Crackers, with the painting of the windmill on the box. Not a genre I demand excellence from, and yet these are large, sea-salt flaked, deeply browned, and very much like little individual biscuits in appearance and leavened flakiness. I halved a few and spread on a little fig jam or nutella for a gnomish tea with my daughter. Recommended.

i'm so confused, are these the typical sized oyster cracker? i cannot envision a world where people are purposely splitting these in half. what's next, a single split pea soup?

note: i do not have a daughter and have never participated in gnomish tea.

Nay, they are larger and biscuity and magical.

I sighted canned, roasted hatch chiles and picked up a couple of them to add to a pot of black eyed peas. There was no discernable heat and not a ton of flavor. Maybe it was not enough (the cans are small). I will try them again en masse. I'd like for these to be really good, but so far, it's inconclusive.

gastro gnome wrote:I sighted canned, roasted hatch chiles and picked up a couple of them to add to a pot of black eyed peas. There was no discernable heat and not a ton of flavor.

IMO, that's pretty much what you should expect from canned, roasted, hatch chiles.

Roasted and frozen, or fresh roasted are a totally different story.

Are hatch chiles so delicate that the canning process kills what they have to offer?

I guess most other canned chiles I can think of are somehow pickled or stewed or something. But still. I wouldn't have immediately thought the processing would do them in.

I agree that some of the frozen items are TJ's forte. The Canadian-made Indian specialties, specifically the Chicken Tikka Masala and the various naan available--garlic & tandoori, are quite good, pretty authentic-tasting, fairly inexpensive (3 masala for 2 people @ $3.29/per; 4 naan in one package for $2.99) and makes a very nice meal without having to venture outside. My daughter had told me about it, so I finally broke down, purchased some and dang, I was impressed. Even the accompanying basmati rice to the masala was right, even when microwaved. The naan requires an oven but only takes about 2 minutes to heat up. Just the perfect about of stretchiness too.

The other item at TJ's that is great is the store-branded 100% tart cherry juice, but it's no bargain at $4.99 for 32 oz. It just tastes miles better than its competitors, is chock-full of antioxidants and can cure everything up to and including the mange.

True confessions: I am seriously addicted to their frozen French macaroons (labeled "12 macarons a la parisienne"). I prefer the package of six chocolate and six vanilla, although the assorted - two each of coconut, apricot, fig, lemon, pistachio, and coffee, IIRC - are good too.

Seconding the frozen French macarons.

The little tiny crisp sugar cones with chocolate-shelled ice cream scoops are also delightful.

Another recent pickup I've enjoyed are the canned dolma from Greece, sour and dilly and very fresh-tasting, not overbrined.

There's a Trader Joe's going in on Golf St across from Woodfield. No indication of when it will be opening, looks like it's going to be a while.

gastro gnome wrote:Are hatch chiles so delicate that the canning process kills what they have to offer?

Yup.
However, don't let that throw you if you've never worked with them before. Fresh roasted, or frozen roasted are a whole different story.

The chiles are generally mild. Kinda like a toned down, not sweet, green bell, with a greater range of heat. I'd also describe them as having a buttery-like taste when roasted. So, roasted/peeled and seeded, they are like a buttery bell pepper, with a lot less of that raw green pepper bite, a buttery smooth taste, and a little bit of heat. Those who like the heat of a jalapeno (or hotter,) would probably say that a Green Chile, (a broader term for the "Hatch" Green Chile you are talking about) for the most part, don't really bring the heat. Some varieties can get a tad hot, but for the most part, the folks that like REAL heat, would prolly say that most of the Green Chile varieties are only moderately hot.


Roasted, peeled, and then canned would be something that I'd expect in a recipe for three bean chili in a "stereotypical" ('add an extra dash of paprika, and black pepper if you like it extra spicy!') Midwesterner's cookbook.

This reminds me - Fall is usually the time for me to break out a bag of frozen/roasted, and make a batch of green.

gastro gnome wrote:I sighted canned, roasted hatch chiles and picked up a couple of them to add to a pot of black eyed peas. There was no discernable heat and not a ton of flavor. Maybe it was not enough (the cans are small). I will try them again en masse. I'd like for these to be really good, but so far, it's inconclusive.

I bought some Hatch Chili Salsa last week and thought it was pretty good and even a little spicy. I have added spoonfuls into my beef chili to kick it up a little and just out of the jar with tortilla chips...It's similar to a Verde Salsa but a little smokey from the Hatch.

Organic frozen figs
Brussel sprouts - on the stalks in season again! as well as frozen
Butternut and acorn squash in season again!

Hi- I saw the stalks of brussel sprouts at Trader Joes on Monday. I wonder if they are local though? They were I believe $3.99 a stalk which is not bad, but since the farmer's markets are winding down, I bet you can get some stalks at some of the markets for $2 a stalk either this weekend or the following weekend. You will have to try to hit farmers that are not going to sell at any of the indoor markets. Nichol's are not going to sell them to you for $2. When I was at the Evanston market last Saturday, I finally noticed the local food pantry picking up excess produce, and I saw them cart away some stalks of brussel sprouts as well as some heads of cabbage and some apples. This is the first time I had seen them there all summer, and I asked them if this was their first week, and no they said that they had been coming all summer.

You can get deals on winter squash at the farmer's markets too. I did not see any winter squash at Trader Joe's, but I was not looking either. I can't imagine Trader Joe's being any cheaper than most of the farmer's markets this weekend or the following weekend though. Hope this helps, Nancy

I tried the Trader Joe's kouign-amann and thought they were very good, that is for a frozen, larger scale product. Mine didn't come out flat, but were decently flaky and tasty, if perhaps not so buttery tasting. They won't come anywhere close to matching what you could make on your own, or purchase from Bad Wolf or Cellar Door, but they're just fine in otherwise.

After reading this Bon Appetit article about Trader Joe's butter from Brittany, I decided to buy some. My first statement is that I wish I could have purchased an unsalted version for baking, but apparently they only sell the salted version. But I was impressed by how good this butter tasted. I'm constantly on the lookout for artisanal butters, particularly local ones, but this tasted better than any of the ones I've tried to date.

Because it is salted, I'll have limited opportunities to use it when baking, but I will definitely be buying a lot more of this butter. I'd be curious to hear others' opinions after tasting it, particularly if you (like me) have also tried many of the artisanal butters available locally, including farmers' markets.