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Trader Joe’s Bavarian Rye Bread Instead of a Bagel?

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Trader Joe's Bavarian Rye Bread

Trader Joe's Bavarian Rye Bread

Are you looking for new bread? Do you want something a little different for your next sandwich?

If you, RUN to Trader Joe’s today and give this bread a try: Trader Joe’s Bavarian Rye Bread. We recently ate a loaf of this bread and enjoyed every last crumb!

It is funny how it happened. We were looking for a bagel to have with some Smoked Salmon and cream cheese and did not see anything that really grabbed us. I mean Trader Joe’s has lots of great bagels, but quite frankly we were in search of a new flavor. We started to expand away from the bagel section and into the tortilla area when we spotted this loaf.

We did not know it at the time, but it was just what we were looking for.

We sorta had an A-HA moment right there in the store! We quickly purchased the bread, some Trader Joe’s whipped cream cheese with Chives and a smoked salmon. Oh Yeah breakfast was a calling! (all we needed now was to purchase a Sunday paper…hint hint Trader Joe’s…)

We toasted the bread while the coffee was brewing. Then pretending the slices of bread were actually toasted bagels, spread the cream cheese on and arranged the salmon slices on top.

Trader Joe's Bavarian Rye "bagel"

Trader Joe's Bavarian Rye "bagel"

Funny but this discovery might actually be BETTER than the bagel (eeks!)

The bread was thinner than a bagel would be and WOW the flavor from that Rye Bread- Just Excellent!! (and no pesky seeds!) This made the flavor from the cream cheese and the salmon seem somehow stronger without that extra bread… hmmmm

We are so glad that we ventured out and away from the usual bagel to try something new.

Give this bread a try when you are next searching for a new flavor for your sandwiches (or bagels as well)

How to cook Salmon in the Oven That Everyone Will Like

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OR an easy and foolproof way to cook all kinds of fish in the oven at home quickly….

We like to eat fish. In fact we like all kinds of fish but one of our favorite type of fish is salmon. We really love that deep red salmon (wild) that you sometimes see in the stores. Luckily Trader Joe’s sells this wild salmon and even in smaller packages that are better for two.

We have even purchased a rather large piece of salmon, cooked the whole piece and then had some nice salmon leftovers to have the next day on a salad. (I was planning to make a salmon salad sandwich with mayo and celery but truthfully just got a little lazy and placed the salmon on some salad greens. I am glad now, as the salmon was just fantastic! and tasty! I so love it when you can cook at home and say this was way better than going out)

OK so the big question is: how to cook the salmon, right??

It really is very quick and easy.

Roasted Salmon in the Oven

Heat your oven to 425 degrees

1. Prepare your baking dish by covering it in foil and either spraying with no-stick spray or a little oil. (yes I mean a little- spread it out with your fingers so there is only a thin film of olive oil on the foil in the pan).

2. Prepare your fish by thawing if frozen, then rinse and dry with paper towel. Place your fish (skin side down) on the oiled foil in the pan.

3. Lightly coat the fish with olive oil (again, thin) and season with salt and pepper, season salt or whatever you like to use. We like to use either a season salt or a salt-free seasoning like Trader Joe’s Seasoning Salute.

4. Place in the pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes for each inch of fish. This means if your fish is an inch think, you would want to check after 10 minutes to see if it is done. If you have a very thick piece of fish, say sea bass, you might want to go for 15 minutes.

5. Check you fish to make sure that it is fully cooked by cutting into the thickest part with your knife and seeing if the fish is “clear”(uncooked) in the middle or if the color is the same all the way through (fully cooked).

After   you have made your fish this way a couple of times you will find that you get used to the high heat and quick heating time. You will get a feel for how long you will need to cook your fish- and then you can start to experiment with marinades or sauces to top the fish.

Let us know how this works for you. Enjoy!

5 More Mother’s Day Brunch Ideas

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So we went to Trader Joe’s last night and found a few more great ideas for Mother’s Day Brunch. There are so many great items on the shelves, that we just kept turning the corners and saying “what about …. “ again and again. We hope this next list will continue to help you think of a great meal for your Mom, or any brunch really.

1. Eggs in a bun

We saw this cute idea on the internet last fall, and WOW it really stood out for me as super cute! You take a dinner roll or a larger bun (we used Trader Joe’s Brioche buns), cut the top off, and add an egg (or two, depending on the size of the bun). Sprinkle with cheese, green onions, salt and pepper- anything you like and bake in a 350 degree oven until the eggs are cooked. Ours took about 30 minutes.

2. Stuffed French Toast

Stuffed French toast is much easier to make than it sounds. In fact, you can “stuff” the bread the night before and then just dip in the batter in the AM and cook. We like to take two pieces of bread and spread one side with cream cheese and the other with jam, and stick them together. Then in the morning, dip them in the egg batter (eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla) and cook like normal.

3. Baked French Toast

Can you tell that we love French Toast?? This idea is more like a breakfast bread pudding. Trader Joe’s has wonderful different kinds of breads that would be super in this dish -think of brioche or another rich eggy bread. One time we used that Italian Holiday bread Panetone- WOW! Ok you take eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla (just like regular French toast) but you pour this into a baking dish. (4 eggs and 2 cups of milk for a 8×8 pan) Then cube up some bread (stale is great) and soak it into the milk and egg mixture.  Bake in a 350 oven for 3-45 minutes until puffy and fully cooked. Add cinnamon and sugar to the top if you like before baking.

4. Egg in Toast

Who does not like an egg in toast? Simply cut a circle (or use a heart cookie cutter) into a piece of bread and toast it in a pan in butter. When hot, crack an egg into the center of the bread and let cook for a minute before flipping over to cook the other side.  When you use the heart shaped cutter this becomes a great Valentine’s breakfast item as well- and you also have a little heart shaped piece of toast to go along.

5. Oatmeal

Oatmeal does sound a bit plain for breakfast, but there are many ways you can jazz it up for a special Mother’s day brunch. You can top it with yogurt, fresh fruit, frozen mixed berries or even sour cream and brown sugar. We love oatmeal with bananas, fresh blueberries and toasted pecan pieces. Or try a spoonful of jam and top with crunchy granola cereal.

Bonus:

Can you tell we thought of another one, AFTER we wrote the post title? What about Bagels, cream cheese and lox (smoked salmon)?  Trader Joe’s sells a number of different kinds of bagels as well as a few different kinds of smoked salmon or lox. Add a little bit of lettuce, some sliced tomatoes, sliced red onions and capers and you have a fantastic  tasty brunch item.

There are many wonderful ways to celebrate your Mom on Mother’s Day. We hope you find one that works for you.

Trader Joe’s Pecan & Hazelnut Crusted Salmon

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Trader Joe's Fish and Vegies for Dinner tonight

Trader Joe's Fish and Vegies for Dinner tonight

Like salmon?

Well, we sure do and we found a new product at Trader Joe’s that is just wonderful:

Trader Joe’s Farm Raised Pecan & Hazelnut Crusted Norwegian Salmon (now that’s a mouthful!)

Now, you might be wondering how this tasty little number has escaped out notice for so long? We are wondering that ourselves. In our defense, it seems that our Arizona Trader Joe’s store, has created a new section in the cold case which can only be described as “Salmon Land”. There are a number of different packages of smoked salmon, and also a number of different packages of fresh salmon to try. (Yes, you guessed right-  we are going to be “tasting” all those new kinds of salmon soon)

As you know, we both just LOVE nuts, so when we saw this package of salmon with nuts all around, we knew what we were going to have for dinner tonight!

This meal for two was so simple to make that it would be great for those who are just learning to cook.  You can add your favorite side dishes (maybe you like rice or carrots or corn) and just have a quick and delicious meal.
Now, truthfully, the directions on the package were a bit lacking, and so we just cooked the fish the way we normally would. There were two pieces in this package, so we just placed each piece on a piece of tin foil (use a bit of oil or spray on the foil so the fish does not stick) in a pan, and cooked it in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Trader Joe's Fish and Vegies in the pan

Start Cooking!

We also served the fish with one of our favorite Trader Joe’s frozen vegetables: Trader Joe’s Brittany Blend (a mixture of green beans, yellow beans and carrots) as well as a piece (or two or three…) of Artisan bread. This week it was Trader Joe’s Artisan Bread-Roasted Garlic with Thyme– YUM!
This meal was just wonderful. The fish had a nice crunchy nutty crust that gave a special flavor to the entire meal. We just love that vegetable blend (good color on the plate as well) and the bread? Well, what can we say but YUM!

This meal would make a great special occasion dinner (think Mother’s Day Dinner) or a easy meal any night of the week (Hey it’s Wednesday!).

Trader Joe's Fish dinner

Ready to Eat!

So check out your refrigerated fish area the next time you are at Trader Joe’s- there may be a great surprise in store for you.

PS- that cute little wedge of lemon comes with the Fish- Nice touch Trader Joe’s!!