I've been shopping at Trader Joe's ever since they
opened up around here, and I thought I knew all of
their good food. But recently I've run across three
items that I passed by for years, but recently learned
are very nice.

Kipper Fillets Smoked Herring -- this is some of the
best kippered herring I've ever had. There was a
Canadian brand I like as well, but I forget which
it was (except that it was NOT Brunswick). This is
a better value, a big can, 4.4 oz. drained weight,
for $1.99. It's wild-caught, from Germany. Good
appearance, good texture, good flavor. And the
liquid part is good, too.

Roasted Piquillo Peppers -- very similar to roasted
red peppers, but smaller and more flavor. The jar
is smaller than the jar of roasted red peppers right
next to it on the shelf, but it has a higher drained
weight, 7.7 oz., presumably because it's packed
tighter. I've forgotten what it cost, but I think
it was $1.99.

Pesto alla Genovese -- a jarred pesto not as good
as homemade or a fresh refrigerated pesto. I was
surprised to see potatoes as the third ingredient
on the list. The aroma has a slight sulfurous note
which is to be expected from a jarred or canned
product. It's also saltier than I'm used to.
But it's darned convenient, and I get three or
four servings out of it when I use it generously.
It keeps well in the fridge, probably because of
all that salt. I believe it cost $2.69 for the
6.7 oz. jar. I mostly use it in my pesto
quesadillas, where it works quite well. I can
make four full-size or eight half-size quesadillas
with one jar. I use two 9-inch tortillas to make
a full-size quesadilla, or one tortilla folded over
to make a half-size. Any white melting cheese can
be used like mozarella, but I prefer the Rumiano
brand habanero pepper jack which sells for $4.99
a pound at Whole Foods. It's probably the only
good deal WF has on cheese in the whole store.
(Of course, if their evil CEO John Mackey discovers
it, he'll probably raise the price or get rid of it.)

Of course, I don't buy cheese at Trader Joe's.
For some reason, when Trader Joe's wraps and displays
cheese, it acquires an off-flavor -- a sort of
chemical flavor. After throwing away a couple
blocks of cheese like that, I decided never to
buy cheese at Trader Joe's again. I think it has
to do with the plastic wrap they use -- either the
flavor is coming from the plastic, or it is not an
adequate barrier against flavors being picked up
while in the display.