Sorry for not posting more or keeping up with comments this week; I have been under the weather this week.  I’ll try to make up for it next week, I promise!

Olive tapenade

Cantare Olive Tapenade – They’ve had this at Costco for a long time and I’ve gotten it many times before.  Though, they did redesign the packaging last year, I think.  This is a great mix of black and green olives, pimentos, capers, roasted garlic, olive oil, and goat cheese feta.  So, you can imagine that this is super delicious on bread (fresh or toasted), crackers, tossed in with pasta, on roasted tomatoes, or a salad.  They also suggest putting it on pizza, grilled meat or fish, and steamed vegetables; I haven’t tried any of those but I can imagine it would add a nice flavor too.  I guess I’m a traditionalist because my favorite way to have it is on bread or crackers.  If you let it warm up to room temperature it really brings out the flavors in the olives.  1.5 pounds for $6.69.

Fresh blackberries

Fresh Blackberries – I love this time of year and all the fresh berries that means will be making their way to the shelves (or pallettes) of Costco.  I’ve noticed some really nice looking strawberries and raspberries lately, but the blackberries really caught our eye this week.  Obviously, there are a million things you can  do with fresh berries but I discovered a new way of serving them that I want to share – roasting.  I’ve never even thought of roasting my berries but it was so delicious and they make their own little sauce.  It’s simple too, which is a nice thing for weeknight meals.  All you have to do is put the berries in an oven-safe dish, sprinkle with a decent amount of sugar (enough to coat and have a bit on the bottom of the pan), then dot with butter, and finally give them a spritz of lemon juice.  After you’ve got all that in the pan, shake it up and move the berries around so you can really get a decent amount of sugar on them.  Finally, put them in the oven at 375 (F) for around 20 – 25 minutes.  The end result is tender berries that are incredibly flavorful with a nice sweet berry sauce too; excellent for serving with angel food cake, pound cake, ice cream, or even just by themselves with a little whipped cream.  Obviously, there are a number of ways to dress this up by using things like cinnamon, lemon zest, orange juice and zest, or even balsamic vinegar (trying this next week).  You’ll love it, no matter what you pair up, is my guess.  1 pound 2 ounces for $4.99.

Farmed Steelhead Trout

Farmed Steelhead Trout – My fresh fish of choice this week was steelhead trout.  It looks kind of like salmon with the orange color, and can have a similar taste and texture even.  It works with well a variety of different side dishes and preparations because of it’s meaty texture and hearty taste; it’s definitely not a delicate fish.  I like it best when prepared in a very simple way with just some dill and lemon slices.  However, we’ve also done a sort of blackened/Cajun preparation with lots of spices and it was good that way too.  Because of it’s meaty texture it works nicely in fish soups, as well.  Amazingly, we were able to get a fillet that was the perfect size for the two of us; not even a whole pound.  That’s unusual for Costco because usually they will have one really good sized fillet or two of these smaller sized fillets in a package; I hope they keep packaging it this way.  I’ve also noticed the last few times we’ve bought fish at Costco they have started putting the country that they are from on the label; this trout is from Chile. 0.94 pounds for $5.63; $5.99 per pound.

Swift pork tenderloins

Swift Pork Tenderloin Twin-Pack – I know you’ve seen these before and probably bought them too.  They’re nice little tenderloins that make a perfect meal without a lot of fuss.  If you cook it well (and by well, I mean not overdone and dry) pork is really delicious, flavorful, and juicy; if not, it’s dry and unpleasant and vaguely like shoe leather.  Pork is also great because it can go with just about anything as a sauce or stuffing – sweet or savory – and still bring a little something to the meal.  When you buy this twin-pack at Costco what you’re really getting is 4 little tenderloins that are roughly 1 pound each in size, packaged 2 tenderloins per pack.  We had one of the packs this week and I cooked them very simply; seasoned with salt and pepper, browned on the stove to sear and give them some color, and then I roasted them at 350 (F) until they reached an internal temperature of 160 (F), I took them out and covered them lightly with a piece of tinfoil and let the carry-over cooking take it to 170 (F).  It was so yummy!  We had one of the tenderloins for dinner that night and then had the other one the next night on some great sandwiches.  Sometimes I serve the tenderloins with a cranberry sauce that goes perfectly with prok because it enhaces the sweetness just the right amount to go with the tart cranberries.  Or, if we’re having friends over for dinner, I will put a layer of stuffing made up of onion, jalapenos, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts in between the two tenderloins and truss them up and then roast it.  Any style we’ve had it, it’s always delicious. 4 tenderloins, 4.19 pounds for $11.69; $2.79 per pound.

Oxo 20 piece clip set

Oxo Softwork 20 Piece Clip Set – I love all things Oxo.  They put a good amount of time into coming up with ergonomic designs and I think it really shows.  We have an assortment of their kitchen tools like peelers, can openers, zesters, spatulas, measuring spoons and even their salad spinner.  We also had a small set of clips that you can hang on the fridge because they have a magnet in the back or use like a chip clip but there were only 4 in our set and that’s not nearly enough for us.  So, we were happy to see this big set of 20 at Costco.  There are 16 that have magnets:  4 heavy duty clips, 4 all-purpose clips, and 8 little tiny clips.  There are also 2 cord and cable clips and 2 large chip clips that round out the set.  They’re all useful in some way.  We obviously use them like chip clips, but I also clip important papers or reminders on the fridge so we won’t forget them.  This set, now gives me even more of the clips to use on our big magnetic calendar now too; this is great because those free magnets you get from people like Pizza Hut really don’t have good holding abilities.  No more lost notes or reminders!  The only clips we haven’t found a home for already are the cable and cord clips; we usually use zip ties for keeping cords and cables in check; maybe I can find an alternative way to use those.  20 clips for $19.99.