CNN goes behind the secret of Trader Joe’s success

The privately held company's sales last year were roughly $8 billion, the same size as Whole Foods' and bigger than those of Bed Bath & Beyond, No. 314 on the Fortune 500 list. Unlike those massive shopping emporiums, Trader Joe's has a deliberately scaled-down strategy: It is opening just five more locations this year. The company selects relatively small stores with a carefully curated selection of items. (Typical grocery stores can carry 50,000 stock-keeping units, or SKUs; Trader Joe's sells about 4,000 SKUs, and about 80% of the stock bears the Trader Joe's brand.) The result: Its stores sell an estimated $1,750 in merchandise per square foot, more than double Whole Foods'. The company has no debt and funds all growth from its own coffers.

This is how they do it

Customers accept that Trader Joe's has only two kinds of pudding or one kind of polenta because they trust that those few items will be very good. "If they're going to get behind only one jar of Greek olives, then they're sure as heck going to make sure it's the most fabulous jar of Greek olives they can find for the price," explains one former employee. To ferret out those wow items, Trader Joe's has four top buyers, called product developers, do some serious globetrotting. A former senior executive told me that Trader Joe's biggest R&D expense is travel for those product-finding missions. Trade shows that feature the flavor of the moment "are for rookies," a former buyer said. Trader Joe's doesn't pick up on trends -- it sets them.

With growth comes dangers

Some former employees say Trader Joe's has already lost its quirky cool. "In the early days we never tried to be the neighborhood store," says a former employee. They didn't have to: Trader Joe's was the neighborhood store. And yet walk into the Chelsea location on a busy weekday night and you'll see something you almost never see in Manhattan: strangers chatting with one another. Veteran customers tell newbies what products they absolutely have to try, and serious cooks share tips on how to spike sauces and semi-prepared foods to make them even tastier. If Trader Joe's can maintain that kind of mojo, it could end up the biggest neighborhood store ever.

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This is pretty spicy but hey, we like spicy around here.

Ingredients

• 6 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast half, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
• 1 garlic glove, minced (or 1/4 tsp powder)
• 2 tsp chilli paste
• 2 tsp cooking oil
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 cans of condensed chicken broth
• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of coconut milk
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 1/2 oz Oriental steam-fried noodles, broken up
• 1/4 cup grated carrot
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Pepper
• Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (for garnish)

Directions

1. Put chicken, garlic, and chilli paste into a small bowl.  Stir until the chicken is coated.
2. Heat cooking oil in a large saucepan on medium.  Add chicken mixture.  Heat and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until outside of chicken turns white.
3. Add peanut butter.  Heat and stir for about 1 minute until combined.
4. Add next four ingredients.  Stir.  Cover.  Bring to a boil on medium high.
5. Add noodles and carrot.  Stir. Reduce heat to medium-low.  Cover.  Simmer for about five minutes.  Stir occasionally, until noodles are tender but firm.
6. Add next three ingredients.  Stir. Cover.  Simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally, to blend flavours.
7. Garnish individual servings with cilantro or parsley.  Makes about 6 1/2 cups.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp finely grated orange peel
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 4 lbs of whole roasting Chicken

Directions

1. Combine first 8 ingredients into a small bowl.
2. Place chicken, backbone up, on cutting board.  Cut down both sides of backbone, using kitchen shears or knife, to remove.  Turn chicken over.  Press chicken out flat.  Carefully loosen skin, but do not remove.  Stuff butter mixture between meat and skin, spreading mixture as evenly as possible.
3. Preheat gas barbecue to medium.  Turn off centre or left burner.  Place chicken breast down, on greased grill over drip pan on unlit side.  Close lid.  Cook for 35 minutes.  Carefully turn chicken over.  Cook for about 45 minutes until meat thermometer inserted in thigh reads 180 degrees Fahrenheit or 82 degrees Celsius.  Remove chicken from heat.  Cover with foil.  Let stand for 15 minutes.  Cut into serving side portions.  Serves 4 to 6.

As a family, we don’t eat a lot of pork but we do enjoy this recipe.

Ingredients

• 375 g fresh thin egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese five spice
• 2 teaspoons rice flour
• 500 g of pork loin fillet, thinly sliced across the grain
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 red capsicum (pepper) thinly sliced
• 300 g bok choy, chopped
• 6 spring onions (scallions), sliced
• 2 tablespoons of Chinese red wine
• 2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions

1. Cook the noodles in a saucepan of boiling water for one minute.  Drain, rinse and return to the saucepan.  Stir in half of the sesame oil.  Set aside.
2. Place the ginger, five spice and rice flour in a bowl, season, and then mix well.  Add the pork and toss to coat.
3. Heat a wok over high heat, add half of the vegetable oil and swirl to coat the base and side.  Add the pork in batches and stir-fry for five minutes at a time, or until tender.  Remove from the wok and set aside.  Add the remaining vegetable oil, garlic, capsicum, bok choy, and spring onion and stir-fry for three minutes or until softened.
4. Return the pork to the wok and stir in the rice wine, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and the remaining sesame oil and simmer for two minutes.  Add the noodles and reheat gently before serving.

Why do we read cook books (and The Cooking Blog) according to Rachel Cooke in the Guardian?

Well, let's see. What you must understand is that cookbooks are not just for those who cook – though if you do cook, it goes without saying that they are an essential part of your life's quest. Devout home cooks are like something small and hairy out of Tolkien; the search for the perfect recipe is endless. Why? Because cooks are perpetually dissatisfied; too often the making is more gratifying than the eating. The other day, going off-piste for the first time in three weeks, I made a lemon cake from a recipe by Arabella Boxer. It was damp, it was delicious, it looked exactly like the one in the picture. But still, I felt restless… Perhaps there exists an even better lemon cake than this one, I thought, forking it into my mouth. Cookbooks are a repository for such restlessness because only they can deliver the next lemon cake, and the one after that. Like a boyfriend who blows hot and cold, they encourage the chase even as they purport to be able to end it for ever (consider how many cookbooks aim for Bible-status, to be the "only one you'll ever need").

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Ingredients

• 225g Chapati flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 150 ml water
• 600 ml oil
• 75 g chapati flour for rolling

Directions

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.  Make a well in the centre of the flour.  Gradually pour in the water and mix together to form a soft dough.  Adding more water in necessary.  Knead until smooth and leave aside in a warm place for 15 minutes.  The divide into 10 small bowls.
2. Heat the oil in a deep frying plan on a high heat.  Once hot, turn down to a medium heat.
3. One a lightly floured surface, roll out the balls individually to form a thin circular shape of 10-12 cm diameter.
4. Deep fry in batches for 30 seconds to one minute on each side until golden brown (pooris do not need to be cooked for long if the oil is hot).  The pooris should puff up.  Removed from the pan and drain on a kitchen towel.  Serve immediately or wrap in foil to be reheated later.

Check out these two recipes for how to make Dol Pooris.

Ingredients

• 4 oz of cream cheese, softened
• 4 green onions, sliced.
• 1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
• 6 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled
• 3 tbsp flour
• 4 eggs beaten
• 1/4 lb. Velveeta cheese cut into 12 cubes

Directions

Heat over to 350 degrees F.

1. Mix cream cheese and onions in medium bowl.  Add spinach, bacon and flour, mix well.  Stir in eggs.
2. Spoon into 12 greased and floured muffin pan cups.  Top each with 1 Velveeta cube, press gently into center of filling.
3. Bake 20 minutes or until centers are set and tops are golden brown.  Server warm or chilled.

Source: Kraft Foods: Busy Family Recipes

If you love Olive Garden Breadsticks, check out eHow for how to make a tasty replica recipe.  While we are talking about the Olive Garden, they have posted some of their favourite recipes online like this recipe for a summer pizza.

When Jordon was attending the University of Saskatchewan, he had a great apartment in City Park which was across the street from the legendary restaurant, Seafood Sam’s (now closed).  We used to head over there on Saskatchewan Roughrider game days and Sam would ask as we came in, “Are you watching the game or just eating?”  If you were there to watch the game, you were sent into the lounge and watched the game with a very intense Sam.  It was a great experience and Jordon always used to order a seafood lasagna.  So in honour of Rider games of the past and Seafood Sam’s, here is a great seafood lasagna recipe.

Ingredients

• 250 g instant lasagna sheets
• 125 g scallops
• 500 g raw prawns (shrimp)
• 125 g butter
• 85 g plain flour
• 500 ml milk
• 500 ml dry white wine
• 125 g cheddar cheese, grated
• 125 ml cream
• 60 g parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Line a greased shallow oven proof dish (one about 12 inches square) with the lasagna sheets, gently breaking them to fill any gaps, set aside.
2. Slice or pull of any vein, membrane or hard white muscle from the scallops, leaving any roe attached.
3. Peel the prawns and gently pull out the dark vein from each prawn back, starting from the head end.  Chop the seafood and the fish into even-sized pieces.
4. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat, add the leek and cook, stirring, over medium heat for one minute, or until starting to soften.  Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, or until pale and foaming.  Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the combined milk and wine.  Return to the heat and stir constantly over medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.  Add the seafood and simmer for one minute.  Remove from the heat, stir in the cheese, then season.
5. Spoon half the seafood mixture over the lasagna sheets in the dish, then top with another layer of lasagna sheets.  Spoon the remaining mixture over the lasagna sheets and then cover with another layer of lasagna sheets.
6. Pour the cream over the top, then sprinkle with the combined parmesan and parsley.  Bake, bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until bubbling and golden brown.

Source: Kitchen Library: Mains by Jane Price

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups of chunky salsa
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup of Italian dressing
• 2 tbsp of taco seasoning mix
• 6 flour tortillas (8 inch)
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 8 ounces of shredded marble cheese

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. Brown meat with onion in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain.  Stir in salsa, beans, dressing and seasoning mix.
3. Arrange 3 tortillas on bottom of 13x9 inch baking dish; cover with layers of half each meant mixture, sour cream and cheese.  Repeat layers.  Cover with foil.
4. Bake 40 minutes or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted, removing roil and after 30 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before cutting to serve.

Source: Kraft Foods: Busy Family Recipes