Here Little Cookie

Surprising new foodstuff dethrones cookie butter on Trader Joe's top 25 products of 2013

Uh-oh, we feel a shortage coming on. Gourmet foodie emporium Trader Joe's has released its list of top products for 2013, and it's bad news for Speculoos cookie butter. The gingerbread spread has been toppled by an even more ginger-y interloper: triple ginger snaps.

Overtaking cookie butter is no small feat. The super-hot spread topped Trader Joe's top products for 2012 and became such a smash that TJ's suffered a national shortage. In its valiant struggle to keep Speculoos on the shelves, the chain was forced to limit sales to one bottle per customer. The national nightmare finally waned in August, when the supply was replenished.

But this spicy, feisty ginger snap seems up to the task. It contains a triplet of gingers: crystallized ginger, fresh ginger and ground ginger. Other ingredients include wheat flour (hey, it's healthy), brown sugar, butter, molasses and egg. The butter and molasses provide a flavorful platform for the bits of crystallized ginger, which sets off explosions of bright flavor and moist gummy-bear chew.

Triple ginger snaps are not a new product; they took the No. 3 spot on last year's list. And as an FYI, Whole Foods Markets sell a nearly identical cookie in its bulk bins. But that shouldn't stop anyone from storming Trader Joe's and creating a run on the cookie so that we have something fun to write about for all of 2014.

Here's the full list (an * indicates that the product was limited-edition and probably can't be had right now, boo):

1. Triple Ginger Snaps. Not one, not two, but three gingers.
2. Speculoos Cookie Butter. Made of cookies. Like a gingerbread spread. No nutritional value whatsoever.
3. Joe Joe’s Cookies (all varieties). TJ's version of Oreo's, with the limited-edition holiday-season peppermint being an annual highlight.
4. Reduced Guilt Chunky Guacamole. Does anyone really feel guilty about regular guacamole?
5. Charles Shaw Wine (all varieties). Cheap good wine remains a Trader Joe's trademark.
6. Pumpkin Coffee.* New pumpkin item proving that anything pumpkin sells, even god-awful pumpkin-flavored coffee.
7. Mac ‘n Cheese. Returning favorite moves up from last year's position at No. 16.
8. Pumpkin Butter. * Last year's No. 12. And if we haven't mentioned this previously, pumpkin = popular.
9. Almond Butter (all varieties). New to the list, almond butter has become more popular with the rise of (and phobia over) peanut allergies.
10. Pumpkin Pecan Instant Oatmeal.* Oatmeal with pumpkin and pecans. TJ's is going to turn into a big pumpkin.
11. Chili Lime Chicken Burgers. Burgers made not of beef are hot.
12. Fennel Bulbs.* How refreshing to see fresh produce on this list.
13. Cranberry Goat Cheese Log.* Tangy cheese from Wisconsin, hand-rolled in candied cranberries.
14. Harvest Blend Herbal Tea.* Limited-edition tea is a no-brainer because it has cinnamon, ginger — you know, the pumpkin pie spices. Pumpkin again, oy.
15. Pound Plus Chocolate Bar (milk and dark). Longtime TJ's product is a lot of good chocolate for a low price and a boon for bakers.
16. Almond Cocoa Spread.An almond cousin to Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread that's gotten hot in the past couple of years.
17. Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Mix.* Returning favorite (No. 14 last year) has one, ahem, ingredient we won't bother mentioning again.
18. Rosemary Marcona Almonds. Nuts are one of TJ's stock-in-trades. "Marcona" almonds means they're fried until extra-crunchy. Add rosemary and voila.
19. Corn & Chili Pepper Salsa. This salsa-without-tomatoes was No. 20 on last year's list. Inching up!
20. Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels. Awww, sank from No. 8 last year.
21. Chocolate Orange Sticks. Candied orange gel enrobed in chocolate. Bit of a surprise to see on this list.
22. Pesto Gouda. Introduced as a St. Patrick's Day item because it's green duh, this got bumped up to year-round availability.
23. Mandarin Orange Chicken. Once found at the top of the list (sniff!), this frozen dinner-in-a-bag is a longtime bestseller.
24. Spinach & Kale Greek Yogurt Dip. Returning champ is a kale-y twist on spinach artichoke dip, with yogurt standing in for sour cream.
25. This Cranberry Walks Into a Bar … * Cross between a Pop Tart and a Fig Newton, this limited-edition breakfast bar has a thin pastry shell and lots of fruit.

Triple ginger snaps was Trader Joe's No. 1 best-selling product of 2013.

Amazon.com

Triple ginger snaps was Trader Joe's No. 1 best-selling product of 2013.

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Pizza News

South Polk Pizzeria in Dallas' Oak Cliff slings perfect pies in pizza desert

Donnie Dickerson

Pizza from South Polk Pizzeria.

Dallas has plenty of pretty pizza these days — but nearly all of it is found north of I-30.

So let's hear it for South Polk Pizzeria, a new shop that opened in late December in Oak Cliff, at 3939 S. Polk St #527, just off US-67 and north of Loop 12, slinging the same kind of artisanal pies that are being slung across Deep Ellum, Oak Lawn, and North Dallas.

South Polk is doing serious pizza with stellar toppings — the foodie-famous Jimmy's Italian sausage, for example — as well as the telltale sign of great-quality pizza: a crust made from dough that's been fermented — left to age — for many hours to give it a light, crisp texture and toasty flavor.

South Polk is from Terrill Burnett, a chef and Detroit native who moved to Dallas in 2015 and has worked at fine-dining restaurants such as Knife, Nobu, and Saltgrass Steakhouse. For this first solo venture, he's partnered with famed developer Monte Anderson.

Pizza is an exciting new avenue for him.

"When I partnered with Monte, I initially pitched barbecue," he says. "But Monte encouraged me to think about pizza. I started doing my research on the concept of fermentation and got an understanding of how to do it."

That included studying books like The Joy of Pizza: Everything You Need to Know, plus classes such as the Pizza Master Class with Vito Jacopelli.

He uses some of the techniques and ingredients of a classic Neapolitan-style pizza, with his own tweaks. He experimented with different flours until he found one with the right blend of seminola and a high percentage of gluten, and he's fermenting his dough for 72 hours.

"I worked on my dough for a year and a half, baking pizzas every day, and learned how to handle it," he says.

If he has a signature pizza, it's his BBQ chicken.

"The chicken gets pan-seared, and we use a BBQ sauce base with Sweet Baby Ray's, plus Colby-Jack cheese and red onion," he says.

He's also doing a chicken bacon ranch, plus Meat Lovers, Sweet Heat, Supreme, and one with cheese and chunks of pineapple.

"I'm still seeing what customers in the neighborhood want," he says. "Everybody likes pepperoni pizza, cheese pizza, so you start there, then slowly add new varieties and toppings."

Two pizzas to go from South Polk Pizzeria.South Polk Pizzeria

There's no dining room inside, so it's been to-go only, but the response has been so brisk that they're adding a canopy for outside dining, and Burnett has just applied for a license to serve beer and wine.

The pizzeria is drawing comments social media such as "After speaking with the owner and head chef at South Polk Pizzeria, I think it's safe to say that we no longer live is a pizza desert" — or "This is the best pizza I've had in a long time. Bonus: It's a Black owned business. I ate the whole thing."

"I've always had a passion for cooking and good food," Burnett says. "I love the opportunity to do something that involves skill and technique - I got the passion."

openings pizza

Here Little Cookie

Surprising new foodstuff dethrones cookie butter on Trader Joe's top 25 products of 2013

Triple ginger snaps was Trader Joe's No. 1 best-selling product of 2013.

Pizza News

South Polk Pizzeria in Dallas' Oak Cliff slings perfect pies in pizza desert

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