I was recently at my second home, Trader Joe’s, and finally broke down and bought some of their balsamic glaze.
It’s only been available for about a month or so, and I had resisted up until now because I make my own for pennies.
The verdict on the TJ’s glaze?
If you like balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze, it’s exactly what you’d want it to be and it’s very good.
But in all honesty, if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s in your area, or even if you do and want to be more DIY about it, just make this glaze.
It’s a dead ringer for the TJ’s and costs next to nothing to make and only takes about 10 minutes to make from start to finish. And you’ll wind up with enough glaze to send you into vinegar heaven.
The only notable difference is that my glaze is slightly more intense. By cooking it longer, the vinegar mellows out, but I like a bit of edge. That sharp bam vinegary tang and kick.
If you could drink balsamic reduction or have a fondness for anything vinegary, a few of my favorite vinegar recipes include:
Baked Parsnip Fries with Creamy Balsamic Reduction Dip (vegan, GF)
Homemade Salad Dressing (vegan, GF) with apple cider vinegar
Stovetop Hot Pepper Jelly (Vegan, GF) – no canning required
Hot Pepper Jelly (Vegan, GF) – with an intro to canning
Roasted Grapes and Balsamic Reduction with Cheese and Crackers
Orange Glazed Chilean Sea Bass with Mustard Dill Cucumber and Orange Champagne Relish
Tempeh and Cucumbers on a Stick with Brown Sugar Balsamic Reduction Dip (vegan, GF if GF tempeh is used)
Pumpkin Spiced Brown Rice Tempeh and Cranberry Salad (vegan, GF if GF tempeh is used)
Orange Ginger Tempeh and Brown Rice Salad with Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette (vegan and GF if GF tempeh is used)
Do you like vinegar? Apple cider, champagne vinegar, balsamic vinegar?
I love it all.
There are health benefits of vinegar from being rich in potassium and calcium to preventing cancer and osteoporosis. Consider me protected then; I use my fair share.
If you have any favorite vinegar-containing recipes, dips, sauces, feel free to link them up.
Thanks for the Magimix by Robot-Coupe Food Processor & Juice Extractor Giveaway entries
I love vinegar so I clicked to this page with great anticipation….only to find out that ALL the recipes use balsamic glaze. What a disappointment! Please be aware that even straight-out-of-the-bottle, un-reduced balsamic is absolutely forbidden on low-carb diets, let alone the brown sugar you use in your reduction. Cider vinegar and wine vinegar are also frowned upon, but once every four to six months I allow myself JUST A LITTLE anyway…and then pay the price on the scale for the next week or so!
Oh well. If you ever print a collection of recipes using regular white vinegar, rest assured I’ll be all over it :)
The jams/jellies don’t, nor does the salad dressing – use balsamic and regular vinegar can be substituted in place of balsamic many of the recipes based on the person’s tastes and desires. Cheers!
I love vinegar, as I love all acid. I think I use way more than many folks do…but so far, the blogosphere seems full of other tartness junkies!
I am a huge lover of vinegar, and yes, you’re right, it seems to be pretty popular among bloggers/readers!
those roasted grapes look incredible! I just saw a recipe for balsamic cherries that looked similar i will now have to make balsamic grapes and cherries!
Balsamic grapes & cherries sounds fabulous!