We use a lot of tomatoes in my kitchen. Even though I put up as many pints of them as possible in the fall, I never seem to have enough to last me through the winter and into the next tomato season, so we end up buying cans of prepared diced tomatoes. And because I've had mixed experiences with "no-name" and generic brands, I've tended to stay with brand names I've learned over the years to trust: Ro-Tel, Pine Cone, Del Monte, Hunt's. And now I can add another brand to the list: Happy Harvest.
Happy Harvest isn't a real brand, actually - it's ALDI's "house brand" for some of their canned products. The only reason I took a chance on them to begin with is because they're from ALDI, and for the most part I've been very happy with their stuff, and once again, I was not disappointed.
These "Chili Style" tomatoes are awesome. They're in recipe-sized chunks packed in a thick tomato juice (or maybe it's a really thin tomato sauce. I can't tell.) They're seasoned with cumin and ancho pepper, and a bit of onion and garlic from what I can taste. Although they're mildly spicy, they're not at all hot (real chileheads might be disappointed, but I think the milder flavor makes them more versatile for all-round cooking for the family.) Completely delicious, and - I know this sounds heretical - but far better than Ro-Tel, especially considering that the last few times I've bought Ro-Tel I could barely taste the green chiles that are supposed to be in there.
3 comments:
I do love that Aldi....
I'll pick this stuff up next time I'm there.
If you can find them Red Gold tomatoes are damned near the best tomatoes I have ever had in a can. Their diced tomatoes w/chilies are everything that Ro-Tel are supposed to be in a 15 oz can (50% more) for le$$ money. I'd class the green chilies used as mild - but, still with a nice detectable bite. Great for making salsa or pico de gallo. Or adding to your chilli pot.
ALDI products tend to be pretty good - their Rangemaster chilli used to be canned by Chilli Man at Est. 1422 - just south of me. At about 60% of the price of Chilli Man. Bv)=
Aldi has another brand of diced tomatoes...the name escapes me but the yellow is label and white. They have a good punch of heat for chili or other soup/stew applications where heat is beneficial. I live in an agricultural area. One of the big farms nearby grows tomatoes for Red Gold, and one of their processing plants is about 2 hours away so I try to buy RG whenever I can since it is quasi-local. Their jalapeno ketchup(not sure if it is available any more) is phenomenal!
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