Product Review: Maille Old Style Mustard

My local grocer store carries as its cleanest, nightshade-free, mustard (most brands have paprika added, which is a nightshade) this Old-Style Mustard.

PROS:

• Comes in a reusable convenient glass jar without plastic/PBA exposure.
• Has fairly clean ingredients, with the only better being making your own at home.
• Convenient.
• Easily available locally.
• Small enough to take with you when you are going to be out and about.
• Easy to use.
• Made in Canada.
• Gluten Free for those who are looking for such products.
• Type of vinegar (could be a pro or a con depending on people’s allergens).

CONS:

• Prefer to avoid ingredients such as “natural flavorings” which can hide all kinds of corn, MSG or other related derivatives.
• A bit expensive (especially compared to making your own).
• Needlessly contains “Sugar”
• Type of vinegar (could be a pro or a con depending on people’s allergens).
• Lactic acid. Fermented products are great, except for those who are sensitive to them.

Palmini Lasagna Noodles (Product Review)

BENEFITS: Lower carb than regular pasta noodles. They can be eaten raw and are quite nice that way. They could be used cut into ribbon shapes in soup.

CONS: Baked they get stringy and chewy, as well as they put a lot of lemon-flavored fluid into the dish.

BEST USE: Fish-based lasagna with white sauce, “hamburger helper” style pan lasagna with these noodles tossed in at the very end of the cooking process so they don’t get over cooked.

MUST: Rinse and drain well before use.

THOUGHTS:

These pasta-substitute noodles are made from palm. They are cut in the shape of lasagna noodles. They are readily available at local grocery stores (at least in my area) or online from the manufacturer or amazon.

Unlike the angel hair Palmini pasta substitute, the lasagna noodles didn’t work for me. When I saw them for sale at the grocery store, I got some to try. I thought immediately of using them to create a lasagna version of my “kale bake”.

The package says to rinse and drain the noodles then use them as you would normally use lasagna noodles. So I did so. I discovered in a 9×9 baking dish, a layer included 8 pieces of Palmini laid four wide, two deep, fit in the pan perfectly.

The result? Yulk! Baked as a new layer into the Kale-Bake recipe I recently posted here (this recipe is my own creation) these noddles get stringy and fibrous; as well they taste like artichoke hearts once baked. Very lemony. So if you enjoy seafood/fish lasagna with a white sauce, go for it! Otherwise, I’d skip this version.

Having said that, however, I’d also be willing to try in the future (if I buy more of these) these noodles roughly chopped up to make a “hamburger helper” style of pan lasagna. To do so I suggest cooking the meat or beans, draining if needed, adding any veggies and sauce to cook those completely, seasoning to taste, and then adding chopped Palmini lasagna noodles which have been rinsed and well drained. Serve as soon as they are hot.

SERVINGS:

One package, as shown above, rinsed and drained had 20 lasagna shaped pieces in it.

SIZE:

I found the only photos of what is inside this package to be a bit misleading or confusing as to side. The rectangle Palmini sheets are about the size of a 2lb block of cheese thinly sliced.