Treasure Island is a Chicago foofy-food store that seems to be similar in concept to Trader Joe’s except not as cheap. Decent but not comprehensive selection. They had good chopped liver spread in their deli case, but the real find is the smoked salmon trim — 8 bucks for a pound of smoked salmon bits. If you don’t care about having a nice pretty side or uniform slices for presentation, this stuff is just what you need. Good quality salmon, great price. I put mine into pasta with dill, shallot, black pepper & a bit of the creme fraiche. Yum yum, fantastic summer dinner and still a big pile of salmony goodness left for the rest of the week. I had a photo of it, but i never downloaded it and I’m off for vacation soon, so sadly y’all are gonna have to live text only for now.
fyi, most deli counters at supermarkets that sell lox will also have lox ends for cheap. although recently i’ve discovered homemade lox — it’s not smoked but only cured. it’s surprisingly easy.