Friday, August 1, 2014

Something is rotten in my bag of peeled garlic from Costco

Organic whole-wheat pasta spirals in marinara with added chopped garlic, anchovies, sardines, red wine, extra-virgin olive oil and seasoning.


Editor's note: Today, I discuss mold on peeled garlic from Costco Wholesale and a new organic pasta sauce with sugar.


By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

More than a week ago, I pulled a bag of peeled California garlic out of the refrigerator and was shocked to see what looked like mold and other discoloration on some of the cloves.


The 3-pound bag of Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic from Costco Wholesale ($5.99) makes it easy to add this healthy accent to pasta, frittatas, mashed sweet potatoes and fish dishes, and I have been using it with abandon.

The bag is marked, "Best Before Aug. 4, 2014." 

On Thursday night, I had to throw out or trim about half of the remaining cloves for a dish of fusilli with anchovies and sardines.

This is not our first bag of peeled garlic from Costco Wholesale, but it is the first time the cloves deteriorated so badly before the expiration date.



Did one of the other cooks in the family leave the bag open in the refrigerator? Or is there another reason the cloves deteriorated well before the expiration date?



Changes in Classico pasta sauce

On Thursday, I stopped at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack to pick up a few items and saw a new Classico Organic Pasta Sauce in 32-ounce bottles (3 for $8.99).

That's a great price, but when I looked at the ingredients, I was disappointed to see "organic sugar" listed.

The non-organic Classico Tomato & Basil pasta sauce also now contains sugar.

Kirkland Signature Marinara is made without added sugar, but you can taste the sweetness of the tomatoes used.

Three 32-ounce bottles were $7.99.

I used one bottle that night to make organic whole-wheat fusilli with anchovies, sardines and chopped fresh garlic.



A new item at Costco Wholesale, Classico Organic comes in 32-ounce bottles at a good price, below, but the pasta sauce contains added sugar.




4 comments:

  1. From Jeremy Stevens:

    I buy a container of peeled garlic from the flea market and unfortunately it does the same thing for me. Mold starts growing on it. I don't know how or why it happens so fast. I filled mine with water now and change the water every other day for about a week now and it doesn't look like it's getting any worse. I wonder if I start a new container and fill it with olive oil whether it would preserve the garlic from ever molding in the fridge? Any thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suggested oil instead of water, and using the oil to sautee the garlic or to drizzle on salads.

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  2. You aren't a commercial kitchen, are you? You don't need that much garlic. Buy a few whole garlic heads. It doesn't take that long to peel a clove.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like to use garlic by the handful, and don't have patience to peel cloves. I made organic brown rice and lentils in electric cooker, using the longer brown rice setting, and threw whole peeled cloves into the pot. Wonderful.

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