California peaches, Costco rebates, cooking bargain dishes at home

Large California peaches from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack and smaller ones from ShopRite in Paramus, upper right, never ripened after we brought them home.

Grilled fresh Wild Copper River Sockeye Salmon from Alaska with Pesto and a side of Organic Whole Wheat Shells, but no grilled peaches. The skin-on fillets were $14.99 a pound on Tuesday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

The Costco Wholesale cash rebate I received this week is about $245, more than double the $110 I pay for an annual executive membership. This check is in addition to several hundred dollars in rebates from American Express, which issues the Costco credit card.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We had our hearts set on preparing grilled Fresh Wild Salmon with Pesto and Ripe Peaches, but fruit from drought-stricken California didn't cooperate.

Today, my wife got a full refund of $9.99 for a 5-pound box of large California Peaches she purchased at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack on June 9.

Two of the four smaller California Peaches I bought at ShopRite in Paramus for $1.69 a pound are on my kitchen counter and look like they'll rot before they ripen.

I sprayed oil on a grill pan that covers two burners of my stove, and allowed it to warm up over medium heat before adding the salmon skin side down, above, covered with fresh lime juice and a little sea salt. Total cooking time was 10 minutes, the same amount it took to cook the organic whole wheat shells in boiling, unsalted water.

When the fillets firmed up, I flipped them.

Aleppo pepper, fresh herbs from the garden and Costco's Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto were added at the end.

 

I finished my dinner with a salad of green-leaf lettuce from the garden.

Local and not so local

I'm all in favor of eating local, but my salmon dinner tonight brought together ingredients from Alaska (the fish), California (the red wine I drank), Italy (basil in the prepared pesto and organic whole wheat pasta), Spain (extra-virgin olive oil for my salad), and Syria or Turkey (ground Aleppo red pepper).

For the pasta dressed in Costco's Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto with added pine nuts, I used Whole Foods Market's 365 Everyday Value Organic Whole Wheat Shells from Italy ($1.49), but ignored the listed cooking time of 14-15 minutes.

They were al dente in 10 minutes.

My salad contained green-leaf lettuce from our garden, dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and I also accented the fish with chopped oregano, mint and parsley we grew.

An egg-white omelet stuffed with smoked wild Alaskan salmon, shredded cheese and pesto.

Costco's 100% egg whites, basil pesto and smoked wild salmon are all sold under the Kirkland Signature label, the house brand, which usually signals premium quality.

Sockeye two ways

On Tuesday, along with a fresh sockeye fillet, my wife picked up a pound of Costco's wonderful smoked wild Alaskan salmon, sliced in two half-pound pouches ($15.99).

Even though it is previously frozen, this fish is silken when eaten out of hand or rolled up with a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese, dipped in Dijon mustard if you like or stuffed with salad greens.

I also use it to fill egg-white omelets, adding pesto and fresh herbs from the garden.

Costco cash rebates

The 2% cash rebate check I received this week from Costco Wholesale ($244.99) was the third this year.

Two checks containing several hundred dollars came from American Express' True Earnings credit card for purchases at Costco, restaurants, gas stations and other stores.

My executive membership costs $110 annually.

Fresh whole red snapper were on sale for $4.99 a pound on Sunday at H Mart in Englewood, a discount of $3 a pound. Mustard greens also were on sale for 99 cents a pound.

My wife cut up two wild red snappers weighing a total of more than 5 pounds, and seasoned and pan-fried them before pouring hot vinegar, sweet pepper, onions, garlic and pimento berries or allspice over the fish.

I sauteed two 5-ounce packages of triple-washed Organic Baby Spinach, Bok Choy and Kale on their expiration date with olive oil and sake, then used them as a side dish or to stuff an egg-white omelet, above. The packages were on sale for 99 cents each at the International Food Warehouse in Lodi.

Greens and sweets for breakfast: Leftover mustard greens with chopped fresh garlic, fresh callaloo with sweet peppers, and sauteed arugula, all served with mashed and baked sweet potatoes. A 5-ounce package of pre-washed arugula was on sale last week for 99 cents at the International Food Warehouse.

Fresh wild salmon with ripe peaches

Fresh wild salmon with sweet peach slices, tomato and capers.

Fresh wild salmon and ripe peaches are perfect together, so I added the fruit to a Mark Bittman recipe I've tried once or twice before.

His recipe calls for 1 pound of sliced tomatoes with extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons each of capers and chopped red onion and 1 and a half pounds of fish fillets, with chopped parsley and lemon wedges as garnish.

I added crushed Aleppo pepper, fresh lime juice and chopped herbs from the garden. 

But this time, I skipped the herbs and added sweet slices of California peaches sprinkled with the mildly spicy pepper.

The wild sockeye salmon was $8.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale on Saturday.

Red onion, lime, tomato and California peach slices.

The fish and peach slices are ready for the oven.

I used a 400-degree roast/convection oven setting, and the thinner-than-usual fillets were cooked through in 12 to 14 minutes.

The dish is sweet, sour and mildly spicy all at the same time.

Unfortunately, the skin-on wild salmon fillets I bought at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack on Saturday were packed the day before, and they have tasted a little fishy.

This is the first time in years of buying fresh haddock, flounder, wild salmon and other fish at Costco that I encountered this off taste.

Later, I removed the skin from three remaining portions of salmon and the fishy taste has gone away.

World's best salad

Half & Half combines Organic Spring Mix with Baby Spinach.

Earthbound Farm's Organic Spring Mix is the best-tasting salad in the world, but it's even better when it is paired with Baby Spinach. 

Half & Half, as it is called, was $4.99 for a 1-pound container at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Cooking ahead

Seasoned vegetables for bibimbap from H Mart in Little Ferry.

I prepared 2 cups of organic brown rice in an electric cooker.

When I was working and single, I would devote Sunday evenings to cooking five meals -- that night's dinner and four others to take to my night job on the copy desk of a daily newspaper.

I had takeout or dined out on the other nights of the week.

I tried that this past Sunday, using an electric rice cooker to prepare a meatless version of the Korean comfort dish called bibimbap that I've been eating for breakfast and dinner this week.

I skipped the labor-intensive part of bibimbap by buying seasoned vegetables from the Little Ferry H Mart for $6.49.

When the brown rice was ready, I added the vegetables and chopped cabbage kimchi, as well as sesame oil and two or three tablespoons of gochujang, a red-pepper paste, and mixed up everything.

Bibimbap with two organic eggs make for a filling breakfast.

The night before, I prepared wild salmon with ripe peaches and a large bunch of baby mustard greens, so I've been eating all three this week.

I washed the cut-up baby mustard greens, blanched them for a few minutes in boiling water with the cover on, drained the pot and added a little soy sauce and sesame oil.

Seedless watermelons were $4.99 at H Mart on Sunday, a savings of $2.