A good excuse to go food shopping

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High gasoline prices make combining trips a good idea, so after my annual physical in Englewood today, I set off for three food stores in a city well-known to foodies.


I felt great when I left the doctor's office: My weight is 196 pounds, compared to 227 pounds a year or so ago; my blood pressure is low and a blood test likely will result in another low cholesterol reading since I stopped eating meat about 18 months ago.


The physical also included a chest X-ray, an electrocardiogram, a breath test and a rectal exam, all paid for by Medicare, not Medicaid, as I wrote earlier. Not even a co-pay. God bless America.


My first stop was Jerry's Gourmet & More on South Dean Street, where I had my first food of the day -- a bunch of free cheese samples, such as ricotta salata,  pecorino romano and brie.


I picked up Ponti balsamic and chianti vinegars for $1.99 and 99 cents, respectively. Ponti, not Primo, as I wrote earlier, is the brand I was served in restaurants in Italy last September.


Espresso beans


I also bought 2.2 pounds of Lavazza espresso beans labeled "Crema e Aroma" for $19.99, a couple of dollars less than the Lavazza's "Super Crema" beans I've been getting from Amazon.com.


My next stop was H Mart, the Korean supermarket on Lafayette Avenue, where 20 pounds of Kokuho Yellow Label short-grain white rice grown in California was on sale for $11.99.



I also picked up 2.21 pounds of live blue crabs at $2.99 a pound. (They're cooking now in a spicy boil for dinner tonight.) Two dozen large brown, cage-free eggs were $4 with a coupon.

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I also took advantage of ShopRite's Can Can Sale to stock up on 12-ounce cans of Adirondack Seltzer (Mandarin Orange, Lemon-Lime and Original). A pack of 12 is $1.99, a savings of $1.60, with a store card.


At the Hackensack ShopRite, I bought more Adirondack Seltzer, as well as Sparkling 100% Apple Cider from Spain; two 25.4-ounce glass bottles were $4.


Coleman organic chicken legs were $1.99 a pound and antibiotic-free Readington Farms chicken thighs were $1.89 a pound.


Tonight's dinner


Korean bibimbap is one of our favorite dishes -- a stone bowl filled with steamed rice and vegetables, and topped with a fried egg (hold the ground beef). A hot red-pepper sauce livens up the party.


The idea is to mix everything up, add the spicy sauce and go to town.
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Tonight, I'm trying bibimbap at home, using organic brown rice and seasoned vegetables I bought at H Mart in Fort Lee on Monday ($5.99 for 14 ounces of spinach, bellflower, fernrake and bean sprouts).


After the rice is ready, I'm going to dump the vegetables in the rice cooker and mix the whole thing up. I'll plate it and top it with two fried eggs, sunny side up, and hot-pepper sauce.


My wife and son are having the blue crabs.


I'll serve two side dishes I found at H Mart -- a Korean omelet with seaweed ($4.99) and stewed Alaska pollock in a spicy sauce ($5.99) -- both from Jinga in Maspeth, N.Y.

Another lull in food shopping

With my wife and son on an extended visit to relatives, there isn't much reason for me to go food shopping, but that hasn't stopped me.

When I got an e-mail from Heritage Foods about an extraordinary ham raised naturally on the Lucki 7 farm in Rodman, N.Y., I called and ordered one, then remembered I'm the only one here to eat it. It was supposed to be 9-10 pounds but turned out to be more than 12 pounds, so I called Purdy & Sons, the farm that prepared it and was told it's OK for me to put it in the freezer until my wife and son return.

Today, I visited a food store for the first time since we returned from our road trip July 12, the ShopRite in Hackensack. Compared to the other ShopRites in Rochelle Park and Englewood, where I used to live, this place is a disappointment. The selection of drug-free Readington Farms chicken was limited and there was little free-range Australian lamb to choose from.

ShopRites are no longer cutting the price for canned Alaskan red salmon during the Can-Can Sale, so I paid $4.99 for one large can from Bumble Bee. But I found cans of ShopRite organic black beans and organic kidney beans for 99 cents each. ShopRite produce is hit or miss. I picked up Jersey blueberries ($2.50 for a pint, which weighs three-quarters of a pound) and Northwest cherries for $1.49 a pound (I originally wrote Northeast in error). Why do cherries from thousands of mile away cost less than Jersey blueberries?

The sparkling, 100% red grape juice from Spain also wasn't on sale, but I bought four at $2.79 each because it is so hard to find. Other varieties are white grape juice, peach and apple. All are good.