Comparing sale prices at the H Marts in Englewood and Little Ferry

I picked up more than 2 pounds of mustard greens, above, and a Kabocha squash, both on sale for 88 cents a pound, at the H Mart in Englewood, but the same store was selling a 15-pound bag of Kokuho Yellow Label White Rice for $2 more than the H Mart in Little Ferry.

This breakfast includes organic brown eggs, organic quinoa and organic fresh salsa, all from Costco Wholesale. Why can't I find a mostly organic breakfast at my local diner?

Editor's note: I continue to be puzzled by varying sale prices at H Marts in Bergen County, and wonder whether I have to start to bring organic food and other items I like to restaurants that don't offer them.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On the way home from an errand in Cresskill on Saturday, it only made sense to stop at the H Mart in Englewood for fresh greens, produce and a few free food samples.

This Korean supermarket is part of the Hanahreum Group, but you wouldn't know it when you compare it to the larger H Mart in Little Ferry. 

For example, you might find a 5-pound box of Bagu Clementines from Spain on sale for $5.99 at both stores.

Yet, the Englewood H Mart will claim you saved $3 while the Little Ferry store puts your discount at $2.

A 15-pound bag of Kokuho Yellow Label, a white rice grown in California, was on sale for $14.88 in Englewood on Saturday and for $12.88 in Little Ferry on Sunday.

The parking lot at the Little Ferry H Mart on Sunday.

Spinach, red snapper

The Little Ferry store is much larger, but shabbier and sorely in need of a makeover, and employees keep their coats on in the seemingly unheated space.

On Sunday, I saw a few large potholes in the parking lot and a large, frozen pond that blocked access to half of the lot.

The Englewood store, which was renovated a couple of years ago, has a food counter where you can have lunch or buy prepared Korean food to take home.

Little Ferry had a dingy lunchroom, but it is now closed.

Still, Little Ferry offers more free food samples on weekends, and on Sunday, I sampled sushi made with cooked snow crab, broiled eel, seafood dumplings, fresh fruit and sauteed mushrooms.

In addition to the bag of Kokuho rice for $12.88 and clementines for $5.99, I bought two bushels of fresh spinach, on sale for 99 cents instead of $1.49 each.

At the fish counter in Little Ferry, I bought two large, wild-caught red snappers nestled in ice, and had them cut into steaks, including the head and tail ($6.99 a pound).

For dinner, I stir-fried the spinach and prepared the fish with organic diced tomatoes, red wine and fresh lime juice.

Web site: H Mart

Natural sugar oozing from large sweet potatoes I bought at Costco Wholesale and baked at home.

Plenty of restaurants offer baked potatoes, but finding sweet potatoes on the menu is rare.

Even rarer at diners and restaurants are mashed sweet potatoes with garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and other seasoning, including curry powder and cinnamon. Here, I boiled 3 pounds of small sweet potatoes from ShopRite ($2.99) and about a pound of peeled California cloves from Costco.

I've switched to organic whole-wheat pasta instead of the conventional type, and buy imported whole-wheat linguine, spaghetti, capellini, spirals and other shapes from ShopRite, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's for $1.49 a pound or less. But the only whole-wheat pasta I've been able to find at restaurants is penne. Do I have to bring my own? Above, organic whole-wheat linguine with sardines and anchovies in a cream-free vodka sauce.

Costco changes Egg Whites closure, but not carton

The new, larger screw top on Kirkland Signature Egg Whites from Costco Wholesale, but the carton still carries directions on how to open the old closure. "NO PULL RING" is incorrect; under the new top, you'll find a pull ring, below left.

The new pull ring and larger screw top, left, and the original instructions on the carton, which I crush to recycle.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss preparing food at home using ingredients fron Costco Wholesale in Hackensack and other stores.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Using the 100% liquid egg whites from Costco Wholesale just got a lot easier with the introduction of a larger, easier-to-open screw top and a pull-ring seal.

Frankly, I sometimes had trouble twisting the old, smaller top, which pierced the carton as you turned it to open the 16-ounce carton.

But the six-pack of Kirkland Signature Egg Whites my wife picked up at the Hackensack store for $7.99 on Saturday had cartons with the new top and printed instructions for the old closure, which had no pull ring.

The new screw top is the size of the one you find on a half-gallon of milk or orange juice.

Egg Whites are still listed on the Costco receipt as "KS Real Eggs," the name for the old product, which contained coloring and other ingredients.

A wedge from a 10-inch frittata made with a 16-ounce carton of Kirkland Signature Egg Whites, low-fat milk, shredded Asiago Cheese, salt and chopped garlic, scallion, sweet pepper and onion. After the frittata finished cooking under the broiler, I poured Garlic Chipotle Salsa from Trader Joe's and La Costena Mexican Green Salsa over the top.

A salad made entirely of ingredients from Costco Wholesale except for the dressing, organic extra-virgin olive oil from Turkey and balsamic vinegar from Italy. I used Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, Sunset-brand Campari Tomatoes and Gourmet Cucumbers; Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Organic Made In Nature Dates, which are sun dried and unsulfured.

Organic whole wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods Market prepared with Kirkland Signature Marinara Sauce, chopped Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic (peeled) from Costco Wholesale and Moroccan sardines in tomato sauce. 

Fresh, wild-caught porgy ($1.99 a pound at H Mart in Englewood) seasoned and poached in Trader Joe's Salsa Verde and fresh lime juice, and served with California-grown brown rice, also from the Korean supermarket chain. 

Beautifully sliced Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon made putting together a dinner salad easy, using Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, Campari tomatoes and cucumber, blueberries and Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, all from Costco. Complement the luxurious taste of the naturally smoked salmon with a full-bodied red wine, such as Giordano Nebbiolo D'Alba from Italy.

I used organic extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress the salad.

Should I yield to the temptation of Chinese garlic?

A breakfast of cabbage and salt fish with sweet plantains uses peeled and chopped Christopher Ranch garlic from Costco Wholesale.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

My wife has a lot more patience than I do when it comes to peeling and chopping fresh garlic for our home-cooked meals.

I'd just as soon grab a jar of Kirkland Signature Granulated California Garlic. 

We use fresh, California-grown Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic, an  heirloom variety that originated in the Piedmont region of Italy.

A 2-pound net bag of the garlic is $4.29 at my Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

But I can't tell you how tempted I am by the large jars of peeled garlic cloves I see at H Mart, the Korean supermarket chain in North Jersey.

I peeled and chopped Christopher Ranch garlic for this dish of organic whole-wheat pasta with vegetables and sardines, which I served with tofu and a wedge of frittata.

The pasta dish contained Trader Joe's Healthy 8 Chopped Veggie Mix: broccoli, carrots, green cabbage, red cabbage, jicama, green bell pepper, radish and celery.

The only problem with the H Mart garlic is that it comes from China, which has a poor food-safety record. 

And if you read the label of the Christopher Ranch garlic, you may not want to bother with anything else:

"Monviso [heirloom garlic] has the highest concentration of savory oils" and "is preferred by chefs for its farm-fresh quality, bold nutty flavor and creamy garlic finish."

I've picked up one tip on how to peel garlic easily:

Smashing the clove first with the flat side of your chef's knife will make it much easier to peel.

Update

Prompted by a reader's comment, I went looking for peeled Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic at my Hackensack Costco.

I found a 3-pound plastic bag or pouch of the California garlic -- peeled -- for $4.99, but it was marked "perishable" and "keep refrigerated," and had an expiration date of Oct. 11, 2013.

The peeled Chinese garlic at H Mart wasn't refrigerated.

The peeled Christopher Ranch garlic is cheaper than the unpeeled, but can I use 3 pounds of garlic cloves in a month?