New items at Costco and a surprising $3 price hike

The parking lot at my Costco Wholesale in Hackensack was a zoo this afternoon, but checkout was no problem. I saw several new items, including 2-pound bags of salted cod fillets from Canada for only $11.99, below.

The salted pollock from Atlantic Pearl is cheaper than salted cod, but many cooks won't settle for it.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Today, I left the watch I want to return home and did some food shopping at Costco Wholesale to replace staples, including organic salad, reduced-fat sliced cheese and wild-caught fish fillets.

I saw several new items, and was surprised by a $3-plus price hike for Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon.

The sliced, preservative-free salmon is ideal for sandwiches, salads, omelets and frittatas.

For a snack, you can eat it rolled up with a slice of cheese, stuffed with spring mix and dipped in Dijon mustard.

On Dec. 3, a 1-pound package was $15.59. But today, I blinked twice at the price on the sign: $18.89.

Even at the higher price, this likely is the cheapest smoked wild salmon available at any store in North Jersey. 

Three new fishes

Two new fish items at the Hackesnack Costco are 2-pound bags of salted codfish from Canada for $11.99, beating the price of $6.99 a pound at the Englewood ShopRite; and fresh, skinless fillets of mahi mahi for only $7.99 a pound.

The mahi mahi, also called dolphin fish, is from Costa Rica. In the past, the Hackensack Costco sold cod, haddock and flounder fillets, as well as fresh wild salmon from May to October. 

The price for the Canadian salted cod also beats salted cod fillets for $8.99 a pound that Costco displayed in shrink-wrapped trays in the refrigerated case among wild and farmed fish.

The salted cod and mahi mahi join fresh Atlantic cod fillets from Iceland as new items.

The Atlantic cod showed up at Costco in the past week, replacing Pacific True Cod, which I hadn't seen for a few months.

Twelve-pound bags of Della Organic Long Grain Brown Rice are $13.99, but there is no indication where the rice is grown. The package says the rice is distributed by a company in Arkansas.

I saw a display of 12-pound bags of Della-brand Organic Long Grain Brown Rice for only $13.99.

We stopped buying the Della brown rice after we found boll weevils in it, and switched to California-grown Lundberg Organic Long Grain Brown Rice, which I buy on Amazon.com at a higher price.

At least a half-dozen shoppers, including me, asked Costco employees for organic milk, but were told the warehouse store had run out of that item.

A Costco frittata made at home with Kirkland Signature Egg Whites, whole Organic Eggs, Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon; shredded and sliced Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, Jarlsberg Lite Reduced-Fat Sliced Swiss Cheese, and La Costena-brand Green Mexican Salsa.

Boll weevils in rice, brown mangoes, moldy peaches

Lundberg Organic Brown Long Grain Rice is grown in California, but Della Organic from Costco Wholesale comes from Arkansas. Consumer Reports says some rice growers in the South use old cotton fields, where arsenic was applied to kill boll weevils, leaving traces of the poison in the rice crop.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We're having a run of bad luck with spoiled food -- from boll weevils in organic brown rice to fruit not ripening or sprouting mold.

Most troublesome are the tiny beetles my wife found when she was preparing Della-brand Organic Long Grain Brown Rice from Costco Wholesale.

When she added chicken broth to the brown rice in an electric cooker, she saw live boll weevils floating to the top.

Old cotton fields?

I recall that when Della brown rice first appeared at my Hackensack Costco, I tried unsuccessfully to reach a company official to find out if it came from old cotton fields in Arkansas.

I stopped buying white rice grown in the South many years ago after Consumer Reports told readers about tests that found traces of arsenic from use of the poison to control boll weevils in cotton fields.

H Mart, the Korean supermarket chain, sells several brands of California-grown white rice, including the deeply discounted Kokuho Yellow Label.

Rice from Amazon

This year, I ordered California-grown Lundberg brown rice from Amazon.com when the Della brand disappeared from the shelves at Costco in Hackensack.

Then, when the Lundberg product finished, I bought another 12-pound bag of Della brown rice, and that's the one with the boll weevils.

This morning, I again ordered Lundberg Organic Brown Long Grain Rice from Amazon.com, even though it is more expensive (about $24 for six 2-pound bags).

Spoiling fruit

Last Sunday, I bought a box of eight jumbo mangoes from Brazil at H Mart in Little Ferry for $9.99.

When my wife cut open two of them, they were brown inside, and I plan to return the spoiled fruit for a full refund today.

A second batch of Jersey peaches from the Paramus ShopRite took days to ripen on the kitchen counter -- like the first -- and were mealy or not that sweet.

One got moldy and had to be thrown away.

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Non-GMO wild rice, 40-ounce marinara and much more

Ingredients are: Long Grain Brown Rice, Sweet Brown Rice, Wild Rice, Whole Grain Wehani Rice and Whole Grain Black Japonica Rice.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss visits to Costco Wholesale, Aroma Espresso Bar and Whole Foods Market.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

After an absence of more than a week, I noticed a few changes at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, the warehouse store that is only a couple of miles from my home.

For one thing, boxes of apples, peaches and other premium fruit have been consolidated in one area and the aisles through them are shorter and oriented differently.

But it is still no easier to find what you're looking for, and on Monday, I had to ask an employee to point me to the 5-pound bags of limes ($4.99).

I also can't shake the feeling that much of the fruit has been handled and picked through by other customers, who think nothing of opening even clear-plastic packages and testing each piece -- for what, I'm not sure.

I picked up Lundberg Wild Blend Rice -- a mixture of wild and whole-grain brown rice -- and noticed the "NON-GMO Project Verified" stamp on the BPA-free bag (4 pounds for $9.39).

Della Organic Long-Grain Brown Rice, also sold at Costco, is from another grower that pledges the rice hasn't been genetically modified.

Two 40-ounce bottles of Victoria Marinara Sauce were on sale for about $3 each, below.

At Costco, Kirkland Signature Soft & Chewy Granola Bars appear to have replaced Chewy Granola Bars from Kashi, one of my favorite snack bars.

A manufacturer's instant rebate reduced the price of two 40-ounce jars of Victoria Marinara Sauce to $5.99.

Made from Italian tomatoes, Victoria is highly rated by Consumer Reports, and the 40 ounces allows you to cook 1 pound of pasta at a time, with sauce to spare.

On my last few visits to the Hackensack Costco, I haven't been able to find Kashi Chewy Granola Bars Trail Mix, a favorite because of the almonds they contain.

On Monday, I did find an enormous box of 60 Kirkland Signature Soft & Chewy Granola Bars ($8.69), but they don't have any almonds in them and each bar is under an ounce.

The Organic Quinoa Salad at Aroma Espresso Bar in Paramus is misnamed.

The staff at Aroma let me down today.

A large Cafe Au Lait was $2.75 (16 ounces); a small piece of chocolate is complimentary.

Poor service in Paramus

The menu, including 9 healthy salads, impressed me when I discovered Aroma Espresso Bar last December at the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, so I returned a couple of times more.

But this afternoon, the staff served me an unseasoned salad and even forgot to give me the lemon-olive oil dressing, which I learned later is supposed to be served on the side.

I ordered the Organic Quinoa Salad ($8.50), only to discover it is mostly chopped vegetables with barely a couple of ounces of quinoa (KEEN-wha) on top.

The salad was unseasoned and undressed, so I added black pepper and a little salt.

As I was leaving, I mentioned to an employee, who appeared to be the manager, that I couldn't taste the dressing, and he said it is always served on the side.

"Sorry about that," he said weakly.

At Garden State Plaza, Nordstrom has a cafe with a small menu.

Pan Seared Atlantic Cod was one of the choices today.

One of three kimchis at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

Kimchi at Whole Foods


Whole Foods Market in Paramus is now selling three kinds of kimchi on its pickles bar for $9.99 a pound.

The kimchi is labeled "premium" and is said to come from "Mama O."

I stopped to chat with one of the employees at the store's wonderful fresh-fish counter, remarking about the stark difference in color between wild-caught king salmon and farmed sockeye salmon.

He said Whole Foods' farmed salmon, which was a pale orange, is colored by a yeast added to the food, not chemicals, as is the practice on many fish farms. 

On the way out, I stopped to buy 5 ears of bicolor corn from Georgia for $2.

My wife just steamed the shucked corn and my ear was pleasantly sweet, needing nothing.

Tofu, coffee beans, brown rice and feta cheese

Tofu in an entree, above, and a soup, below, was the star of our dinner at Wondee's in Hackensack, where a small bowl of brown rice is $2.50 extra.

We asked for bowls of Vegetable Soup with tofu from the Vegetarian Menu to be made spicy.

Pra Ram is described as "steamed watercress" topped with tofu and Wondee's peanut sauce. When eaten with rice, this entree served two.

We usually have an early dinner at Wondee's Fine Thai Food and Noodles in Hackensack, never make a reservation and have the place to ourselves.

But on Saturday night, my wife and I didn't get there until 7, and we were the first in a wave of customers that quickly filled the restaurant, disrupting one server's dinner.

Two large parties of 10 or more people put a strain on the kitchen, which forgot one of the entrees we ordered.

It was just as well: We were full after soup, a shared entree and a bowl of rice -- for a grand total of $23, including tax. 

I also drank a bottle of Mexican beer I brought from home.

I don't eat meat or poultry and my wife wanted to go vegetarian, so we ordered a small vegetable soup with tofu for each of us ($3.50), and an entree of vegetables and tofu in a light, flowing peanut sauce ($11). 

When our second tofu entree, Mock Duck Kraprow ($12), didn't arrive, the peanut sauce was perfect with the half bowl of brown rice I had left. 

We love Chef Wandee Suwangbutra for packing her dishes with fresh vegetables and garnishing them with fresh herbs, and when we feel like whole fish or meat, there are plenty of choices from her kitchen.

Bravo!

Wondee's, 296 Main St., Hackensack; 201-883-1700. BYO, small parking lot in rear, reservations taken, no delivery, closed Mondays.
 

A Starbucks in the Astoria section of Queens has a black-and-white photo mural showing scenes from the early years of the company, right.

The daily grind

I may never again buy a pound of coffee beans from New York-based Fairway Market in Paramus.

I stopped at a Starbucks in Queens on Friday, and took advantage of a coffee-bean promotion: 

2 pounds of Tribute Blend for $14.95, the normal price of 1 pound.

The blend was created to celebrate Starbucks' 40th anniversary, using four coffee beans, according to the company Web site:

"Ethiopian sun-dried beans with an exotic flourish of dark cherry; Aged Sumatra, loved for its syrupy body and cedary spice notes; juicy herbal and complex coffees from Papua New Guinea; and our Colombia coffee, bright, balanced and nutty."

Worth the price

Starbucks coffee beans are more expensive than those at Fairway, but the coffee made from them tastes better, too.

Frequent promotions bring Starbucks beans close to or below the price for Fairway Market beans.

I use a Turkish grind in my drip coffeemaker.

Testimonial

At the Starbucks in the Astoria section, I saw an elderly man with a walker slouched in a chair, enjoying a large cup of coffee.

"I live across the street, and I've been coming here since it opened, 14 or 15 years," said the white-haired man, who appeared to be in his 80s.

He said he drops by "two or three times a day" for coffee.

Hole everything

The day before, I stopped for a takeout cup of coffee at Jackson Hole, the chain hamburger restaurant on Grand Avenue in Englewood.

The cashier refused my credit card as payment for a $1.90 cup of hazelnut coffee, and asked for cash.

That would never happen at Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's or lots of other places I buy coffee.

I've been using Della-brand Organic Brown Rice from Costco Wholesale as a substitute for bread at breakfast, above, and as the foundation for home-cooked entrees like Icelandic flounder poached with organic diced tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil and lime juice, below.

 


Greek New York

The Astoria section of Queens is known for its many Greek restaurants, and on Friday, I saw people enjoying fantastic-looking seafood at sun-splashed tables outside Taverna Kyclades on Ditmars Boulevard.

The next morning, I incorporated crumbled feta cheese in a frittata with Kirkland Signature smoked wild salmon and Basil Pesto, and fresh and sun-dried tomatoes.

With sodium in the feta cheese, smoked salmon and pesto, there is no need to add salt to the 4 whole eggs and egg whites I mix with a little low-fat milk for fluffiness and season with Costco's Organic No-Salt Seasoning.

The egg-and-milk mixture are poured into a 10-inch, non-stick pan with extra-virgin olive oil that is preheated on the stove. Ideally, the mixture sizzles when it hits the pan. Then, tomatoes, sliced salmon, feta cheese and pesto are added while the crust firms up, The frittata is finished under the low setting of a broiler for about 10 minutes, until the top browns, above.

Go ahead: Make a plate of leftovers

This Greek extra-virgin olive oil from Cyprus turned out to be unusually thick and fruity for such a good value, but extending the turtle-like plastic spout wasn't as easy as it looked, below. A 3-liter can was on sale for $14.99 at the International Food, Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Lodi until Feb. 26.

I had to grasp two sharp, plastic semicircles and pull hard to get the spout to extend fully, front. Even when extended, pouring the oil into a smaller container for use in cooking or to dress salads is a challenge without spilling some.

Putting a meal on the table is much easier when you have a lot of leftovers to work with.

Making 2 cups of organic brown rice or 1 pound of whole-wheat pasta with sardines takes about as much time as lesser amounts.

Make a 10-inch frittata, not an 8-inch one, leaving some for quickly reheating in the microwave for another meal.

You can also make mashed sweet potatoes in a large batch.

We usually get 2 pounds or less of fresh, wild-caught fish fillets from Costco, and even with four fish-lovers to feed, we have leftovers for another day.

Leftovers for breakfast this morning included a frittata with pesto, Chinese takeout vegetables, sauteed cabbage with sweet peppers and Kabocha squash drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil.

Leftover organic brown rice with diced organic tomatoes made a great foundation for two organic eggs with sun-dried tomato and shredded low-fat cheese.

I added leftover Mexican green salsa and tomatoes as a sauce for organic brown rice, and plated them with pan-fried Pacific cod from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

I have leftover black beans with organic diced tomatoes, left, that would go great with leftover brown rice, and all I need to do to complete the meal is to make a salad from pre-washed Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, which goes straight from the package to the bowl.

  
 

5-minute flounder, pesto frittata, breakfast favorites

Flounder fillets in La Costena-brand Green Mexican Salsa with Della-brand organic brown rice, above, and a second helping without rice, below.

Bottled green Mexican salsa is the perfect medium for cooking fresh fillets of wild-caught fish.

The salsa then doubles as a sauce for side dishes of brown rice or whole-wheat pasta, and can be used the next day to poach an egg to eat with the leftovers.

You don't have to add anything to the medium-spicy salsa -- made from tomatillo, jalapeno peppers, onion, iodized salt and coriander -- though fresh lime juice wouldn't be out of place.

Two brands of Green Mexican Salsa or Salsa Verde are available at Hackensack Market on Passaic Street. Seasoned fish fillets go into the salsa when it starts to bubble, below.

 

Go fish at Costco

My wife picked up flounder fillets at Costco Wholesale for $7.99 a pound.

These fillets are thinner than the wild-caught cod and haddock fillets that are also sold at my Costco in Hackensack, and that means they are ready in about 5 minutes after you put them in the bubbling hot salsa and cover the pan.

You know the fillets are ready when they firm up and turn white, and they continue cooking in the covered pan after you turn off the heat.

I served them with Della-brand Organic Brown Rice with Organic Diced Tomatoes, both available at Costco, that I made separately in an electric cooker.

This frittata is made with reduced-fat cheeses, fresh and sun-dried tomato, and Costco's Basil Pesto. I served it with Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti, below.

Anytime frittata

For a pesto frittata, I mixed three whole eggs, liquid egg whites, shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, low-fat milk and Costco's Organic No-Salt Seasoning.

I poured the mixture into a heated non-stick pan with olive oil and added sliced and sun-dried tomatoes, two slices of reduced-fat Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese and tablespoons of the refrigerated pesto.

I then put the pan under the broiler, on a "low" settting, for 10 minutes until the surface browned and set.  

I cut the frittata into wedges and served it with organic whole-wheat spaghetti in a sweet-pepper sauce, which I heated up in the microwave, and drizzled both with extra-virgin olive oil.

The morning after I made the flounder, I used the salsa to poach an egg in a non-stick pan and served it with leftover fish and brown rice. I ate everything with a spoon. Just wonderful, especially the taste of yolk and rice eaten together.

  

Leftover caramelized sweet plantains, above, went into my breakfast this morning, below, with flounder, stewed pollock, frittata and organic brown rice.

 

Roasted almonds dusted with tumeric, garam masala and cinnamon.

Spiced almonds

We once had a container of pistachios or other roasted nuts in our kitchen for snacks and to offer guests, but we wanted to cut down on our sodium intake.

Costco Wholesale also sells raw almonds without sodium in 3-pound bags, so I started buying them and roasting them at home (Roast/Convection Oven setting, 275 degrees, 1 hour and 15 minutes).

Now, I have started to mix the bland almonds with powdered spices, including Costco's sweet-hot Ground Saigon Cinnamon, and garam masala and tumeric from an Asian Indian grocery.

The 21-item Organic No-Salt Seasoning is coarsely ground and settles to the bottom of the almond container.