Picking up more than a few of my favorite things

My first visit to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack after a brief vacation netted fresh wild sockeye salmon fillet, Tropicana Orange Juice, beefsteak tomatoes, bottles of mango nectar, Greek Yogurt, a seedless watermelon, Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, clothing for my teenage son and other items.

That night, I prepared the wild salmon with Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto that I had in the refrigerator, and served it with organic brown rice and prepared sweet-potato salad, all from Costco.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

It wasn't difficult to drop nearly $200 at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack on Tuesday during my first visit after a brief vacation.

I spent $95 on clothing, and the rest on food:

Earthbound Farm Organic Sprinx Mix, 1 pound for $4.99; a large seedless watermelon, $5.49; Kirkland Signature Greek Yogurt, 2 32-ounce cups for $6.99; fresh, wild sockeye salmon fillet, up $2 in recent weeks to $11.99 a pound; 3 half-gallons of organic, low-fat milk for $10.19; and other items.

At checkout, a woman in front of me was so impressed with a 5-pound box of Sunset-brand hothouse Beefsteak Tomatoes ($6.39) she saw in my cart that -- without asking -- she actually picked up one to examine it.

An open-face omelet made with Kirkland Signature Egg Whites.

Campari Tomato, bottled Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and sliced, reduce-fat Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese dress up another egg-white omelet, served over brown rice.

More favorites

On Wednesday, in Englewood, I stopped at Balthazar Bakery on South Dean Street for 2 fresh baguettes, still $2 each.

Then, I drove the half-mile or so to Jerry's Gourmet & More, where I picked up 2  Meals To Go, cut to $5.99 after 4 p.m.

Normally, the restaurant-quality dinners are $7.99.

At home, I plated tender calamari tubes stuffed with shrimp and arugula, penne alla puntanesca, fresh artichoke salad and eggplant caponata, and re-heated them gently in the microwave.

I poured myself a glass of Italian red wine, and allowed myself a couple of pieces of crusty baguette.
 
My son enjoyed Jerry's Chicken Cordon Bleu, Spinach Lasagna and a Ham & Cheese Monte Cristo, but passed on the Brussels sprouts and baked cauliflower that came with the dinner. 

Balthazar's baguette has a living crust: It's crispier in dry weather.

A bowl of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix.

Kimchi and coffee

Also on Wednesday, I visited the Englewood building where Arirang Kimchi is made by hand, and learned the Oh family will be moving the operation to a Ridgefield shopping center in the next few weeks.

On Thursday, I dropped into the Target in Hackensack, where an employee said the store's small food court is being replaced by a Starbucks and a Pizza Hut.

They should be open by the last week in September, she said.

The licensed store would be the second Starbucks in Hackensack.

There is a company owned Starbucks on Essex Street, near the medical center, but the city still needs one close to the Bergen County Courthouse and law firms, and there are a couple of vacant storefronts that would do nicely within a block or two.

Salted codfish

On Monday, in Englewood, I picked up medium boneless salted codfish at the ShopRite for $6.99 a pound, compared to $8.99 a pound at Costco.

Jersey Blueberries were 2 pints for $4.

The tart-sweet blueberries are great with the sweet seedless watermelon I bought at Costco.

No need to thump the melon unless you plan to make music with it.

I look for the biggest, heaviest watermelon I can find; the exterior was a paler green than others, but it was perfectly sweet inside.

The blueberries also are wonderful in a breakfast "parfait" made with Greek Yogurt, Hemp Hearts, Black Chia Seed and Organic Blue Agave nectar -- all from Costco.

Parchment paper

To roast fish or chicken, I now use Kirkland Signature Parchment Paper to line the pan.

Meat or seafood doesn't stick to the paper so I don't have to use spray oil, as I did with aluminum foil, which is more expensive.

With chicken, I use two layers of paper to handle all of the juices, but one layer is enough to roast wild salmon or other fish.

I also use parchment paper to roast the sodium-free raw almonds I buy at Costco, and use the paper over or recycle it. 

I was never sure whether the aluminum foil was recyclable.
 

Simple accents brighten any meal

Coarsely ground Aleppo pepper and chopped fresh garden herbs are two of the simple accents that give extra eye and taste appeal to fresh wild salmon and organic eggs.

Editor's note: Summer brings fresh wild salmon, garden herbs, Jersey blueberries and other tastes of the season. Today, I discuss simple accents for home-cooked meals and present further adventures in food shopping.

I have mint and oregano growing in my garden, and a container of coarsely ground Aleppo pepper in my refrigerator, and I use them with a free hand.

The fresh herbs and the mildly spicy pepper work best with fish and egg dishes.

Wild-caught whiting need little more than seasoning and flour before frying, below.

I found the large whiting at H Mart in Little Ferry.

The run of fresh wild sockeye salmon from the Copper River in Alaska has ended at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, and now the packages just say, "Product of  U.S.A."

We bought another fillet on Monday for $10.99 a pound, and I prepared it using a simple recipe from Mark Bittman, whose New York Times column is called "The Minimalist."

Wild salmon with sliced tomatoes, capers, Aleppo pepper, olive oil and lime juice before I placed the pan in a preheated 400-degree oven set on roast/convection.

The leftovers went into the refrigerator.

For breakfast, I plated wild salmon with a cheese-and-smoked-wild-salmon omelet.

Bittman tells you to season the wild salmon portions, place the tomato slices and capers over and around them, and drizzle on some extra-virgin olive oil.

The recipe also calls for chopped red onion, but I didn't have that on hand.

I added the Aleppo pepper and chopped oregano from my garden, and roasted the fish for 10 to 12 minutes in a 400-degree oven.

I buy my Aleppo pepper at Fattal's Bakery, 975-77 Main St., Paterson. It is open 7 days.

Other simple accents are sun-dried tomatoes and bottled Mexican green salsa, shown here on an egg-white omelet with leftover brown rice from Lotus Cafe in Hackensack.

At Whole Foods Market in Paramus on Tuesday, I saw fresh wild sockeye salmon fillets for $16.99 a pound, compared to $10.99 a pound at Costco.

Wild Alaskan Sockeye Smoked Salmon was $5.99 for 4 ounces or about $24 a pound. At Costco, a 1-pound package of the same smoked sockeye salmon is $15.39.

But I found frozen Coleman Organic Ox Tails for $6.99 a pound -- an item I've seen in no other store.

Whole Foods Market is the only store I know that pledges its farmed salmon is raised without pesticides, antibiotics or growth hormones. Farmed salmon is artificially colored.

Whole Catch is a store brand at Whole Foods Market.

I didn't see this sign the last time I visited Whole Foods in Paramus.

$5 bowl of soup

Lunch at Panera Bread in Woodcliff Lake.

I stopped for lunch on Monday at a Panera Bread in the Tice's Corner Marketplace in Woodcliff Lake, and spent nearly $8 on soup and a medium coffee.

After I ordered a bowl of the Garden Vegetable Soup, the counter worker asked me whether I wanted chips, bread or an apple on the side.

I chose an apple, thinking how terrific it is that Panera Bread offers customers a healthy choice, then looked at my receipt: The soup was $4.99.

Tastes of summer

H Mart in Little Ferry had a 32-ounce bottle of Best Mango Juice Drink from Egypt for $2.99. This is the first mango drink I've seen in the U.S. that contains 50% juice.

New Jersey blueberries are one of the great tastes of summer.

Jersey Fresh Blueberries were $1.99 a pint on July 1 at ShopRite supermarkets, and 2 pints for $5 at Whole Foods in Paramus on Monday, where they are on sale through today (regularly $4.99 a pint).

At H Mart in Little Ferry, I picked up a 32-ounce bottle of thick, sweet 50% mango juice from Egypt for $2.99, and a box of 16 Champagne mangoes from Mexico for $9.99 with a store card.

A 15-pound bag of California-grown Kokuho Yellow Label rice was $8.99 -- a discount of $6. 

Speaking of mangoes, my wife used a couple of ounces of Grace-brand Fish & Meat Sauce from Hackensack Market on Passaic Street to make a gravy filled with vegetables, which we ate over rice and peas (kidney beans) as a side dish to fried whiting.

The sauce is made of tomato paste, mango, sugar and a few other ingredients.

Above, a gravy filled with vegetables goes well with rice and peas, below.

Sweet, seedless watermelons up to 22 pounds were $3.88 each at ShopRite on July 1 -- a discount of $2.11 per melon.

Costco is still charging $5.99 per watermelon. 

Also on July 1, my wife found a rare sale on Readington Farms chicken -- ShopRite's antibiotic-free poultry brand.

She saved 66 cents to 92 cents on packages of thighs and drumsticks.

Missing the target

The fresh produce section at Target in Paramus.

With no scale in sight, shoppers may wonder how much bananas are by the pound.

Refrigerated cases light up when you approach them.

On Tuesday, I saw half-gallons of lactose-free milk at Target for $3.34, compared to $3.39 at ShopRite. 

I saw fat-free and 2% lactose-free milk, but not the 1% milk I prefer.

Quality of Costco produce raises concerns

A display of bulk produce at Stop & Shop in Teaneck, where prices are competitive with Costco Wholesale in Hackensack and lower in one or two cases.

Do I have to pay a fortune for good produce?

I can't think of a store where the fruit and vegetables have always been perfect, including Costco Wholesale, which sells premium produce at a lower price than most other retailers.

From ShopRite, I've brought home fruit that either never ripens or rots when left out overnight.

At H Mart, I returned mangoes that were brown and rotting inside.

At Costco, I got a refund for mealy pears, and when we cut open "Washington Extra Fancy" Fuji apples, they were brown inside.

I asked for a refund when Trader Joe's organic pears never ripened on the kitchen counter.

In April 2011, I said produce prices were rising and quality was slipping at Costco in Hackensack.

A few days ago, a reader commented on that item:

"I have come to your site after an online 'review'
of Costco produce. Everybody I know is saying that Costco has gone to hell as far as produce goes. Their quality is gone. I'm totally bummed. I used to buy all my produce there.

"Now I go to Hy-Vee grocery stores. Only a little more, price-wise, but 10 times the quality."

I don't know about "Costco has gone to hell," but we spend thousands of dollars on food there every year, and would like to see an improvement, especially when it comes to fruit.

We'd also like to see customers who don't handle every piece of fruit or sample it before buying a package, like the man who popped a few grape tomatoes in his mouth.

 

Playing chicken

On Friday, my wife went to the Hackensack warehouse store for more fresh wild sockeye salmon from the Copper River in Alaska ($10.99 a pound).

She also picked up a package of Empire kosher leg quarters, which are from free-roaming chickens raised on a vegetarian diet and without antibiotics, according to the package.

When she got them home and opened the shrink-wrapped package, the chicken stank and she saw that it was rancid.

She returned it for a refund and Costco offered her a 50% discount on another package, but she said her time, the need to fight traffic and a ruined reusable bag were worth more than that.

She wanted another package for free.

She had to talk to a few employees, but the general manager granted her wish.

 

Part of the produce section at Fairway Market in Paramus. Fairway charges 79 cents for a pound of bananas, compared to about 47 cents a pound at Costco.

"Violators will be embarrassed," a Fairway sign warns. Maybe the store should be embarrassed selling olives for $6.99 a pound. Italian olives are $3.99 a pound at Jerry's Gourmet & More on South Dean Street in Englewood.

I went to Fairway Market in Paramus for coffee, selecting the only beans on sale -- French Roast for $6.99 a pound -- and asking an employee for the Turkish grind.

No other North Jersey store has the selection of whole beans available at Fairway, and most are roasted in the store.

There is a huge selection of coffee beans, but only one was on sale this week.

An employee at the coffee-bean roaster in Paramus.

At Fairway, I also bought 2 pints of Jersey blueberries for $5 or what I paid last week at ShopRite in Paramus, and two heads of green-leaf lettuce for $1.49.

A wedge of Spanish Fig Cake with Mixed Nuts was $6.19 ($9.99 a pound), and the only other store with this item is Whole Foods in Paramus.

The fig cake is wonderful with cheese, such as Grana Padano.

At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, a customer behaves badly

At Costco Wholesale, unsalted raw almonds were $9.89 on May 7 and $10.99 on May 29. To put some crunch in these nuts, I roast them in the oven at 275 degrees for 1 hour.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss food shopping at Costco Wholesale, ShopRite and H Mart.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

My wife couldn't believe her eyes as she stood in line to return Fuji apples at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

A woman in front of her was seeking a refund for a 1-pound container of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, which she apparently didn't finish before its expiration date; three 1-pound packages of Black Tiger shrimp, and a bag filled with Romaine lettuce.

My wife said the Organic Spring Mix was rotting.

Costco has a liberal return policy, giving customers a full refund for any item they don't like.

Executive Members of the warehouse club don't even need a receipt.

But if this woman and others abuse the policy, Costco may change it, hurting honest customers.

We were returning the Washington State Extra Fancy apples because two of three we cut into were brown inside. The week before, we returned pears from Chile because they were mealy.

We've asked for refunds for Organic Spring Mix that rotted before its use-by date on the package, but never after.

A 1-pound package of the best-tasting salad mix in the world is only $4.99 at Costco.

Free-range beef

ShopRite has knocked $3 off a pound of Nature's Reserve free-range, grass-fed beef from Australia -- perfect for Korean barbecue.

A whole tenderloin for filet mignon is $5.99 a pound with the store's PricePlus card through Saturday.

In the Paramus store, I bought a tenderloin weighing about 6 pounds, and my wife trimmed it and sliced it thinly, dividing it into three portions and adding Korean bulgogi marinade.

We put two portions in the freezer. 

She grilled the remaining beef on a stove-top grill, serving it with red-leaf lettuce, white rice, red-pepper paste and Korean side dishes.

I ate wild salmon with pesto.

ShopRite also had a sale on seedless watermelons for $4.99 each. I bought one, but it was smaller than Costco's $5.99 melons.

Neither store has a scale that allows you to weight the melons

I bought 2 pints of Jersey blueberries for $5 after comparing their weight to an 18-ounce package of Jersey blues for $4.99.

The pints weighed a couple of ounces more.

You roll up beef, rice, red-pepper paste and seasoned radish in red-leaf lettuce, and pop the package into your mouth. Below, Korean side dishes are seasoned radish, stewed tofu and pan-fried fish cake with carrot and jalapeno pepper.

Mexican mangoes

In addition to buying prepared Korean side dishes at H Mart in Little Ferry, I picked up Champagne mangoes on sale-- a box of 20 for $9.99, a discount of $4.

These Mexican mangoes are intensely sweet and not at all stringy.

Can the price of wild salmon go any lower?

Image by Travis S. via Flickr

Salmon from the Copper River in Alaska gets more press than others.

Fresh, wild sockeye salmon fillets have dropped another dollar -- to $7.99 a pound -- at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.


These fillets, which glisten with natural oils, made their first appearance at Costco on May 21, earlier than usual, and came from the famed Copper River in Alaska. 


They were priced at $13.99 a pound -- one dollar less than in 2010.


Usually, the Copper River fish disappears after about two weeks, replaced by fresh sockeye salmon from somewhere in the northwestern United States, and the price drops to $8.99 a pound.


This year, the Copper River catch must have been much bigger than normal, because on June 5, the price dropped to $8.99 a pound at Costco.


Then, about 10 days ago, wild sockeye salmon fillets with no specific U.S. origin appeared in the seafood case at $8.99 a pound.


Today, the price dropped to $7.99, and I picked up a nearly 2-pound fillet, which should yield six to eight portions.


For dinner tonight, I'll bake the salmon for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees for medium rare. First, I usually squeeze fresh lemon juice over them and add chopped herbs and ground Aleppo red pepper. 


I'll serve them with blanched and garlic-sauteed collard greens (99 cents a pound at H Mart in Englewood).


Salmon from the Yukon River in Alaska have even more healthy fats than Copper River fish. 


The Yukon River salmon are genetically programmed to store those fats for their 2,000 mile-plus journey up what is the longest salmon river in Alaska.


Wegmans carries Yukon River wild salmon, but the nearest store is more than 30 miles from my home. 


The fresh, keta salmon fillets are $11.99 a pound at the Wegmans in Bridgewater. The store describes the flavor as "rich" and "buttery."


Jersey blues


Also at Costco today, I picked up 2 pounds of Jersey Fresh blueberries, the equivalent of three pints at $1.83 a pint. That's not such a great price, but they are plump and sweet.


Although I've been harvesting red-leaf lettuce from my garden, I also bought a pound of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix ($4.79) for variety in my salads.


I had a $10 Costco gift card the company sent to me after I complained that I found a small, black fly in the spring mix.


A 2-pound package of Cabot sliced cheddar cheese from Vermont is now $7.49, up from $6.99. Bananas are 3 pounds for $1.47.


UPDATE: 


The wild salmon fillet I bought from Costco today yielded eight portions that were a little smaller than usual.


They cooked in a preheated, 375-degree oven in 10 minutes for rare and 12-13 minutes for medium. The rare salmon melted in my mouth.


I reserved three raw portions for my wife and son, who like their salmon cooked through.


After I ate, I delighted in rolling up the skin that had stuck to the aluminum foil in the pan, and popping them into my mouth.

Blueberries done in by July heat

Image via Wikipedia

I stopped at Pathmark in Hackensack this morning, hoping the supermarket I rarely patronize had some Jersey Fresh blueberries, but the sign in the produce section explained why I found only Canadian and Michigan berries.

In small type, the store apologized for featuring Jersey blueberries in its flier and explained July's heat brought a premature end to the season, which was to run until mid-August.


I bought a pint of blueberries from British Columbia for $1.97 with the store card. Except for one or two soft ones, these Driscoll's berries were fat and sweet.

The (nearly) $4 cantaloupe

When I checked out at Pathmark with one pint of berries and two cantaloupes, they rang up at  $2.99 and $3.99 for each melon. I applied for a store card, and that brought down the price for the California melons to 97 cents each.

Grilled-vegetable sandwich 

Blueberries may be long gone, but other Jersey produce is showing up in stores. I bought a Jersey beefsteak tomato at ShopRite, and Jersey eggplant, green pepper and zucchini at Whole Foods Market.

For dinner last night, I used a nonstick, stove-top grill to prepare the vegetables with extra-virgin olive oil and, after they were on a plate, a sprinkling of salt and more oil. They substituted for a salad with my Boca soy cheeseburger. The eggplant was like custard.

This morning, I toasted a roll, warmed the vegetables (including a grilled, non-Jersey red pepper) and layered them with low-fat cheese to make a sandwich. I used hummus as a spread, and ate kimchi on the side.

Cooking for one isn't easy

Image via Wikipedia

My wife and son are away, meaning I do less food shopping and much less cooking. In fact, with the heat waves we've been having, I may cook a meal once a week, if that, and my meals are a lot less formal.


The other night, I used organic spinach leaves to cover a Napoletana pizza with fresh mozzarella and red sauce from Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood ($4.99), added a few cherry tomato halves from the garden, seasoned it and drizzled on extra-virgin olive oil. I popped it into a 375-degree oven for less than a half hour.


The chewy dough crisped up a bit and the spinach softened. Half of the 12-inch pizza, a big salad with cucumber from the garden, wine and seltzer made a fine dinner.


Last week, I boiled a half-pound of rigatoni and in a separate pan, heated up half of a 32-ounce bottle of marinara sauce with added seasonings and red-pepper flakes, plenty of fresh spinach and cherry tomato halves. I was out of anchovies, but would have added them to the sauce.




At the table, I was liberal with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, poured myself a glass of red wine and used toasted baguette to sop up the remaining sauce. I also ate that with a big salad. The leftovers made a second meal. 


At Costco in Hackensack, I bought a 1.73-pound, skin-on fillet of fresh wild sockeye salmon ($8.99 a pound, product of USA) on Tuesday, cut it into six portions; added fresh lemon juice, salt, Aleppo pepper and chopped parsley and other herbs; and baked it at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes for medium. I gobbled down one portion down without salad or bread, and it was moist, fatty and delicious.


This morning, I made a sandwich on 100% whole grain toast for breakfast: half a portion of baked wild salmon, a slice of smoked wild sockeye, leftover spinach frittata, tomato from the garden, romaine lettuce and Dijon mustard. It was terrific, though too big to fit in my mouth.


The remaining baked wild salmon will be wonderful right out of the fridge with a big salad or on another sandwich, and should last me through the week.


For snacks, I have plenty of Washington State cherries, Jersey blueberries, roasted almonds and low-fat cheese on hand.

A colorful, delicious summer dinner

After my salad and seafood lunch today at Artisanal (see previous post), I felt like a light dinner, so I baked a fillet of fresh wild salmon that I bought at Costco on Saturday, seasoning it with salt, cumin, Aleppo red pepper and fresh chopped parsley from the garden. In a 350-degree oven, 11-12 minutes gave me five medium-rare pieces from a fillet of average thickness.

For a salad, I prepared No. 7 on the list of "101 Simple Salads for the Season" that was in The New York Times on July 22: "Grate carrots, toast some sunflower seeds, and toss with blueberries, olive oil, lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Sweet, sour, crunchy, soft." I didn't have sunflower seeds so substituted pistachios and almonds, both salted. I grated four small carrots and added about a third a of a pint of Jersey blueberries.

I sliced and toasted a Balthazar dinner roll, poured what was left of some Portuguese vinho verde and Spanish sparking grape juice and really enjoyed my Sunday night meal.

Shopping notes: I picked up the blueberries at Fairway Market in Harlem, where I stopped for goat meat (the Paramus Fairway doesn't carry it). In Manhattan, the Jersey fruit was priced at two for $4, compared with two for $5 last week at ShopRite in Hackensack. The fresh wild sockeye salmon is $8.99 a pound at Costco and has been consistently delicious. And Fairway's price for goat meat on the bone, $2.99 a pound, is a great price in view of the quality (more meat than bone).