Peaches you bought here got moldy? No comment

Mold growing on a Jersey peach this morning, two days after I purchased the fruit at the ShopRite in Paramus.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss Jersey peaches, triple-washed sweet potatoes for only $1 a pound; and Parmigiano Reggiano, often called the "King of Cheeses."

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I returned several Jersey peaches that had turned moldy to the ShopRite in Paramus today -- only two days after I bought them and left them on the counter to soften.

The employee at the customer service counter asked if I wanted a store credit or the $2.70 back on my credit card, but otherwise had no comment on the spoiled fruit.

Instead of buying more Jersey peaches, I picked up a medium seedless watermelon on sale for $3.99.

California peaches and other premium fruit at Costco Wholesale may sometimes cost more than at the ShopRite or H Mart, but I haven't had as many problems with them. 

ShopRite in Paramus has one of the best buys in sweet potatoes, which I boiled with peeled garlic cloves and mashed with extra-virgin olive oil, salt, cinnamon and other seasoning. Here, I enjoyed them this morning with a wedge of pesto frittata.

Sweet breakfasts

On Wednesday, the same day I bought the peaches, I bought a second 3-pound bag of sweet potatoes at ShopRite in Paramus for $2.99 -- about $1 a pound, the best price around.

Southern's 10 in 1 Sweet Potatoes are triple washed and all about the same size.

The first bag hid a rotten, inedible sweet potato, but the new bag held perfect spuds.

I cut them up with the skin, boil them with garlic cloves and mash them with plenty of extra-virgin olive oil.

At breakfast, I like to break the yolk of a fried egg over the sweet potatoes, and eat them together.

For dinner, mashed sweet potatoes with grilled wild salmon are even more delicious when I spoon on the rich red-wine sauce I prepare for the fish. 

Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy is a reduced-fat cow's milk cheese that is sold at Costco Wholesale shredded or in wedges. The shredded cheese and a few pinches of Aleppo pepper turn organic eggs from Costco into a real treat.

Shredded cheese with eggs

Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano from Costco Wholesale is especially user friendly in shredded form.

The reduced-fat shredded cheese gives extra body to 100% Egg Whites or I sprinkle it over whole eggs fried sunny side up in extra-virgin olive oil.

I'm planning to add some to sweet potatoes the next time I mash them with garlic and olive oil.

The cheese is aged for 24 months.

Shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese with three organic eggs. When using the cheese, there is no need to add salt.

Summer delights: Grilled Jersey peaches, salad with ripe figs

This morning, I finally found decent looking Jersey peaches at the ShopRite in Paramus, where they were $1.49 a pound, 50 cents more than when they first appeared and didn't look good enough to buy. The labels on the peaches themselves matched the box, which is not always the case.

Start with a spray can of canola or olive oil, heat up a grill pan, add peach halves and listen for the sizzle ...

Turn the peaches, grill some more and then add a little Ground Saigon Cinnamon from Costco Wholesale. Grilled ripe peaches go perfectly with wild sockeye salmon, also available at Costco.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The hard Jersey peaches I bought this morning are ripening on my kitchen counter until they are ready for my stove-top grill.

When I brought them home, I still had a few South Carolina peaches I got last week instead of the misshapen Jersey fruit I saw at the ShopRite in Paramus.

So, I grilled them on the stove top, and dusted them with cinnamon.

They'll go great with leftover wild sockeye salmon I have in the refrigerator -- making a sweet and savory dinner.

Don't you just love summer fruit?

I sliced ripe, sugary Black Mission Figs from California for this salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, salt-free almonds I roast at home and dust with cinnamon, and small plum tomatoes from my garden. The dressing is extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Jersey peaches, mystery EVOO, H Mart specials and more

At the ShopRite in Paramus last week, I found two kinds of peaches in a box under a sign for Jersey grown fruit, above and below. The peach on top was labeled "Jersey Fruit," but the one underneath said, "Yellow Peach," "Sunny Slope" and "USA."

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Will the real Jersey Fresh peach please stand up?

New Jersey peaches, labeled "Jersey Fruit," finally arrived at the ShopRite in Paramus last week, but they didn't look that good, and they were mixed with other peaches whose origin was unclear.

I passed.

New Jersey blueberries I bought at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack also carried the "Jersey Fruit" designation on the label, supplementing the traditional phrase, "Jersey Fresh." 

The label on a 3-liter Al Defah bottle doesn't say where the extra-virgin olive oil comes from, at least not in English. I plan to call importer Mediterranean Expo LLC to find out.

Is this a stylized flag of the country where the oil was produced?

Mystery EVOO

Fattal's in Paterson has always been a reliable source for extra-virgin olive oils from Lebanon, Syria and other countries at good prices.

On Friday, I found a 3-liter bottle of Al Defah Extra Virgin Olive Oil for only $13.99 -- or about $4.66 a liter -- compared to $20 or more for 3 liters of EVOO from other sources.

The cashier said the price had recently gone up from $12.99.

The label describes it as "aromatic and extra smooth, first cold pressed."

The store, at 975-77 Main St. in Paterson, is open 7 days, and parking is free in its own lot.

The retail price of a 15-pound bag of California-grown  Kokuho Yellow Label Rice is $16.99, according to the sign I saw on Saturday at the H Mart in Fort Lee.

Retail price of rice is moving target

Depending on which H Mart you shop in, the retail price of Kokuho Yellow Label Rice from California is $14.99 to $16.99.

Why does that matter when this rice is always on sale at most of the Bergen County stores in the Korean supermarket chain?

The sales price has gone up a couple of dollars, attributed to a drought in California, and now the savings claimed is greater or smaller, depending on whether you buy the rice in Englewood, Little Ferry or Fort Lee.

Dinner leftovers for breakfast: Grilled wild sockeye salmon and whole-wheat pappardelle, both with pesto from Costco Wholesale, and Chinese broccoli from H Mart in Little Ferry.

I cooked the wild salmon from Costco Wholesale on a stove-top grill pan for 10 minutes, and it came out medium ($9.99 a pound). It only needs 2 minutes of reheating in a microwave.

Cooking ahead is the way to go

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but if you are in a rush, it's great to have plenty of leftovers in the refrigerator that can be plated and reheated quickly.

I cook large quantities for just this reason: 

Six pieces of grilled wild sockeye salmon, a pound of organic whole-wheat spaghetti, and a pound of greens, quickly blanched in boiling water and seasoned.

Another filling breakfast: An egg-white frittata with salted fish, sweet peppers and chopped garlic; whole-wheat spaghetti in a sauce made with garlic, diced tomatoes, salad greens, tomato sauce, red wine and chicken stock; and Chinese broccoli.

A 10-inch frittata made with egg whites, whole eggs, Campari tomatoes, two kinds of reduced-fat cheese and pesto. Most of the ingredients come from Costco Wholesale.

ShopRite or ShopWrong?

Image by KOREA.NET - Official page of the Republic of Korea via Flickr

Marja Vongerichten, center, at the premiere of "Kimchi Chronicles."

Not all ShopRites are created equal and some are trying to get by on low prices alone.


Customer service varies at ShopRite supermarkets in North Jersey -- from responsive to indifferent.


The ShopRite in Hackensack is closest to my home, and the one I often go to when I need to pick up a few things I can't  find at Costco Wholesale, where I buy most of my food.


On Friday, I stopped in for lactose-free milk, coffee filters and ShopRite Pure Instant Tea.


As usual, the store was out of organic lactose-free milk, not that it's a bargain at $4.99 for a half-gallon. Nearby, I found Lactaid 100% lactose-free 2% milk under a sign that said $4.19.


It rang up at $4.09, plus another 60 cents off, compared to $3.19 for Target's store brand of conventional lactose-free milk.


I found three displays of ShopRite No. 2 cone coffee filters, but all three price signs were missing, meaning I had to take one to the customer service counter to scan it. 


It was $2.99 for 100 filters, so I bought 100 Melita No. 2 brown filters, on sale for $3.


Treasure hunt


The woman at customer service had never heard of ShopRite's Pure Instant Tea, a black-tea powder that makes great iced tea with cold water ($2.49).


She called someone, and he told her I would find it in Aisle 5 (coffee, tea, filters), where I had already looked.


After more searching, I found the jar in Aisle 4, but when I went back to customer service to tell her, I was told she was on a break. From what, giving customers the wrong information? 


On Friday night, I drove to Palisades Park for a Korean soft-tofu-stew dinner and on the way home, stopped at the ShopRite, looking for Jersey peaches.


All the store carried were peaches from South Carolina. Some of the apples looked bruised and unappetizing. I bought bananas for 49 cents a pound and beat a hasty retreat.


Jersey peaches and corn


The next day, I went to a Jersey wine festival at Demarest Farms in Hillsdale, but after less than an hour, gave up fighting others for a sip or two of wine from each of 10 wineries, and went into the farm store.


I found my Jersey peaches, which turned fragrant after a night on my kitchen counter ($3.59 for a quart), and fat, heavy ears of farm-grown bi-color corn (three for $1.59).


I steamed the corn for about 4 minutes, and ate the first two with a sprinkling of salt and the last one with nothing. They were sweet and wonderful, one of my favorite summer flavors.


Marja at H Mart


Korean-American Marja Vongerichten, star of the continuing PBS series "Kimchi Chronicles" and wife of Chef Jean-Georges, signed their book and greeted shoppers this afternoon at H Mart in Ridgefield.


After I said hello to her and praised the series, I walked around the biggest of the Korean chain's supermarkets in Bergen County, sampling tofu, cold noodles, rice in curry sauce and flavored yogurt drink. 

More '101 Simple Salads for the Season'

Tonight, I made salad No. 2 on the list of 101 salads published on July 22 in The New York Times and it went nicely with my lamb chops:

"Mix wedges of tomatoes and peaches, add slivers of red onion, a few red-pepper flakes and cilantro. Dress with olive oil and lime or lemon juice." I also added some fresh basil, salt and freshly ground black pepper. The Jersey tomato and two Jersey peaches I used were purchased at a farmer's market or farm store. I piled this salad on some organic spring mix from Costco. Delicious.