Know what's in your bottled sauce when making penne with sardines

Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Penne with Victoria Marinara Sauce, skinless-and-boneless sardines, anchovies and cherry tomatoes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The half-dozen ingredients in Victoria Marinara Sauce invite you to improvise.

I often add extra-virgin olive oil, a few ounces of red wine, drained and rinsed anchovies, and seasonings, including powdered garlic, ground black pepper, red-pepper flakes and dried Italian herbs.

Then, I thicken the sauce with three or four cans of heart-healthy sardines with their oil that I mash with a fork first, plus fresh cherry tomatoes, and fresh mint and basil from my garden.

Even if you leave a few ounces of marinara in the 40-ounce bottle with which to poach eggs, you'll have plenty of sauce for 1 pound of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Penne from Italy or other shape of organic whole wheat pasta.

Cooking times, salt

ShopRite, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's, all in Paramus, stock 1-pound packages of organic whole wheat pasta in various shapes ($1.29 or $1.49).

Not all of the cooking times listed on the packages are reliable, and I've found Whole Foods' imported whole wheat pasta cooks up al dente in much less time than listed, especially the shells.

No need to add salt to the water; there is plenty of sodium in bottled sauces, as well as in anchovies and sardines.

Victoria doesn't add sugar to its sauce, but it's getting harder and harder to find other brands without the sweetener. 

I even saw one brand with butter as the second ingredient after tomatoes.

Two organic eggs poached in leftover Victoria Marinara Sauce with grated cheese and smoked wild salmon, above. I ate them for breakfast over leftover organic whole wheat penne with sardines, below.

The ingredients listed on the front label of Victoria White Linen Marinara Sauce, sold by Costco Wholesale, differ slightly from the version sold in supermarkets. No added sugar is a big draw.

ShopRite in Paramus had a sale this week on Classico Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce without added sugar in 24-ounce jars ($1.49 each), but only reading the ingredients label would tell you the Traditional Sweet Basil, right, has added sugar.

You'll also find added sugar in all of these other Classico Pasta Sauces.

When I read the label on Bongiovi Pasta Sauce, also sold at the Paramus ShopRite, I was shocked to see butter as the second ingredient after Italian tomatoes.

At Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St. in Englewood, I found another take on pasta with sardines in this restaurant-quality Meal To Go, below.

I plated and reheated all but the Cucumber Salad with Feta Cheese. The complete dinners are reduced to $5.99 after 4 p.m., if there are any left.

Jerry's also had small jars of fruit with Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, and the apricot and plums I bought would pair nicely with the Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese I buy at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

Eye opener: Organic eggs with parmigiano, pesto and fresh herbs

IN THE PAN: Cage-free organic eggs from Costco Wholesale with Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Basil Pesto, two other premium items from the warehouse store; chopped fresh herbs and a couple of pinches of Aleppo pepper. Make them butter free by using olive oil for frying.

ON THE PLATE: I ate them with garlicky mashed sweet potatoes prepared the night before. I boiled two cut-up, skin-on medium sweet potatoes with lots of peeled garlic cloves for about 50 minutes, and mashed them with extra-virgin olive oil and several seasonings, including curry, cinnamon , black pepper and red-pepper flakes.

--VICTOR E. SASSON

Quinoa with creamy garlic, salsa-simmered cod, salad and more

In an electric rice cooker, I added three 8-ounce cups of organic quinoa, six cups of chicken broth or water, a drained can of low-sodium black beans, a can of organic diced tomatoes, lots of chopped fresh garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and a little sea salt, and mixed them well before I plugged it in. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Organic quinoa from Costco Wholesale is one of the whole grains I rely on to give me that full feeling on a no-bread, no-pizza diet.

It's a snap to prepare in an electric rice cooker with black beans and organic diced tomatoes, but it's even better when you include lots of chopped garlic cloves, which you can buy peeled at the Hackensack Costco.

The garlic turns creamy, lending moisture to the quinoa, which has fewer carbs than rice or pasta.

You can enjoy leftover quinoa at any meal -- reheated to eat with eggs in the morning or fish in the evening.

You can also use it cold as the foundation for a chopped salad.

The organic quinoa from Costco doesn't require any washing before it goes into the rice cooker.

This week, my wife picked up fresh, wild-caught Atlantic cod fillets from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack ($7.99 a pound). I prepared them in Roasted Chipotle Salsa from Whole Foods Market in Paramus, fresh lime juice, black pepper and other seasonings, above and below.

I cut up the skinless and boneless cod fillets, seasoned them with a little sea salt, added them to the boiling salsa and covered the pan. The cod was done in about 7 minutes, breaking into big flakes when I ate it with mashed and baked sweet potatoes flavored with the poaching liquid.

A chopped salad of tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden, plus celery, in a dressing of extra-virgin olive oil, fresh lime juice, balsamic vinegar, dried and fresh mint, parsley and other fresh herbs.

A salad of organic spring mix, fresh Jersey blueberries, and aged Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese from Italy, all from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, dressed in Spanish extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A pound of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix was $4.49 a pound. Two pounds of blueberries were $5.49, and the cheese was selling for a low $8.49 a pound.

Add a spicy Korean accent at any meal with crunchy cucumber kimchi from Arirang Kimchi at 1 Remsen Place in Ridgefield (1-201-313-7175).

At Costco, lower price on King of Cheeses, news of Teterboro store

Often called the King of Cheeses, wedges of Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy are now available at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack for $8.49 a pound, compared to $11.79 a pound in February 2014.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss three of my favorites, all available at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack -- Parmigiano Reggiano, Basil Pesto and Fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon. On a recent vacation in Montreal and Vermont, sad to say, I never saw wild salmon on a menu.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I'm not sure what's behind Costco Wholesale's dramatic price cut on imported Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese.

I'm pretty certain this crumbly, slightly salty aged cheese, which is wonderful with fruit and in salads, has always sold for more than $10 a pound.

But on Thursday, at my Hackensack Costco, the price was $8.49 a pound for a cheese that's aged more than 24 months. 

I grabbed a 1.45-pound wedge, even though I haven't finished the Parmigiano Reggiano I bought for $9.77 a pound at Maywood's Marketplace in June.

Once you take the cheese out of the wrapper, it's best to cut the wedge into smaller pieces, trim off the rind and store it in the refrigerator in an air-tight container, such as Snapwear.

You can dice the rind and use it to flavor pasta sauce; it doesn't completely dissolve, so if you want to remove it before serving the dish, use bigger pieces and fish them out.

Parmigiano Reggiano is made with part-skimmed cow's milk, rennet, cheese cultures and salt, so it doesn't have as much fat as many other cheeses.

The wedge I bought has a best-by date of March 2016.

Shredded Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano, which is more expensive than the same cheese in wedges, and Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto accent organic eggs poached in marinara sauce. You could just as well shave cheese from a larger piece over your eggs as they cook. You can also find recipes for stuffing zucchini flowers with the cheese or adding it to lasagna and other dishes.

Fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon with Pesto and Lime. The salmon, which was $9.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, was grilled on the stove top over medium-high heat for 8 minutes with a little sea salt and fresh lime juice. Chopped herbs from our garden, Aleppo pepper and Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto were added to the serving pieces after they were taken off the heat.

Costco's pesto topping an egg-white omelet stuffed with smoked wild salmon, fresh organic spinach, reduced-fat cheese and salsa. A 22-ounce jar of Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, which must be kept refrigerated, was $7.99.

Teterboro Costco

Even though the Hackensack Costco is so popular that parking and shopping there can be an ordeal, I haven't spoken to anyone who is looking forward to the opening of a bigger Costco near Teterboro Airport.

The new Costco is under construction in a shopping center off of Route 46, and still is scheduled to open in the fall. Hiring for the bigger store begins in September.

In the absence of official information, I've been questioning employees in Hackensack about the new store, which is 3 miles away from the old one.

On Thursday, I was told that, yes, the new store will have a liquor license and carry alcohol, including Kirkland Signature Wines, such as a wonderful California Cabernet Sauvignon and Prosecco from Italy at low Costco prices.

When I asked a couple of months ago, I was told no liquor license, no Kirkland Signature Wines.

But it doesn't look like the Teterboro Costco will offer wheel alignment to members who buy new tires.

A few months ago, we bought new Michelin tires for one of our cars at the Hackensack Costco, then had to make an appointment at another tire dealer to have the wheels aligned.

Boycott Walmart

The new Costco will be in a shopping center with a Walmart, which has already opened.

I am boycotting Walmart to protest its mistreatment of workers.

And I'll have no use for a Costco gas station in my all-electric car.

I'm not looking forward to driving 10 miles round-trip to Costco, compared to my 4-mile round-trip now.

Let's hope the new parking lot will be designed better.

Now, lazy shoppers stop their cars dead so they can wait for a space close to the doors, blocking the main entrance to the lot in Hackensack.

Snowy Atlantic cod all the way from Iceland, arsenic in food and more

Cod two ways. Fresh, wild-caught Atlantic cod coated in a homemade Super Spice Mixture paired with organic whole wheat shells and salted cod in marinara sauce.

Editor's note: Atlantic cod  fed the world for hundreds of years before the wild catch was severely restricted. Now, this wonderful fish is being long-line caught in Iceland, and sold at Costco Wholesale for only $7.99 a pound, along with salted cod from Canada. Today, I also discuss arsenic in food.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You have to love Atlantic cod, a wild-caught fish that turns snowy white when cooked and flakes beautifully.

This is the fish that fed the world for centuries. The U.S. commercial catch collapsed in the mid-1990s.

Now, Costco Wholesale in Hackensack is selling Atlantic cod from Iceland ($7.99 a pound), where it is long-line caught by a sustainable fishery, replacing the Pacific true cod I've been buying for a couple of years.

Costco also offers 2 pounds of Cristobal-brand salted cod fillets from Canada for $11.99 -- less than $6 a pound.

My two-cod dinner ended with a salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix with ripe pear and shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese.

Salted cod with cabbage and collaloo, which is similar to spinach, served with mashed sweet potatoes with extra-virgin olive oil, a little salt and a touch of cinnamon.

Fresh cod fillets are meaty and break into big flakes.

Every spice you have

I squeezed fresh lime juice on the cod fillets, coated them with a Super Spice Mixture and baked them at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

For the spice mixture, I start with Wick Fowler's 2 Alarm Chili Kit, and add every spice and dried herb I have at home, including chili powder, garam masala, garlic powder, five-spice powder, dried onion and black pepper.

I make a big tub of the spice mixture and keep it in the refrigerator to coat fish, chicken, beef and pork.

Shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano add flavor and texture to organic brown eggs from Costco, served here with leftover organic brown rice, one of my favorite bread substitutes at breakfast.

Say cheese

Costco Wholesale still has the best price in North Jersey for wedges of Parmigiano Reggiano, the hard, reduced-fat cheese that is one of Italy's great culinary gifts to the world.

Costco's Kirkland Signature cheese, aged 2 years, is $11.79 a pound. Costco also sells this cheese shredded.

We recently purchased a 10-pound bag of sweet potatoes at Costco for $7.99 a pound, but came across an old receipt that showed the same 10 pounds cost only $4.99 before Christmas.

On Monday, I picked up three 32-ounce bottles of
Classico Traditional Tomato & Basil pasta sauce for $6.79 or about $2.26 each, but these bottles hold about 6 ounces more than those sold in supermarkets.

Kirkland Signature Marinara was $7.99 for three 32-ounce bottles. Neither brand has added sugar.

I also picked up another 12-pack package of Kirkland Signature Roasted Seasoned Seaweed from South Korea for $7.89.

Each of the packages, larger than what is sold at Korean supermarkets, weighs six-tenths of an ounce. 

The thin, crinkly sheets can be eaten out of the package for a snack or used to wrap rice, barbecued beef or raw fish.

Organic whole wheat shells from Whole Foods Market with salted cod and fresh chopped garlic in bottled marinara sauce with added extra-virgin olive oil, red-pepper flakes and dried herbs.

Another great fish sold at Costco Wholesale is Alaskan sockeye salmon -- smoked and sliced -- used here in a frittata with cheese, sun-dried tomato and Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, above and below.

Arsenic in food

The March 2014 issue of Consumer Reports says the Food and Drug Administration "has found arsenic levels in rice and rice products comparable to those" found by the magazine in its own investigation.

The FDA also found "another surprising source of arsenic: beer, which sometimes uses rice as an ingredient," the magazine states.

Arsenic is found in white rice and apple juice, as well as beer and rice beverages.

The magazine said medium-grain rice from California tended to have lower levels of inorganic arsenic than rice originating from other areas of the United States.

"One way arsenic might enter the food supply is through the use of arsenic-based drugs in feed given to chicken, turkeys and pigs to prevent disease and promote growth.

"Poultry droppings are used to fertilize many crops and can contaminate them with arsenic. And chickens that are likely raised with arsenic-based drugs result in chicken parts that can have higher inorganic arsenic than other chickens," the magazine reports, citing a 2013 study by the John Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. 

Update

Here is a link to the only arsenic food certification agency:

http://arsenicsafe.org/

Taking comfort in more simple and delicious food

There is nothing like the comforting taste of an organic egg yolk broken over Lundberg organic brown rice for breakfast, above. I added Aleppo pepper and, using a vegetable peeler, shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese as the eggs cooked. The eggs and cheese came from Costco Wholesale, as did organic diced tomatoes in the the rice, prepared in an electric cooker.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss comfort foods; good deals on extra-virgin olive oil and organic greens; and restaurant-quality takeout dinners for only $5.99.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The imported Parmigiano Reggiano cheese I buy at Costco Wholesale is good down to and including the rind, according to the package.

The Italian cheese maker says the rind shouldn't be grated, but can be diced and added to pasta sauce for flavor.

I reserved the rind and added a small dice of two or three pieces to bottled Victoria Marinara Sauce the last time I made organic whole wheat pasta with anchovies and capers, both rinsed under water to reduce the sodium in the finished dish.

The rind doesn't disappear completely even after the sauce is boiled for the 10 minutes or so the pasta takes to cook, but has a distinctive flavor and a nice chewy texture.

Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti with bottled marinara, canned anchovies and capers made a nice dinner with a glass of wine and a salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix from Costco Wholesale.  

The whole wheat spaghetti showed up the next morning as a foil for a simple egg-white omelet with Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and a little Aleppo pepper.

Food deals in Lodi

I stopped at the International Food Warehouse at 370 Essex St. in Lodi today after looking over a sales flier that came with the morning newspaper.

The store no longer has as many bargains as before, but I wanted to try a 3-liter glass jug of extra-virgin olive oil from Tunisia for $12.99 or a low $4.33 per liter.

I bought two after checking out the sturdy metal cap and closure. Plastic inserts in the cap and neck make for easy pouring into smaller containers. 

For many years, Tunisian extra-virgin olive oil has shown up in blends with oil from Greece, Italy, Spain and other Mediterranean countries.

The store is where I bought several 3-liter tins of excellent extra-virgin olive oil from the island of Cyprus.

The Alomda Extra Virgin Olive Oil is 100% Tunisian, above. Colavita blends oils from Italy, Greece and Tunisia at a higher price, below. The sale ends Dec. 17.

No deal. Pure apricot and wild blackberry juices from Serbia are a pricey $6.99 for a 24-ounce bottle, above.

Greens for less

I found another bargain in the produce section, where organic baby kale, spring mix and other combinations of greens were only 99 cents for a 5-ounce package.

I bought two packages of Earthbound Farm Organic Kale for 99 cents each, and added some to my salad of Earthbound9 Farm Organic Spring Mix at dinner tonight.

The organic spring mix is $4.49 to $4.99 for a 16-ounce package at Costco.

The label on the kale suggests adding it to smoothies and pasta recipes.

A salad with Earthbound Farm Organic Kale, dressed simply in Tunisian extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Organic greens at the International Food Warehouse.

Let Jerry cook

On Wednesday, I picked up two Meals To Go at Jerry's Gourmet & More on South Dean Street in Englewood ($7.99 or $5.99 after 4 p.m.).

Both restaurant-quality dinners included pasta, vegetable, dumplings and other items.

The main ingredients were roasted braised beef in red wine sauce and filet of sole with a crab-meat stuffing.

Stuffed filet of sole with mac-and-cheese and vegetables from Jerry's in Englewood.

Icelandic fish and Mexican sauce -- dinner is served

Snowy, wild-caught haddock is a meaty fish from Iceland that I buy at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. A bottle of Green Mexican Salsa serves as both the cooking medium and as a sauce for brown rice, above, or whole-wheat pasta. I served the fish with kale.

Editor's note: Fall means the end of the wild-salmon season at Costco Wholesale, and the return of fresh haddock from Iceland. Ripe pears, savory cheese and smoked wild salmon add substance to salads.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Fresh fish fillets and a bottle of Green Mexican Salsa translate into a quick, delicious dinner that is ready in minutes.

Last night, we cooked portions of a 1.9-pound fillet of  fresh, wild-caught Icelandic haddock from Costco Wholesale in green salsa for under 10 minutes or until the fish turned snowy white and was firm to the touch.

I served it with leftover organic brown rice, covered with sauce from the fish, and kale, which I had blanched in hot water, drained and dressed with extra-virgin olive oil, powdered garlic and a little salt.

The haddock was $8.99 a pound and it served three with leftovers.

I emptied a 16.7-ounce bottle of La Costena-brand Green Mexican Salsa or Salsa Verde into a pot, added fresh juice from half of a lime, heated it to a low boil and then added portions of haddock fillet.

Jun's Wild Sesame Tofu with gochjang, a red-pepper sauce, is delicious for breakfast, especially when heated in the microwave for about a minute and a half. The non-GMO tofu is available at H&Y Marketplace, a Korean supermarket at 1 Remsen Place in Ridgefield

Whole sea bass from H Mart in Englewood was prepared in a sauce of organic diced tomatoes, olive oil and powdered ginger and garlic, and served with organic brown rice and steamed organic carrots. A bonus when eating whole fish are the tender "cheeks" right below the eyes.

Diced ripe Bosc pear and Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese turn a red-leaf lettuce salad into a sweet and savory side dish.

A light dinner salad includes smoked Alaskan wild salmon, ripe pear and cheese dressed in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and calls for a glass of red or white wine.

Invite the 'King of Cheeses' into your home

Shavings of aged Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Italy dress up a simple open-face, egg-white omelet with sun-dried tomato.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

My Costco Wholesale offers more than 50 cheeses, but I've narrowed them down to several favorites.

At the top of my list are wedges of Parmigiano Reggiano, an aged cow's milk cheese imported from Italy and sold under the Kirkland Signature house label.

At my Hackensack warehouse store, I paid $10.69 a pound, the lowest price I've found in North Jersey.

The hard cheese crumbles nicely in the mouth when you pair it with wine, nuts, fruit or salad; and melts beautifully when cooked with omelets and frittatas.

Shavings of the cheese get a flavor boost from balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil when you add it to a salad.

I try to avoid full-fat cheese, though make an exception for manchego, a sheep's milk cheese from Spain also available at Costco. 

Parmigiano Reggiano has less fat because it is made from part skimmed cow's milk.

Chef Mario Batali refers to it as the "King of Cheeses," and the taste and versatility certainly bear that out.

Another great reduced-fat selection is Jarlsberg Lite Sliced Swiss Cheese, sold at Costco in a 2-pound package for $8.59, a price cut.

Paired with cinnamon-dusted almonds.

A little heat transforms Parmigiano Reggiano, here with organic brown eggs.

Wedges sold at Costco Wholesale are aged for more than 24 months and have rinds on only two sides, meaning you get more cheese. At home, I trim the rinds and cut the cheese into several small blocks, storing them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Another bonus: Parmigiano Reggiano is a reduced-fat cheese made with part skimmed cow's milk.

An egg-white omelet with Jarlsberg Lite Reduced Fat Swiss Cheese and Kirkland Signature smoked Alaskan wild sockeye salmon.

A bigger refrigerated unit debuted this week at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. It adds a second cold room to the store for conventional eggs and other items.