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.

Costco Wholesale's food and prices are the best revenge

This omelet uses Kirkland Signature Real Egg Product, which is 99% pure egg whites. I served it with leftover whole-wheat pasta for a rib-sticking breakfast.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The phrase, "Eating well is the best revenge," often echoes in my head when I'm enjoying a good meal or find another surprisingly delicious item at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

On Friday, I came across wonderful marinated white anchovies from Italy, and I haven't been able to stop eating them.

On Saturday, my 14-year-old son wanted to have dinner at T.G.I. Friday's, a chain restaurant in Hackensack. 

My wife had coupons I had given her, so I urged her to take our son and his best friend to dinner there, and leave me to my white anchovies.

Grazing for dinner

I started with a plate of the chewy, vinegary little fillets; grainy slices of Grana Padano cheese, also from Italy; and plenty of crunchy Arirang cabbage kimchi from Englewood.

Later, I had melon and a leftover sweet potato, plus tea.

I enjoyed the plate's contrasting textures and flavors, but realized, too late, I could have added Kirkland Signature U.S. No. 1 Supreme Whole almonds to the plate.

For $9.89, I buy a 3-pound bag of the salt-free raw almonds at Costco, then roast them in the oven for 1 hour at 275 degrees until they crack between my teeth.

Anchovy omelet

For a Sunday morning breakfast, I made an open-face omelet with three organic brown eggs from Costco, along with reduced fat Swiss cheese, smoked wild salmon (also from Costco), white anchovies, Aleppo red pepper and Mexican green salsa or salsa verde.

I make omelets in an 8-inch, non-stick pan and never fold them -- allowing me to add more filling. It cooks through from the bottom, which is beautifully browned.

Kirkland Signature Organic Brown Eggs are a relatively new item. Two dozen eggs in a single container are $6.99 or about $3.50 a dozen.

I saw organic eggs at ShopRite for $3.99 to $4.99 a dozen.

White anchovies circle smoked wild salmon.

The Seagarden white anchovy fillets are wild caught, and come in two trays sealed with clear plastic. They are marinated in vegetable oil, wine vinegar, parsley, garlic and salt.

Far less sodium

The fish and marinade weigh 14 ounces and cost $8.99, but the white anchovies are far more delicious and far less salty than the usual canned anchovies.

For example, half of a 2-ounce can of Season-brand Flat Fillets of Anchovies provides 36% of the recommended daily intake of sodium, compared to 34% sodium for 7 ounces of the white anchovies, drained.

Beefsteak tomato with za'atar thyme mixture, and Arirang cabbage kimchi are tasty side dishes for breakfast or any other meal.

Comparing nut bars

Another new item at the Hackensack warehouse store are Kirkland Signature Variety Nut Bars (Kirkland Signature is Costco's house brand).

You get 20 1.4-ounce bars for $10.99, compared to 30  1.2-ounce bars in Kashi Trail Mix Chewy Granola Bars for $11.79. But those are not the only differences.

The Kirkland bars have more calories, more fat, more sugar and less protein than the Kashi bars. Neither has high-fructose corn syrup. 

The Kirkland bars -- Nut & Fruit and  Nut & Seed -- have more calcium, Vitamin C and iron than the Kashi bars.

I tried a Kirkland Nut & Fruit bar, finding it pleasantly chewy and sweet, and I could taste an unusual ingredient, orange peel. It also contains pistachios.

Most of the ingredients for a canned-fish salad come from Costco Wholesale, including limes (not shown). I also add powdered cumin to taste.

Smart Balance spread

I also picked up two 32-ounce tubs of Smart Balance, the faux-butter spread we have been using for years, for $6.69 or about 10 cents an ounce. 

At ShopRite, I saw 15 ounces of Smart Balance on sale for $3 or 20 cents an ounce.

Apples at DiPeiro's in Montvale were $1.89 a pound.

$15+ liter of EVOO

After a meeting in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., I stopped at DiPiero's Country Farm at 300 W. Grand Ave. in Montvale to pick up apples, but thought the price per pound was too high.

I walked through the store and saw a 5-liter tin of 100% Italian extra-virgin olive oil from Italy for $78. Pasta from Italy was $7.89 for 500 grams or 17.6 ounces.

At the Off The Hook seafood counter, which is independently owned, fresh hake fillets were $11.99 a pound, compared to $7.99 a pound on sale at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

King salmon fillets were an outrageous $21 a pound.

These prices seem to be aimed at the wealthy executives who work in the headquarters of BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Free 5-cheese lasagna

I stopped at the Hackensack ShopRite on Saturday after having my car washed across the street, and walked away with a free Stouffer's 5-Cheese Lasagna as part of a holiday promotion (96 ounces, normally $13.99).

A half-gallon of Smart Balance Fat-Free Lactose-Free Milk was on sale for $2.99 ($1 off), but with a doubled 75-cent coupon, I got it for only $1.49.

Unfortunately, I had only one coupon and had to buy a half-gallon of ShopRite 1% Lactose-Free Milk for $3.29 (a discount of 10 cents).

Sources

A reliable source for cumin, ground Aleppo red pepper and za'atar thyme mixture is Fattal's Syrian Bakery at 975-77 Main Street in Paterson.

Arirang Kimchi is available at the source, 191 W. Englewood Ave. in Englewood.

Fresh Copper River salmon arrives at Costco

Fresh, wild-caught Copper River Sockeye Salmon from Alaska prepared with toasted garden herbs.

Late May 2013, Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor
 
I could see the distinctive, deep red-orange color of the wild salmon even though I still was 10 feet from the seafood case Saturday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Employees on Saturday put out the season's first fresh Copper River sockeye salmon from Alaska at $13.99 a pound -- one dollar a pound less than last year. 

When that's gone, fresh wild salmon from other rivers will be priced at $8.99 a pound, if last year is any guide, and be available until September.

At the other end of the refrigerated Costco case, fat fillets of pale Atlantic salmon were selling for $8.49 a pound  -- no bargain for artificially colored, farmed fish.

I saw fresh Copper River salmon fillets at Wegmans in Woodbridge on Friday for $24.99 a pound.

The Web site of PCC Natural Markets has this to say:

"What’s so special about Copper River salmon? It’s the high oil content, stored up from the salmon’s long journey along the nearly 300-mile Copper River. That extra oil makes the fish among the richest, tastiest fish in the world, tender and moist whether roasted or grilled. Add it to your dinnertime rotation as another great spring tradition."

In 2009, the Copper River salmon arrived at my Costco store on June 2 for only $9.99 a pound. Last year, the first Copper River salmon didn't show up until June 12.

The first Copper River salmon of the season arrived in Washington State on May 17 aboard an Alaska Airlines cargo flight -- in "a public-relations ritual" started more than 23 years ago -- the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

At Costco, I bought a skin-on fillet that weighs about 1.8 pounds. I'll cut it into smaller pieces and bake it in the oven on Sunday with little more than lemon juice, ground Aleppo red pepper and chopped herbs from the garden.

I like my wild salmon rare, and it will melt in my mouth. I'll eat leftovers right out of the fridge over salad.

My fresh Copper River fillet joins other wild sockeye -- frozen fillets and sliced, smoked salmon in my refrigerator -- all from Costco. There's good eating ahead.

All the fish you see aren't created equal

Image via Wikipedia

The Monterey Bay Aquarium rates the quality of wild and farmed seafood.

When I'm shopping at Costco in Hackensack, I watch other customers at the seafood case and make a mental note of what they buy. I go right for the fillets of wild-caught fish, but many others gravitate toward farmed products, which are cheaper.

This morning, I again chose wild Pacific True Cod fillets for $6.99 a pound -- a dollar more than farmed catfish. I plan to cut them up into smaller pieces, dip them in an egg-milk wash and bread crumbs, and bake them in the oven.

Costco's catfish is grown in the United States, its farmed tilapia comes from Costa Rica and its farmed salmon is from Chile and artificially colored using chemicals in the feed. All that information is on the store package labels I saw today.

The Seafood Watch sponsored by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California recommends tilapia from the U.S. over that from Brazil, Costa Rica and other countries, and advises consumers to avoid farmed fish from China and Taiwan.

Any wild salmon or farmed salmon from the U.S. is recommended, but shoppers are advised to avoid farmed salmon from anywhere else. Here is an explanation of the ratings:

 Best Choices: Seafood in this category is abundant, well-managed and caught or farmed in environmentally friendly ways.


Good Alternatives: These items are an option, but there are concerns with how they're caught or farmed-or with the health of their habitat due to other human impacts.


Avoid: Take a pass on these items for now. They are caught or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.

Smoking out smoked fish

Most smoked fish contains preservatives, but not Costco's Kirkland Signature smoked wild sockeye salmon from Alaska, which now is packaged in two attached half-pound pouches for $15.39 -- the lowest retail price I've seen.

Today at Costco, I found smoked steelhead trout under the Ruby Bay label, and 12 ounces were $9.49. Unfortunately, the package doesn't tell you this is farmed fish, as I learned by calling the company, Acme Smoked Fish Corp.

The sliced fish -- the color of salmon -- has a pleasant, sweetish taste. Salt, natural green tea extract, natural hardwood smoke and nisin appear on the ingredient label. I was told nisin is a natural, antimicrobial or antibacterial agent.

Costco produce and juice

That wonderful organic spring mix from Earthbound Farm was back in the cold room at the Hackensack store this morning, and the price had dropped to $4.59 for a pound package. Cold weather in Mexico had been blamed for its absence last week.

The price of $6.99 for six large bell peppers from Israel, sold under the Sunset label, is competitive with the 99 cents a pound for smaller sweet peppers I found at Brothers Produce in Paterson on Monday.

Sunset-brand Campari tomatoes were still $5.49 for two pounds. Cheaper tomatoes simply can't match the taste of these small, round beauties.

I also picked up Naked Juice Co. smoothies at $6.99 for two 32-ounce bottles. The Mighty Mango contains two and a half mangoes, plus oranges, apples, banana and lemon.

Two pounds of Cabot sliced cheddar (medium) was a low $6.99.

Say cheese at least 54 times

Image via Wikipedia

Costco sells Parmigiano-Reggiano and more than 50 other cheeses.

Or maybe 55 or 56 times. This afternoon, I tried to count all the cheeses offered in a long refrigerated case at Costco in Hackensack, but now remember, as I write this, there is more cheese in another case I didn't look at.

So let's just say the warehouse store with the high-quality food at low prices -- on everything from soup to nuts -- carries more than 50 cheeses, in slices, wedges, wheels and blocks, as well as grated and shredded.

They are imported from Italy, Ireland, England, France and other countries or made in the United States for foreign dairies.

I love cheese, but have tried to avoid the full-fat ones, so I've gravitated toward skim-milk Parmigiano-Reggiano ($11.99 a pound) and Grana Padano ($8.99 a pound), both from Italy, and reduced-fat Jarlsberg Lite slices ($8.99 for two pounds).

Occasionally, I've brought home sheep's milk Manchego from Spain ($8.29 a pound), but I don't think I'm ready for a French cheese I saw today -- La Delice Saint Faron Triple Cream cow's-milk cheese ($9.49).

I plan to try a new cheese every two weeks, now that I have cut down on bread and pizza, and lost more than 20 pounds. So I bought Bufala Mozzarella from Italy, four balls of buffalo-milk cheese in milky water, for $11.99 (17.6 ounces).

Others I noticed today were Smoked Gouda ($5.49 a pound); Cave-Aged Taleggio from Italy ($8.29); and Cabot White Cheddar, aged for 14 months ($7.99 a pound). 

Fresh mozzarella was $3.99 a pound and grated Pecorino Romano from Italy was $10.99 for two pounds.

Image via Wikipedia

Price fluctuations

Costco's smoked wild sockeye salmon, sold under the Kirkland Signature label, is now $15.39 a pound, and Earthbound Farm organic spring mix has edged up to $4.99 a pound, but no other food store can match these prices.

Items that have held the line include fresh, wild-caught haddock fillets from Iceland ($8.49 a pound); Legal Sea Foods Alaskan King Crab and Sweet Corn Chowder ($9.79 for two 20-ounce containers) and organic, triple-washed spinach ($3.99 a pound). 

Annoying practices

I stopped at H Mart, the Korean supermarket in Fort Lee, did my shopping, waited in the checkout line and started to leave the store when I noticed all the large bags of rice against the window.

A 20-pound bag of Kokuho Yellow Label, a California-grown rice we use, was on sale for $10.99, almost half-price, and the sale ended that day. Even though we needed white rice, I didn't want to wait on line again, and left, thinking if I returned in a week, this rice or another one would be on deep discount.

No such luck when I returned Wednesday, so, after keeping an appointment, I drove to H Mart in Little Ferry. The best I could do was the same 20-pound bag for $16.99.

A friend looking for snow melt said Home Depot in Hackensack only had 50-pound bags -- too much for him to handle. So he went to Pathmark in the same shopping center to do some food shopping and checked out, only to find smaller bags of snow melt on the other side of the register.

When he asked, he was told the store wasn't big enough to display them inside. Give me a break.

Healthy meal ushers in the new year

Image via Wikipedi

Cabbage kimchi is one of the side dishes at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park.

We welcomed the new year with a healthy, non-meat meal of tofu, vegetables, rice and seafood on Friday night in Palisades Park. My 13-year-old son, who suggested at the end of February 2010 we all stop eating meat, long ago fell off the wagon, and he ordered beef, too.

We've been climbing the stairs to So Gong Dong, a second-floor soft-tofu house, about 10 times a year for belly busting portions of Korean comfort food, and my son has crowned it his favorite restaurant. After we stopped eating meat, our visits increased.

Strictly speaking, soft-tofu stew is not a vegetarian meal, because the broth is made from boiling beef bones. But you can order it with seafood, mushrooms or kimchi, and ask for it "not spicy" to "more spicy." My son ordered his with pork.

You also get side dishes of cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, bean sprouts and spicy, raw squid. You can add a raw egg and then eat the soft-boiled yolk with the rice -- a terrific combination. All of this costs $10, including tax.

We also ordered a rice-flour seafood pancake for me ($9.99) and for my son, thin-sliced prime beef cooked with onions and cabbage ($14.99). I drank hot tea and small glasses of a sweet-potato liquor called soju that I brought from home.

A soft-tofu restaurant on Main Street in Fort Lee apparently is now operated by the same owner, because I noticed the receipt I got Friday night lists the one in Pal Park as "So Gong Dong II." The restaurant stays open until the wee hours. 

So Gong Dong II, 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, 

Palisades Park. BYO, open seven days for lunch and dinner.

Breakfast salads

For years, I'd eat a sandwich for breakfast -- open-face, traditional or with Syrian pocket bread. The main ingredient was fish: smoked wild lox or sardines or canned tuna-salmon-sardine salad. I spread the bread with homemade soft yogurt cheese, pesto or hummus, and add sliced tomato, za'atar thyme mixture, sliced cheese and organic salad greens.

Now that I've lost 15 pounds by cutting down on bread and pizza, and visiting a gym five days a week, I've deconstructed the sandwich, eliminating the bread and assembling a salad for breakfast that has many of the same ingredients, including Earthbound Farm organic spring mix ($4.49 a pound at Costco). 

I've also added sun-dried tomatoes in oil, yogurt-cheese balls or a simple egg-white omelet. 

Good stuff for sale

I was looking for antibiotic-free Readington Farms chicken for my son on Friday in the ShopRite in Rochelle Park. ShopRite always seems to have a big sale on crappy Perdue chicken, but discounts for Readington Farms poultry are rare.

However, I saw a sign for Readington Farms leg quarters at 99 cents a pound, but couldn't find any on the shelf. Readington Farms drumsticks were $1.89 a pound and wings were $2.89 a pound. (Does anyone know why chicken wings, whether from Readington Farms or Murray's, cost more than other parts?)

I pushed open the door to the meat room and asked an employee if there were any more leg quarters. He seem displeased that I opened the door and interrupted his work day, and barked that whatever was on the shelf is what the store had. Happy New Year to you, too.

I also saw Readington Farms turkeys, and like the chickens, they are raised on a vegetarian diet without animal by-products or antibiotics.

Jenny-brand Kalamata figs from Greece have reappeared at ShopRite, but they are $3.99 for 14 ounces. I believe they were only $2.99 last year.

New bread at Costco

We love Costco's Kirkland-brand, 100% whole-grain bread, made with seeds and flax. And two loaves are only $3.99. But this week, I found a two-loaf package of Kirkland-brand organic whole wheat bread, which I've never seen before. It's more expensive, though, at $5.39 for two loaves.

Breakfast goes swimmingly

Image via Wikipedia

The pink salmon is called the smallest of the true salmon. It has less oil than others.

I've been eating a breakfast sandwich for many years -- smoked wild salmon, sardines or canned fish salad between toasted, whole-grain bread or stuffed into pocket bread, spread with pesto or hummus and garnished with lettuce and tomato.


Now that  I've been advised to cut down on bread and pizza to lose weight, I continue to eat fish for breakfast with a slice of bread or none at all. A favorite breakfast is a canned fish salad with sweet and hot peppers, onion, Dijon mustard, ground cumin and lemon juice. You'll need:


1. Two 7-ounce cans of Genova-brand Yellowfin light tuna in olive oil (Costco) or other solid light tuna.

2.Two 6-ounce cans of wild-caught Alaskan pink salmon (Costco) or one large can or other pink salmon.


3. Two cans of Al Shark-brand Moroccan sardines in vegetable oil (Fattal's Bakery, Paterson) or other sardines, with or without skin and bones.


4. Sweet and hot peppers, and a medium onion.


5. Dijon mustard and ground cumin (Fattal's Bakery) to taste.

6. Two lemons.


To make less salad, use one can of each fish. I've made this salad with Alaskan red salmon, but I have not seen it on sale at ShopRite, Fairway Market or anywhere else for a long time, so I've switched to the lower-cost pink salmon, the smallest salmon. You could also add a can of anchovies, if you're a fan of them, as I am.


Empty all of the cans into a large bowl, with all of their liquid, to avoid a dry salad. Mash with a fork or large spoon. Add chopped sweet and hot peppers, chopped onion, fresh lemon juice and the other ingredients, and combine well.

For breakfast this morning, I placed a mound of the salad on a plate with red-leaf lettuce, sliced tomato sprinkled with za'atar thyme mixture (Fattal's Bakery), stewed tofu with red pepper sauce (H Mart), kimchi and a toasted slice of Kirkland-brand 100% whole-grain bread (Costco).


Enjoy.

Layers of flavor for breakfast

Image via Wikipedia

How much can you cram into your breakfast sandwich?


This morning, I started with two toasted slices of 100 percent whole grain bread, spread hummus on one and added organic salad greens, a small egg-white omelet with Aleppo pepper, a slice of muenster cheese, smoked wild sockeye salmon and Dijon mustard.


If  I had pesto, it would be at home in this sandwich. I ate a Campari tomato with za'atar thyme mixture on the side, along with kimchi, but tomato slices with za'atar would work, too. I'll try that tomorrow. Everything in my sandwich -- except Aleppo pepper and za'atar -- can be found at Costco. Fattal's Syrian Bakery in Paterson stocks the pepper and thyme mixture.


My eating habits have come a long way since the 1980s, when I'd eat an Egg McMuffin (photo) for breakfast, drink coffee and finish with a cigarette.

My usual Monday run to Costco

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I usually make my weekly visits to Costco in Hackensack on Mondays. This is what I picked up today:

1. Two pounds of U.S.-grown strawberries, $5.99
2. Three pounds of Amy Lu preservative-free
    andouille chicken sausage, $13.99
3. Three pounds of Kirkland wild sockeye
     salmon fillets, $25.89
4. Two loaves of  Kirkland 100% whole grain bread, $3.99
5. Wild-caught Little Neck clams, $2.99 a pound
6. Six pounds of frozen broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, $6.59
7. Two pounds of Finlandia thin-sliced, lactose-free
    Swiss cheese, $8.99

Last Friday, I again went in search of Kirkland preservative-free smoked wild sockeye salmon from Alaska -- missing from the refrigerated case for two Mondays in a row -- and found some at $14.79 a pound.

Costco Wholesale, 80 S. River St., Hackensack; 
(201) 487-5471; open seven days, www.costco.com

Image via Wikipedia

Can buying food cheer you up?

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What a miserable day. No sunlight, rain lashing the house and wind making the half-dozen tall cedars looming over my property twist and sway.

By this afternoon, the rain had subsided and I drove the two miles to Costco in Hackensack for its wonderful Kirkland-brand smoked wild Alaskan sockeye salmon. That should cheer me up at breakfast for the rest of the week.

But on this Monday, for the second week, there was only smoked farmed salmon. That wasn't good enough. I asked an employee if there was some of the wild fish in back, and he said, as he did last week, whatever is out there. How long will this drought last?