Spice-coated Cod & Vegetable Medley, Korean-style quinoa and more

Fresh wild-caught Icelandic cod -- coated in a homemade Super Spice Mixture -- fresh spinach, cherry tomatoes and pitted olives is ready to eat after about 15 minutes in a preheated 400-degree oven, below. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Continuing thanks to The Fish Dock in Closter for supplying the key to preparing a healthy and delicious dinner in under 30 minutes.

On my first visit to the Icelandic fish store, I purchased a pound of ready-to-cook Fish & Vegetable Medley, popped the store-supplied pan into the oven and sat down to dinner in about 15 minutes.

Since then, I've been assembling my own medleys, using fresh, wild-caught Icelandic cod and haddock from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

Last week, my wife brought home more than 2 pounds of fresh, long-line caught, skinless-and-boneless cod fillets ($7.99 a pound).

I assembled a medley with fresh spinach, cherry tomatoes and black olives I had on hand, plus extra-virgin olive oil and grated cheese.

First, I cut up the cod into serving pieces, and coated them in a mixture from a large container I keep in the refrigerator that combines every spice I have in the house, including curry powder, no-salt seasoning, red-pepper flakes and garlic powder.

The spinach goes into a large foil-lined pan first, then a generous drizzle of olive oil and a little sea salt, then the tomatoes and olives, then the spice-coated cod, then the grated cheese.

The cod was thicker than in the past so I kept the pan in a preheated 400-degree oven for about 16 minutes to 18 minutes.

Korean-style shredded vegetables, available at H Mart, turn organic quinoa into a filling meatless meal. Quinoa, a great bread substitute, has fewer carbs than rice or pasta.

I purchased the Bibimbap Vegetables last Friday at H Mart, 25 Lafayette Ave. in Englewood, and added them to quinoa I had prepared in a rice cooker with organic black beans, organic diced tomatoes and peeled garlic cloves.

Bibimpap is true Korean comfort food -- steamed rice, shredded vegetables, ground beef (or you can ask for it without meat) and a raw or cooked egg prepared in a stone bowl, with a spicy red-pepper paste called gochujang on the side. You mix the ingredients with a spoon, add gochujang and dig in.

Delverde Tagliatelle with Spinach cooks up al dente in about 5 minutes. Here, I dressed the pasta in Trader Joe's Puttanesca Sauce, one of the few bottled sauces with anchovies; three cans of sardines, mashed with a fork; fresh spinach, red wine and extra-virgin olive oil. 

Organic Whole Wheat Shells from Whole Foods Market in Paramus ($1.49) dressed with Victoria Marinara and three cans of sardines, mashed with a fork.

Fresh whole wild-caught red snappers were $6.99 a pound last Sunday at the H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike in Little Ferry, below. Here, a whole fish stuffed with callaloo, a leafy green,  took about 30 minutes to cook when wrapped in foil.

After an absence of several weeks, free seafood samples returned to the Little Ferry H Mart. Two of the best are fish eggs over broiled New Zealand mussels, and broiled eel.

First day for Costco Visa credit card, basket full of bargains at H Mart

Starting today, the Costco Wholesale Business Center in Hackensack is among the hundreds of Costco warehouses in the United States that accept only Visa Credit Cards, including the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi, replacing the American Express True Earnings card.

Now, you also can use your Visa credit card to pay for fresh-baked pizzas and other purchases at the Hackensack food court, which was cash only (80 S. River St., Hackensack; warehouse is closed Sundays).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

At the Costco Wholesale Business Center in Hackensack today, the switch to Visa credit cards from longtime partner American Express was imperceptible.

You could describe the shopping experience at the Hackensack warehouse as Costco Lite -- plenty of empty parking spaces in the lot, only a handful of customers pushing shopping carts through the cavernous space and no waiting to check out.

The warehouse delivers orders placed online by restaurants, caterers and other small businesses, and has only about 30% of the consumer items you'll find at the bigger, far busier Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

Today, the Hackensack warehouse was the same oasis of calm it has been since its March 15 opening.

I used my Costco Visa credit card to pay for:

Three large cans of Dole Pineapple Juice ($4.19 with an instant coupon); Premier Protein Shake (18 11-ounce containers for $19.99 with an instant coupon); 3 pounds of premium Apricots from California ($5.49); 1 pound of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix ($4.49) and a large cup of non-fat vanilla yogurt from the food court ($1.35).

More cash back

The new Costco Visa credit card gives you more cash back than did the American Express card: 

You get 4% cash back instead of 3% on gasoline, including Costco gas; 3% back instead of 2% on restaurant meals and travel purchases worldwide, and 2% back on purchases at Costco.

If you use the Costco Visa card to buy gasoline and charge restaurant meals, you easily recoup the annual Costco membership fee of $55 or $110, and much more.

Thanks to an instant Costco coupon, three 46-ounce cans of Dole 100% Pineapple Juice (not from concentrate) were a better buy per ounce than 24 8.4-ounce cans, below. The bigger cans are marked non-GMO, meaning they don't contain genetically modified or engineered ingredients.

At H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike in Little Ferry, Baby Mustard Greens were reduced to 68 cents a pound, and cans of Moroccan Sardines in Olive Oil were about $1 each, below. 

Sabri-brand Sardines also were available in vegetable oil and in tomato sauce.

Fresh fish and fruit

Just about everything I bought on Sunday at H Mart in Little Ferry was reduced or a good buy.

Some of the deals require you to have the store's loyalty card, which gives you $10 off after you spend $1,000 (1% rebate).

Our Sunday dinner included fresh wild-caught whole whiting ($2.99 a pound) that we dredged in cornmeal and pan fried; and big bunches of Baby Mustard Greens (68 cents a pound) we washed, cut up and sauteed with chopped fresh garlic.  

A 15-pound bag of Kokuho Yellow Label White Rice from California was reduced to $10.99; a large Seedless Watermelon was $4.99; and a box of 14 sugar-sweet Ataulfo or Champagne Mangoes from Mexico was $9.99 or $1 more than a week earlier. 

That compares to $5.49 for six Ataulfo Mangoes at the Hackensack Costco.

Two packages of Nature's Soy Fried Tofu, which is packed with protein, were $3 or half price.

Marinades for pork and beef also were on sale, but I couldn't find any without monosodium glutamate (MSG). I settled for one with a low sodium content.

While I waited for my fish to be cleaned, I walked over to the table where free seafood samples were available, including a broiled mussel topped with fish eggs, snow-crab meat, boiled octopus and fried smelts; then stopped for free samples of cold noodles in broth and a kimchi dumpling on the way to the register.

Minimize the salt, maximize the flavor

A less-salty version of pasta sauce with sardines eliminates anchovies.

But I added grated cheese, which has sodium, to my portion of rigatoni.

The biggest source of sodium in my hearty red pasta sauce with sardines is a 2-ounce can of anchovies -- so they were the first to go.

I've been adding anchovies to bottled pasta sauce for years to add a robustness without a fishy taste. The tiny fish completely dissolve in the bubbling sauce.

Instead of 32 ounces or 40 ounces of bottled sauce, I downsized to a 24-ounce jar of Classico Tomato and Basil, and that cut the amount of sodium further.

I poured the sauce over leeks I had sauteed in a large, non-stick pan with a glass cover; added red-pepper flakes and dried Italian herbs, and about 6 ounces of sodium-free extra-virgin olive oil.

I opened a can of Moroccan sardines with oil, drained them in a plastic colander and actually rinsed them under cold water to get rid of more salt.

I added them to the sauce and chopped them with a wooden spatula.

There is no need to salt the water or add more than enough to cover the pasta.

I cooked Colavita Whole Wheat Rigatoni ($1.49 for 16 ounces at Jerry's in Englewood) until a minute or two before it was al dente, drained it and finished cooking it in the sauce.

My wife gave me the thumbs up when she tried it, but I thought it could use a little more salt and added grated Pecorino Romano sheep's milk cheese to my portion.

Delicious. I drank a glass of Italian red wine to celebrate.

Whole Wheat Rigatoni with Sardines and Leeks.

Related article

• How I reduced salt in a favorite dish

Breakfast with a soul-food accent

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Big demographic changes haven't obliterated the flavor of Teaneck. 

Editor's note: The bill of fare today includes an eye-opening breakfast in Teaneck, a strong contender in the battle of Korean soft-tofu houses and a visit to Whole Foods Market that didn't break the bank.

The Golden Grill is one of those places that have been there "forever."


It's a lively spot on a stretch of Queen Anne Road that is filled with glatt kosher food businesses -- a restaurant that reflects an older Teaneck, as does the French patisserie down the block.


When I walked in a little before 10 on Friday morning, the place was nearly full, and the two waitresses were overwhelmed, serving predominately African-American men. 


Looking over the menu, I immediately realized this is my kind of breakfast place, with combinations of two eggs and home fries or grits accompanied by whiting, a homemade fish cake or sardines. Toast and a small glass of juice are  included.


I made the mistake of ordering an egg-white omelet and a fish cake, and I was charged the a la carte price for each, a total of $10.95. Combo breakfasts are about $7.


I loved the tasty fish cake, especially with a splash or two of hot sauce from the bottle on the table, and the potatoes were the best home fries I've ever had. I told the waitress to hold the toast.


Still, the servers couldn't handle the crowd or change gears for the tea me and a friend had ordered; they kept on coming over with a coffee pot to refill our cups instead of a pot of hot water. 


The Golden Grill also serves lunch.


The Golden Grill Family Restaurant, 1379 Queen Anne Road, 
Teaneck; 201-837-1078. Free street parking, credit cards accepted.


More information: The Golden Grill


Organic soft tofu


We found a Korean soft-tofu stew restaurant with a difference -- actually, a few things that set it apart from the places that sling soondooboo jigae in Palisades Park and Fort Lee.


The Organic Tofu House in Ridgewood has an unusually large menu of soft-tofu stews and other Korean specialties, including hot stone-bowl bibimbap, barbecue and stir-fried vermicelli noodles, as well as slightly lower prices.


This is a great place for people who want Korean comfort food and don't eat meat. 


The tofu-stew broth is vegetarian, and the stir-fried, yam-flour noodles are made with vegetables, not meat. Vegetable dumplings and vegetable-and-seafood pancakes also are available.


Unfortunately, service is weak, especially when compared to other Korean restaurants. 


The small restaurant wasn't busy on Saturday evening, but the waitresses were in no rush to refill our tea glasses or to replace the free side dishes we finished before our stews were ready.


Four of us received the standard set of four small side dishes, and the quality was good -- cabbage kimchi, crunchy bean sprouts, fried tofu slices with onion and a small iceberg-lettuce salad. We also got an extra salad.


At our favorite soft-tofu house, So Gong Dong in Palisades Park, the four side dishes are replaced without prompting, and glasses are kept filled. In Ridgewood, I had to ask for more kimchi and more hot tea. Other side dishes weren't replaced.


The Ridgewood menu lists 19 soft-tofu stews, including some you don't see elsewhere, such  as curry, cheese, dumpling, tuna, "real" crab meat and chicken, and they can be made plain to very spicy.


Almost all are priced at $8.99, compared to $9.99 at So Gong Dong, but the latter price includes tax. Portions in Ridgewood are smaller.


In addition to organic soft tofu, the restaurant uses "alkaline water," which has health benefits, according to the menu. 


My wonderful, very spicy oyster stew was bubbling furiously in its stone bowl, so I could crack a fresh egg into it and cook the yolk softly, breaking it deliciously over steamed white rice.


I was pleasantly full from the side dishes, tofu stew and white rice. I split a second white rice with my son at no extra charge.


We also ordered sliced, marinated prime beef short ribs or kalbi, which came with wonderful grilled onions ($14.99). I tried the onions, not the meat.


Organic Tofu Stew House, 88 Godwin Ave., Ridgewood 
(in a strip mall near Whole Foods Market);
 201-251-7734. Closed Sundays.


Whole Foods in Paramus


On Saturday afternoon, we stopped at Whole Foods Market in Paramus to pick up some fruit for me and steaks for the rest of the family's Sunday dinner.


I was happy to find conventional Macoun apples and a 5.33-pound tote bag of Bosc pears, the latter from Red Apple Orchards in Geneva, N.Y. Both were a reasonable 99 cents a pound.


My wife picked up three naturally raised beef chuck shoulder steaks for $10.14 ($6.99 a pound), and the store brand of uncured, preservative-free and antibiotic-free sliced bacon ($3.99 for 12 ounces).


Sardine crisis


Ten cans of those plump Moroccan sardines (99 cents a can) lasted only about 10 days.


I know I used four cans to make a pound of whole-wheat spaghetti with sardines in a red sauce last week, but I'm not sure what happened to the rest. 


All I know is I wanted to make canned fish salad the other night and could find only yellow-fin tuna and pink salmon in the cupboard.


So, I dashed out to Paterson today and picked up another two dozen cans of Sultan-brand sardines at Brothers Produce, 327 E. Railway Ave., in the Farmers' Market.


While I was there, I bought yellow, red and green peppers (99 cents a pound) and three romaine hearts, also 99 cents.


At Fattal's Syrian Bakery, 975-77 Main St., I picked up a package of fresh Syrian bread ($1.50); a half-dozen store-made, 6-inch meat pies ($8.99) and a 15.8-ounce jar of fig marmalade with anise from Lebanon ($2.39).


Related article

• Driving here and there for my weekly fix (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)

Organic beef liver is a revelation

Image by itspaulkelly via Flickr

The mussels from Whole Foods are ready to throw in the pot.

My wife called me on Friday from Whole Foods Market in Paramus, where she saw beef liver for $4.99 a pound, and asked if that was too much to pay.


I didn't think so, because all the meat and poultry sold at Whole Foods are raised without antibiotics, hormones or animal byproducts.


She usually buys conventionally raised beef liver at ShopRite, and it invariably dries out during cooking. You can imagine how that tastes.


She prepared the Whole Foods beef liver for dinner Friday night, and she's still talking about how good it was. She had the leftovers for lunch today.


Looking at the receipt, I now see it was organic beef liver.


She also picked up 2 pounds of mussels from Canada for my dinner ($5.99).


I heated up a few ounces of cheap sake in a pot, and added the mussels and a chopped beefsteak tomato, as well as a little salt and garlic powder. 


I covered the pot and after about 15 minutes, the mussels opened and were ready to eat. 


I ate them with blanched and sauteed Jersey Fresh collard and mustard greens I had picked up at the International Food Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Lodi for 99 cents a pound and 69 cents a pound, respectively.


I also bought two half-liter bottles of Capitolio Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Chile at $2.99 each, and five cans of Tan Tan Moroccan sardines in spicy oil at 99 cents each.


Whole Foods Market, 300 Bergen Town Center, 
Parmaus; 201-226-1244.


International Food Wine & Liquor Warehouse, 
370 Essex St., Lodi; 201-368-9511. Sale ends July 19.

Follow the tracks to great food buys

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I've enjoyed shopping and eating in Paterson's Middle Eastern food bazaar for nearly 30 years, but haven't paid much attention to the city's bustling, year-round Farmers' Market.

Today, I met Chuck, one of my loyal readers, at the market on East Railway Avenue and he led me to some remarkable food bargains, most of which are gone by Sunday. Besides produce stores, there are butchers, a fish market, restaurants and non-food merchants. Parking is free.

My first stop was Eastern Groceries Inc. at 459 E. Railway Ave. (look for the number, the name on the door says something else). None of the following prices are typos.

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 I picked up a dozen 5.3-ounce cups of Stonyfield Farm organic, fat-free Oikos, Greek-style yogurt for $2 -- that's less than 17 cents each. They were stamped with a date of Feb. 8, meaning we will have about two weeks to finish them. A simple drizzle of honey turns this yogurt into a great dessert.

Earthbound Farm organic heirloom lettuce leaves were $1 for 7 ounces -- or $2.28 a pound. Organic spring mix was $1.99 for 12 ounces -- or $2.65 a pound -- far less than at Costco. Both had use-by dates of Feb. 10. A 5-pound box of Spanish clementines was $3.49 -- by far the lowest price of the season.

A 1-pound package of large, Sunset-brand, herbicide-free tomatoes was $1.50. A bunch of radishes was 50 cents. I had to pass up a lot of  other bargains -- my refrigerator and freezer are bulging as it is. 

Despite the sub-freezing weather, there was a beautiful display of produce outside Brother's, 327 E. Railway Ave., but all I needed were lemons (four for $1). Olives are only $1.99 a pound. This store also carries a good selection of Middle Eastern food, such as imported tahini sauce, fava beans, hummus and so forth.

Then I drove over to Main Street, lined with Turkish and Middle Eastern restaurants, shawarma shops and markets, to shop at Nouri's and Fattal's bakeries, two longtime Syrian rivals I have patronized for decades.They are at 999 and 975-77 Main St., respectively, and both have their own parking lots and carry so much more than just bread.

Image via Wikipedia

At Nouri's, I found three liters of Greek extra-virgin olive oil for $17.99, among bottles and tins  from Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. At Fattal's, I picked up five cans of Moroccan sardines in spicy oil at 99 cents each and large, store-made spinach pies ($8.99 for six).

A big thank you to Chuck.

Why don't sardines get more respect?

Among the fish we eat regularly, only the much-maligned anchovy is smaller. But that doesn't explain why the mighty little sardine is misunderstood or completely ignored. Last night, our dinner of fresh sardines flown in from Portugal was a revelation.

I started noticing something was amiss when I read an article on healthy-to-eat fish in the January/February 2010 AARP The Magazine, which claims to have the world's largest circulation for a magazine. Yet, the piece completely omitted any mention of sardines. In the same issue, an article about how to save at the supermarket ignored canned sardines, inexpensive when compared to red salmon and better for you than albacore tuna, which is high in mercury.

Then, this week, The Record of Woodland Park  ran a Chicago Tribune article on nutritious foods that contained misinformation on omega-6 fatty acids in the vegetable oil sardines are often packed in. The oil is good for you, according to the American Heart Association.

I've long been aware fresh Portuguese sardines are flown into Newark airport weekly, but I've only eaten them occasionally in a restaurant, and that was years ago. So I went looking for them Friday during a trip to Fairway Market in Paramus, my main source for salted codfish. My backup was Whole Foods Market, also in Paramus.

But there they were at Fairway, their slim, silvery bodies resting on ice, at $7.99 a pound. I asked for two pounds --cleaned with the heads on -- and got an unlucky 13 sardines, but we ate all but two for dinner, with spaghetti in tomato sauce and a big salad of organic greens. I cooked them in two frying pans with extra-virgin olive oil, seasoned with salt, garnished them with fresh, chopped cilantro and squeezed lime over the fish. The flesh was mild, tender and sweet.

The fishmonger said they would take only two minutes or so per side, but they need to be cooked longer. I could also see baking them or charring them on a grill pan, but the skin is delicate and pulls off easily.

Mostly, I'll continue to eat canned sardines -- in breakfast sandwiches with hummus, cheese, greens and tomatoes or in spaghetti with a sardine-tomato sauce (about two cans of chopped fish for one pound of spaghetti or other pasta). And I'll continue to buy them at Fattal's Bakery in Paterson, where Moroccan sardines are a low 89 or 99 cents per can.

Another fish jumps into the salad

I continue to tweak my no-mayonnaise canned fish salad, this time by adding anchovies and fresh lemon juice in addition to pickled lemons (recipe follows). See previous posts, "Cleopatra's tuna-sardine salad" and "Way better than tuna salad."

I combined Alaskan red salmon, albacore tuna (two cans), spicy Moroccan sardines and anchovies, with their oil or water to keep the salad moist. I added a small red onion (diced)  and three small pickled lemons (minced), plus juice from a large lemon. I also added a half cup or more of powdered cumin. Diced celery would be great, too.

The pickled lemon and the spicy oil from the sardines came through, but I couldn't taste the anchovies. I'm still getting the heart-healthy benefit of their Omega-3 fatty acids, which is found in all the fish I used. You could even invite a fifth fish -- salted cod -- to join the party.

If you miss the mayo, I suppose you can spread some on your sandwich bread or toast, but I prefer pesto, hummus or my own low-fat organic yogurt cheese. Feel free to add organic greens and sliced tomatoes with za'atar spice mixture or even sliced cheese, such as Trader Joe's yogurt cheese with jalapenos.

Four-fish salad

1 can of Alaskan red salmon (about 15 ounces)

1 can of albacore or light tuna in oil or water

1 can of Moroccan or other sardines

1 can of anchovies with or without capers

3 small pickled lemons, minced


1 small red onion, diced


juice of one large lemon or more to taste

powdered cumin to taste

Add the fish with their liquid to a large bowl and mash with a fork. Add the other ingredients. You can find the pickled lemons, za'atar and cumin in a Middle Eastern market, such as Fattal's at 975 Main St. in Paterson (973-742-7125) or Sahara Stores at 242 S. Summit Ave. in  Hackensack (201-487-7222).

Way better than tuna salad

I don't think I can top the wild salmon-wild smoked salmon sandwich I had for breakfast three days last week, but I'm happy with the no-mayo canned fish salad that has succeeded it.

I combined cans of yellowfin tuna from Italy (Costco), fat smoked sardines from Morocco (Fattal's) and Alaskan red salmon (ShopRite), including the oil or water in each. I then diced about two-thirds of a medium red onion, adding it along with two or three tablespoons of powdered cumin and Aleppo red pepper to taste. Finally, I moistened it with two or three ounces of extra-virgin olive oil. This made four cups of fish salad -- enough for about 10-12 sandwiches.

I toasted some Italian semolina bread from Newark, spread on hummus and added salad greens. Then came lots of the fish salad, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese shavings and tomato slices with za'atar spice mixture. My side dish was kimchi, my drink iced tea.