Baby aspirin, egg whites, organic pasta, takeout, Can Can sale, more

If you take a baby aspirin every day, as I do, you'll be struck by the dramatic price difference at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro between 400 Bayer tablets for $12.49, above, and the 730 Kirkland Signature tablets for $4.49 that I bought last week, below.

Costco's Kirkland Signature Low Dose Aspirin tablets are supplied by LNK International. The Hauppauge, N.Y., company makes solid- and liquid-dose over-the-counter pharmaceutical products for retailers nationwide, according to the January 2017 issue of The Costco Connection magazine.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Although not everyone agrees on the health benefits of taking a baby aspirin every day, Costco Wholesale members are unanimously in favor of how much they save over a national brand.

You get nearly twice as many coated, low-dose aspirin tablets -- and save $8 -- when you buy Costco's Kirkland Signature brand instead of Bayer, a German pharmaceutical giant.

This is another dramatic example of how Costco puts added value in most of the products sold under the house label.

Everything from Kirkland Signature's 81-milligram aspirin tablets to such Kirkland Signature wines as California Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec from Argentina, both available at the Costco Wholesale in Wayne. 

On a visit to the Wayne Costco in December, I picked up eight bottles of wine, including a non-Kirkland Signature boxed set of four Grands Vins de Bordeaux from France for $29.99 or about $7.50 a bottle.

The one bottle of Bordeaux I tried so far was delicious, but I was disappointed to learn I could have found the same bottles elsewhere for about the same price. 

Kirkland Signature Organic Quinoa, on the other hand, appeared on Costco shelves last year in a larger package and at a lower price than the national brand it replaced.

A hearty breakfast includes an egg-white omelet stuffed with wild Alaskan smoked sockeye salmon and reduced-fat Swiss cheese, served over organic quinoa prepared with organic diced tomatoes and California garlic cloves -- all from Costco. Kirkland Signature Cage-Free Egg Whites are $8.99 for six 16-ounce cartons or about $1.50 each, below.

365 Every Day Value Organic Whole Wheat Shells from Italy dressed in a homemade, heart-healthy ragu of Victoria-brand Vodka Sauce, sardines and anchovies.

At Whole Foods Market, 1-pound boxes or packages of organic whole wheat shells and other shapes are $1.49 each, a better buy than non-organic brands sold in smaller packages. They also can't match the nutty taste of organic whole wheat pasta, which is also available at ShopRite supermarkets and Trader Joe's. Cooking time for the pasta is about 9 minutes, not the 14-15 minutes listed on the package.

I reserved a few ounces of sauce to use for poaching eggs. Victoria is one of the few brands offering a Vodka Sauce free of artery clogging heavy cream. All the ingredients are listed on the front label. I usually add a few ounces of red wine, extra-virgin olive oil, some red-pepper flakes and dried Italian herbs to the pan as the sauce is being heated.

Before adding them to the sauce, I rinse and drain the anchovies to reduce the sodium content of the dish, and mince the sardines (3 cans for 1 pound of pasta) with a fork before they go into the pot. Fattal's at 975-77 Main St. in Paterson sells Al Shark-brand sardines for 99 cents a can.

On Friday afternoon, Jerry's Gourmet & More at 410 S. Dean St. in Englewood ran out of complete restaurant-quality dinners to go, so I picked up two containers of Cheese Lovers' Tortelloni, made with five cheeses, for my wife and son.

As I browsed at Jerry's, I enjoyed several free samples of cheese and bread, including a chewy olive loaf, top.

Can Can Sale at ShopRite

On Thursday, I shopped the first week of the 2017 Can Can Sale at ShopRite in Paramus.

I made a few purchases, including five 12-can packages of Adirondack Seltzer for $10, a savings of $8.95 with a store card, according to my receipt.

The Can Can Sale doesn't offer the wide range of deep discounts it once did, and you can find great buys at ShopRite at other times.

For examples, I picked up several bottles of ShopRite Sparkling Cider from Spain (100% juice) for $1.67 each on Dec. 29.

Golden Pineapples were $1.97 each.

Confused customers trying to adapt to changes at ShopRite in Paramus

At the ShopRite in Paramus, shelving has been replaced with new refrigerated cases for milk, yogurt, cheese and other dairy products, as well as orange juice and ice cream. Half-gallons of ShopRite Lactose Free Milk are $2.99 each.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

ShopRite in Paramus has customers searching for such familiar products as lactose-free milk.

The store at 224 Route 4 east just finished replacing aisles of refrigerated shelving with refrigerated cases, and in the process, moved the store brand of lactose-free milk and many other dairy products.

This morning, I heard two customers say they were "totally confused."

Another annoyance is that the doors on the cases are inconvenient for left-handed people like me, but that's nothing new.

I stop at the Paramus store once or twice a week on the way home from the gym to shop for a limited number of items.

I continue to spend most of my food dollars at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro and the Costco Business Center in Hackensack, where, by the way, the food court still has not reopened.

Even for large sizes, the Paramus ShopRite usually can't match Costco's prices.

I saw a 40-bottle pack of Poland Springs Spring Water for $6.99 at ShopRite or $2 more than at Costco.

Another change apparent in the front of the Paramus store is that shoppers are greeted by a display of cookies instead of Golden Pineapples and other fruit.

Like the smaller, more expensive Campari Tomatoes sold at Costco Wholesale, Big Taste Tomatoes are grown in hothouses in Mexico. At the Paramus ShopRite, 1-pound packages were on sale today for 99 cents each. I haven't tried them yet to see if they rival the Campari Tomato.

A 3-pound bag of Organic Sweet Potatoes is $5.99 or about $2 a pound, but organic baby yams and sweet potatoes are $3.99 a pound, below. I found a 3-pound bag of conventional sweet potatoes on another shelf for $2.99.

Yams are starchier than sweet potatoes.

A new item is Newman's Own for the Common Good organic pasta sauces. Instead, I purchased two 44-ounce jars of Classico Tomato & Basil pasta sauce with no added sugar, on sale for a total of $6.19 (about $3.10 each). A pound of Luigi Vitelli Organic Whole Wheat Pasta from Italy is now $1.29, up four cents, but still a better buy than similar products from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.

To protect ShopRite brand, store bans antibiotic-free Perdue chicken

"No Antibiotics Administered" on the label sets Readington Farms Chicken apart at ShopRite supermarkets, including the Paramus store. But ShopRite doesn't sell Perdue's Harvestland brand, also raised without antibiotics.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Chicken giant Perdue made a clean breast of it when it unveiled Harvestland -- whole birds and parts raised without harmful antibiotics.

But at the Paramus ShopRite, shelves are filled with packages of  antibiotic-free Readington Farms Chicken, which the supermarket chain sells exclusively, not with Perdue's Harvestland.

This ShopRite continues to offer conventional Perdue Chicken with a deceptive "all natural" label -- the parts are raised on antibiotics that promote growth and cut down on disease in crowded chicken houses.

ShopRite continues to sell Perdue Chicken Drumsticks and other parts from birds raised on antibiotics.

"No antibiotics ever" is on the label of Perdue's Harvestland Chicken Drumsticks, which I saw at H Mart, the Korean supermarket in Englewood.

Readington Farms Chicken at the Paramus ShopRite, 224 Route 4 east. Coleman Organic is the only other brand of antibiotic-free chicken available at this ShopRite.

Locally grown basil in a pot was on sale Tuesday at the Paramus ShopRite.

ShopRite has the best buy on Organic Whole Wheat Pasta from Italy, including this Capellini dressed in a combination of Victoria Marinara and Vodka Sauce. The Luigi Vitelli brand also offers Spaghetti, Linguine, Fusilli and Penne, all for only $1.25 a pound.

At ShopRite's pre-Can Can Sale, avoid Colonna sauce with corn syrup

Three 24-bottle packs of Poland Spring Water are only $9 with a Super Coupon from the ShopRite flier, as long as you spend $10 on other items and have a store card.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

ShopRite's Can Can Sale isn't as great as it used to be, so now the supermarket chain has come up with a "Can't Can't Wait" promotion to entice shoppers.

At the ShopRite in Paramus on Tuesday, I used a Super Coupon from the store flier to buy three 24-bottle packs of Poland Spring Water for $9.

That's about what I'd pay per 16.9-ounce bottle at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

And a 5-pound box of clementines from Spain or Morocco was only $3.99, a discount of $2.

I also picked up three half-gallons of ShopRite 1% Lactose Free Milk for $2.99 each, the regular price.

The Paramus ShopRite is at 224 Route 4 east.

A 5-pound boxes of Roxy Clementines from Spain, as well as others from Morocco, was $3.99 with a store card.

If you buy 10 jars of Colonna Pasta Sauce, you'll pay only 77 cents each. But the Traditional Pasta Sauce, above, contains high-fructose corn syrup, an ingredient you don't need.

Colonna Vodka Sauce is made with lots of artery clogging heavy cream. Victoria Vodka Sauce, which is not on sale, contains no cream.

A breakfast of Organic Eggs Marinara served over Organic Whole Wheat Penne with Salted Codfish and Black Olives, below. All of the ingredients are available from ShopRite.

I used Victoria Marinara (no added sugar), adding a few ounces of red wine, a can of drained and rinsed anchovies, and extra-virgin olive oil. The Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Penne from Italy is available at ShopRite for $1.25 (1-pound package).

We're adding Cuban roast pork, wild shrimp to our Christmas menu

Cuban Sandwich master Belarmino Rico, 76, at the plancha, the heated grill that transforms an ordinary ham, pork and cheese sandwich into a hot, crispy Cubano.

On Wednesday, Rico checked the pork he roasts for five hours in a pizza oven at La Pola Restaurant, 5400 Palisade Ave., West New York. Today, in an annual holiday ritual, he will be waiting on hundreds of customers who will flood into the small luncheonette to pick up Christmas orders -- including whole butterflied pigs, ribs and hams, plus all of the Cuban side dishes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Wednesday morning, when we pulled into the tiny parking lot of La Pola Restaurant in West New York, we witnessed the calm before the storm.

Belarmino Rico, who justly deserves the title of "King of the Cuban Sandwich," was roasting pork and waiting on an occasional customer in preparation for today's onslaught.

As my wife enjoyed a hot, crispy Cuban Sandwich or Cubano and I sipped a cafe con leche, Rico explained that he had stopped taking orders for Christmas.

Today, three generations of his family and his loyal employees are greeting hundreds of customers who come in to pick up whole pigs, roast pork, ham and ribs, which will be displayed on racks and tables.

They'll also take home such Cuban dishes as congris, rice cooked with black beans; yuca with garlic, chicharrones or pork rinds, and a tortilla Espanola, a Spanish potato omelet. 

Rico named his Cuban sandwich shop for La Pola, the small town in Spain where he was born before he emigrated to Cuba.

We had a prior commitment today so on Wednesday, we picked up roast pork for our Christmas dinner on Friday.

On Wednesday, La Pola Restaurant was experiencing the quiet before the storm.

At La Pola, a Cuban Sandwich is made with a 12-inch section of water bread filled with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, moistened with a garlic sauce called a mojito and heated until crispy in a press.

La Pola's own Plaintain Strips are delicious and low in salt.

La Pola, on Palisade Avenue and 54th Street in West New York, is cash only.

Wild Gulf Shrimp are on sale today at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

Going wild for shrimp

The roast pork from La Pola Restaurant in West New York is for the meat eaters in the family.

This morning, I went to Whole Foods Market for another main dish, Wild Gulf Shrimp, which were on sale for $14.99 a pound.

That's about what Costco Wholesale charges for farmed Black Tiger shrimp from Vietnam. Customers are told nothing about how they are raised.

On Friday, we'll also have a wild Red King Crab Salad dressed with Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice, seasonings and fresh chopped cilantro.

Side dishes include mashed Kabocha Squash and Organic Carrots, Organic Quinoa with Garlic and a salad of Organic Spring Mix. 

Whole Foods Market in Paramus has the best fresh seafood counter in North Jersey. One of the employees, left, gladly deveined the 3 pounds of wild shrimp I asked for.

As I waited for the shrimp to be deveined, I munched on samples of cheese, nuts and dried olives.

These bunches of Organic Cilantro are about twice as big as the conventional cilantro sold at the nearby Paramus ShopRite for 99 cents.

Lactose-free search, cheap sake, discounted coffee beans, baguettes

At the ShopRite in Paramus, Lactaid-brand 100% Lactose-Free milk is far more expensive than the store brand, even when on sale.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

After the bigger Costco Wholesale opened in Teterboro, I haven't been able to find Kirkland Signature 2% Lactose-Free Milk.

The lactose-free house brand showed up for the first time in February at the old warehouse store in Hackensack -- three half-gallons for $7.99 or about $2.66 each, much cheaper than any other brand.

Then, ShopRite lowered the price of its store brand lactose-free milk to $2.99 from $3.49.

On my last few trips to Costco, I've had to settle for a 96-0unce container of Lactaid-brand 2% Lactose-Free Milk for $4.99, a dollar less than at ShopRite.

Now, I'm back to buying half-gallons of 1% lactose-free milk at ShopRite, 224 Route 4 east, Paramus.

On Tuesday, I purchased two half-gallons of the ShopRite brand and one of Smart Balance Fat-Free Lactose-Free Milk, which was on sale for $2.99, a reduction of $1.80.

ShopRite also had two Golden Pineapples on sale for $2.50 each. A bunch of fresh cilantro was 99 cents.

Mitsuwa Marketplace, the pricey Japanese supermarket at 595 River Road in Edgewater, is offering boxes of osechi for New Year parties -- sushi, kelp rolls, sweet omelets, fish and other food --that are priced from $260 to $413.

Sake for cooking

I shop at Mitsuwa in Edgewater once or twice a year, but make few purchases at the Japanese supermarket known for sticker shock.

You can easily spend $50 for a pound of beef or giant blue-fin tuna, even the farmed variety from Spain.

Imagine paying a premium for raw fish with more harmful mercury than many others.

Better to boycott over-fished blue-fin tuna, as I've been doing for many years, as well as Mitsuwa's annual blue-fin tuna cutting demonstration, if the store still puts on the event.

My only purchases on Tuesday were two 1.5 liter bottles of sake, which I use for cooking, on sale for $6.99 each, a discount of $3.

Sho Chiku Bai-brand sake is produced in California, not Japan, and has an alcohol content of 15%.

The colorful label shows that 2016 is the Year of the Monkey.

One change I welcomed on Tuesday is that Mitsuwa finally accepts American Express credit cards.

But the store no longer operates a free shuttle to Edgewater from Manhattan.

A 1-pound package of Starbucks whole coffee beans was sold at deep discount on Cyber Monday. When the beans are ground Turkish, the resulting powder yields a robust cup from my drip coffee maker.

Dark-roast coffee beans

I've been buying Starbucks whole coffee beans for use in my drip coffee maker since 2013.

On Cyber Monday, Starbucks.com offered bags of whole bean and ground coffee at the biggest discount I've seen, and repeated the offer on Sunday.

Shipping was free both times, and I got $25 off a purchase of $60 or more on each order.

Today, I received the second shipment of five 1-pound bags of whole coffee beans, all dark roast, that I'll take to the store at 360 Essex St. and have ground Turkish.

I paid $7.11 to $9.43 for each pound of coffee beans, which normally retail for $11.95 to $14.95.

Balthazar baguette

On Wednesday, I stopped at Balthazar, 214 S. Dean St. in Englewood, for three crusty baguettes, which are still $2 each, as they were when the French bakery's retail store opened 13 years ago.

Each baguette is just under 2 feet long, and they are crispy when the humidity is low, as it was on Wednesday.

I cut each baguette into four sections, slice them in half for sandwiches and freeze them. The frozen bread thaws in the toaster.

I'm on a no-bread diet, but allowed myself three small ends or heels with my dinner of whole-wheat pasta with sardines, salad and a couple of glasses of Chianti Riserva from Trader Joe's. 

At H Mart, fish dinner for four can cost under $10, free seafood samples

On Sunday, my wife baked five fresh wild-caught whole porgy with olive oil, fresh lime juice, onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers and fresh garlic.

Our side dish was cabbage sauteed with sweet peppers.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss food shopping at H Mart in Little Ferry, ShopRite in Paramus and Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, and the meals you can assemble with ingredients from them.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I never know what I'll find when I shop for fresh fish on the weekends at the H Mart in Little Ferry or how low the price will be.

On Sunday, I found whole porgy nestled in ice for only $1.79 a pound, and five of them rang up at $8.40.

While I waited for the fish to be cleaned and scaled, I chatted with other customers and went over to tables offering free seafood samples.

I also picked up nearly 2 pounds of Gaichoy or Baby Mustard Greens on sale for only 78 cents a pound with a store card.

Today, my wife prepared them for dinner with olive oil, chopped fresh garlic, sea salt and Organic No-Salt Seasoning, all from Costco Wholesale.

At H Mart in Little Ferry, free weekend seafood samples are conveniently placed near the fresh-fish counter to give customers something to do while their catch is being cleaned. Samples include seafood pancakes, foreground; boiled octopus, smoked farmed salmon and broiled eel.

The Korean supermarket at 260 Bergen Turnpike in Little Ferry also sells a wide array of dried seafood, above and below, and I expect many of them are for use in soups or stews.

Customers can only hope H Mart management will decide to renovate what is the shabbiest store in the chain.

ShopRite in Paramus

At ShopRite in Paramus on Tuesday, I bought a large Golden Pineapple for $2.99, and two 15-ounce containers of Smart Balance Light Spread made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil on sale for $2.99 each, a discount of 60 cents.

Smart Balance has gone on sale for as little as $1.89 with a store card, but I haven't seen that repeated in many months.

At ShopRite in Paramus, 26-ounce bottles of Colonna Pasta Sauce are on sale for 69 cents each, but the Garlic & Onion and Meat-Flavored contain high fructose corn syrup. Vodka Sauce lists heavy cream as the second largest ingredient. I'll pass on all three.

The 40-ounce bottle of Victoria Marinara is $8.49 at the Paramus ShopRite, 224 Route 4 east, but you can get two 40-ounce jars of the same sauce for $8.99 at Costco Wholesale on South River Street in Hackensack.

I continue to perfect 10-inch egg-white omelets, cooking fresh spinach in a little oil in a separate pan before transferring it to the omelet and folding it. Other ingredients include smoked wild salmon and reduced-fat sliced Swiss cheese from Costco, which also sells 100% egg whites.

A big breakfast omelet stuffed with smoked salmon and spinach, served with leftover organic brown rice and broccoli, allows me to skip lunch.

This morning, I prepared an organic whole-egg omelet with salted fish, fresh spinach and Mateo's Gourmet Salsa, the last from Costco Wholesale, above and below.

The omelet is ready to be folded.