How meat can divide a family of four when dining in or dining out

Image by WordRidden via Flickr

Fresh full-fat mozzarella is a good substitute for fatty meat.

Editor's note: I'm holding out on not eating meat, but I'm out of sync with my family. Today, I'll also discuss a new Web site for Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood, a chicken-wing mystery and free stuff at Costco Wholesale.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I can't remember how many times we've argued in restaurants about ordering something to share and whether that dish should contain meat.

If we order takeout, it's shrimp in black-bean sauce or fried fish for me and barbecued ribs or curried goat for everyone else.

And preparing dinner at home is now on two tracks -- a meatless meal for me and a separate meal for my wife, 14-year-old son and mother in law that usually includes poultry, beef or pork.

Last weekend, we had dinner at the Organic Tofu Stew House in Ridgewood, where the broth is vegetarian, but we also ordered Korean barbecue. 

I ate some of the onions that came with the sliced beef short ribs, and found my oyster soft-tofu stew, rice and side dishes filling and satisfying.

In other soft-tofu restaurants, we've ordered pork dumplings for the meat eaters in my family and just as often a rice-flour pancake with seafood and vegetables I can share with them.

No meat since 2010

At the suggestion of my son, we stopped eating meat in February 2010, partly to cut down on all the work it took to find naturally raised poultry, beef, lamb and pork that is free of antibiotics, growth hormones and animal byproducts.

But several months later, he resumed eating meat, followed a couple months later by my wife. 

I've continued to restrict myself to seafood, eggs and some full-fat cheeses, especially after I started a successful diet and cut down drastically on bread, pizza, white rice and regular pasta. 

For dinner last night, I picked up four restaurant-quality dinners at Jerry's Gourmet and More in Englewood ($6.99 each) -- the last ones in the refrigerated case.  

Tilapia and haddock

My meal included a lemony tilapia fillet with asparagus, carrot and brussel sprouts; a spinach-and-mozzarella-cheese lasagna; and a stuffed mushroom. 

There was another tilapia dinner and two roast chicken in a balsamic-vinegar glaze with pasta and vegetables -- a perfect family compromise.

Tonight, we're having baked wild-caught, fresh Icelandic haddock fillet I picked up at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack ($7.99 a pound) accompanied by mashed skin-on potatoes with extra-virgin olive oil and an organic spring mix salad.

But this past Tuesday, I had to rummage in the freezer for frozen cod to supplement steamed vegetables and butter beans with smoked mackerel in tomato sauce my mother in law had prepared.

For dinner last Sunday, they ate steaks from Whole Foods Market in Paramus and I ate that day's breakfast -- Jamaican ackee and saltfish -- along with a big salad in an anchovy dressing I prepared. Later, I had fruit and cheese.

Pasta and eggs

One dinner we can agree on is whole-wheat pasta with canned sardines in a red sauce. I usually make a pound at a time, with four cans of sardines, and leftover pasta topped with two eggs fried sunny side up is a great breakfast.

But my son won't stray from white rice, refusing to eat the brown rice I prepare at home, even when I added kimchi and sesame oil to it or turn it into bibimbap with store-bought marinated vegetables.

Image via Wikipedia

Goji Berries.

He also hasn't tried a great eye opener: Bob's Red Mill 10-Grain Hot Cereal -- a 100% whole grain, antioxidant-rich, heart-healthy breakfast that is free of preservatives and chemical additives. A 25-ounce bag costs under $3 at ShopRite.

I usually add dried apricots and blueberries, slivered almonds, raw Chia Seeds and Goji Berries to my hot cereal and sweeten it with organic blue agave syrup. Sometimes, I add a little cold milk to the bowl.

The Chia Seeds and Goji Berries are organic. The former is labeled "Aztec Superfood" and the latter is called "Himalayan Superfruit." Both came from Amazon.com.

Another breakfast I've been making is an egg-white omelet stuffed with reduced-fat Swiss cheese, smoked wild salmon and homemade mint-and-basil pesto. On the side, I have kimchi, olives, even a pickled lemon.

New Web site

Jerry's Gourmet and More put up a new Web site about a month ago, allowing customers to order Jerry's pasta sauce, dried pasta, extra-virgin olive oil and other items through the mail.

Web site: Jerry's Homemade

The Web site doesn't mention all the free samples available (cheese, salami, olive oil and wine), and how they attract frugal seniors such as myself. 

That can prove a problem in the small parking lot with seniors who have difficulty backing out of spaces and others who try to enter through the exit.

One item I simply can't find at Jerry's is black, squid-ink pasta.

Winging it

This past Monday, my wife picked up antibiotic-free Readington Farms chicken at ShopRite -- thighs, drumsticks and wings.

Can someone tell my why wings -- which have a lot of skin and hardly any meat, when compared to thighs and drumsticks -- are priced highest by the pound?

I've found the same price discrepancy at Fairway Market in Paramus with Murray's free-roaming chicken, and I've refused to buy into it. 

Free stuff

Attention Costco customers: The warehouse store is giving away eight 14.5-ounce cans of Del Monte Organic Diced Tomatoes with the purchase of eight cans through Nov. 6 ($7.75). You need a Costco coupon.

I drain the can and add the diced tomatoes to pasta sauce for texture. 

You also can add the tomatoes and juice to a pan, add a little olive oil and red or white wine, top with a whole fresh fish, cover and cook. You can do the same with chicken pieces.

Related posts

• A heart-to-heart talk about food (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)
• Ingredients label has a sweet spot (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)

How most chicken and beef are raised

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Verde Farms imports organic beef from Australia and other countries.

My wife went to ShopRite in Englewood looking for antibiotic-free Readington Farms chicken legs and thighs she planned to prepare for a church member, but the store only had breast meat. So she came home with "jumbo" drumsticks, wings and thighs from Perdue.

I took a look at the words on the Perdue package, claiming the chicken is all natural and "fresh from family farms." Nowhere does it say how the chickens got to be "jumbo."

Perdue says its chickens are raised on an all-vegetarian diet and are "cage free." They receive no animal by-products (bits of dead animals, kitchen scraps and so forth), the package says.

But the package and Perdue's TV ads are silent on antibiotics, which prevent the chickens from getting sick in crowded conditions. Some get too heavy for their legs, and fall over in the chicken houses. The Perdue pieces are noticeably bigger than Readington Farms' chicken parts.

A human who eats a steady diet of meat and poultry raised with antibiotics will be more resistant to prescribed antibiotics.

The Perdue chicken my wife bought on Wednesday was on sale. It's typical for ShopRite to put Perdue on sale, while rarely cutting the price on Readington Farms or organic chicken.

Turning to beef, the Web site of Costco supplier Verde Farms compares how its organic beef is raised to how most other beef is raised. Chef Martin C. Chai explains how he founded the company:

"Verde Farms was conceived at an estancia, or ranch, in the pampas while living in Argentina. Watching the cows roam in the open countryside, I rode alongside a gaucho on horseback experiencing a world so different than my life in the States. After the ride, when we sat down to eat a traditional meal of beef, red wine, more beef, and more wine, I realized that not only did the cattle grazing on the open pasture create a picturesque setting but it also resulted in scrumptious, flavorful beef.

"My interest had been piqued. Upon returning to the States, I began to educate myself about the cattle industry in the US. Unfortunately, the more I learned, the more dismayed I became about the conditions in which the majority of the cattle were raised. Cattle, after a quick stint on the open-range, are quickly relocated into massive feedlots of 50,000-100,000 cattle. Rushed from birth to slaughter in factory-based feedlot systems using government-subsidized corn, pesticides, artificial fertilizers, growth hormones, and antibiotics results in cheap, mass-produced fatty meat that has little inherent flavor. There had to be consumers, like myself, who demanded better. Fortunately, the stars of the Southern Hemisphere aligned. My familiarity with South America and my passion for food soon intersected, and I launched Verde Farms, the premiere brand of free-range organic beef.

"Verde Farm's commitment to importing beef from Uruguay [and other countries] has created the opportunity for American consumers to eat a great-tasting product while also supporting small farmers from a developing economy. When you purchase a product from Verde Farms, you are directly supporting a traditional way of life that has existed for generations and that, with your support, will continue to thrive."

Web site of Costco supplier Verde Farms

Hitting the jackpot at the Can Can Sale

Image by lu_lu via Flickr

You'll search in vain for can can dancers at ShopRite supermarkets.

After dropping my son off at a friend's house in Englewood on Sunday morning, I stopped at the ShopRite in pursuit of more bargains during the supermarket chain's 40th anniversary Can Can Sale.

Ten portions of Swiss Miss hot chocolate were only 88 cents. Even Readington Farms chicken -- raised on vegetarian feed and without antibiotics -- was on sale. I bought wings, leg quarters and drumsticks, saving $1.33, 99 cents and 76 cents, respectively.

I saw Laporta-brand artisanal pasta from Italy for $1.79, a discount of $1.29, and bought two different kinds, each in a 1.1-pound package. But looking at my receipt after I checked out, I saw each package rang up at the regular price of $2.99.

I went to the customer service counter and an employee took one package of the pasta and went to check the sign on the shelf. He returned and refunded me $5.98 on my credit card. So, I got the pasta for free. 

The Can Can Sale ends Jan. 15. 

ShopRite, 40 Nathaniel Place, Englewood; 201-816-8322.

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.

Unexpected buy on organic chicken

Image via Wikipedia

I went to ShopRite in Hackensack this morning to buy Readington Farms chicken for my wife and son, who have resumed eating meat. But I bought Coleman organic chicken instead, because it was nearly half the price.

There was nothing in the sales circular about the organic chicken, and I figured it was a misprint. And there were only skin-on legs available. But at 99 cents a pound, a tray of four legs came to around $1.50 or less, so I bought seven trays, most for the freezer.

Readington Farms legs were selling for the usual $1.89 a pound. And the store was having a 40%-off sale on crappy Perdue chicken. ShopRite rarely has a sale on drug-free chicken.

Both Readington Farms and Coleman raise their chickens on vegetarian feed and without antibiotics. All bets are off on how Perdue chickens are raised, but the parts are much bigger than their naturally raised cousins -- likely as a result of the antibiotics they receive.

My wife likes to rub drug-free chicken legs with Grace-brand jerk sauce (hot), put them in the refrigerator for several hours, then roast them in the oven. We use a meat thermometer, because they take less time to cook than conventional legs.

 

Six months without meat

Image via Wikipedia


























I'm not sure what I expected, but going without meat for six months hasn't resulted in anything dramatic -- except a sense of relief from not always having to worry how the poultry, beef, pork and lamb were raised before I got to them in stores.

My overall cholesterol dropped only four points -- to 176 -- probably because I started eating much more full-fat cheese than before. In the last month or so, I've switched to low-fat cheese and plan to resume eating aged Parmigiano Reggiano (photo), which is made with skim milk.  

I don't think I saved money, because the seafood I substituted for meat often cost more, including Costco's wild sockeye salmon and farm-raised prawns from Vietnam that weigh about two ounces each (eight to a pound) and cost a small fortune.


Do I feel better? Yes. But I can't separate the effects of going to a gym five mornings a week for the past two months or so, and the lighter feeling of not being weighed down by meat.


I've always loved salads and grilled vegetables, and I've been eating them more frequently and incorporating greens and vegetables into sandwiches and frittatas or just eating them on their own.


Last Sunday, I picked up fresh mustard greens and two heads of arugula at the Tenafly farmers' market.


One morning, I quickly blanched the mustard greens, then poured some extra-virgin olive oil and Costco egg whites into a 10-inch, nonstick frying pan. When the eggs set on the bottom, I added the mustard greens, sliced beefsteak tomato and low-fat cheese; sprinkled on some salt and finished the frittata under the broiler. (Preparation tip: Chop greens into bite-size pieces to make frittata easy to portion and eat.)


Today, I made a breakfast sandwich with grilled eggplant and carrot, baked wild salmon with herbs straight from the fridge, cheese and fresh arugula, spreading toasted 100% whole-grain bread with Dijon mustard. Outrageously good.


A friend who is a faithful Costco food shopper invited me over for a lunch the other day and served me items from the warehouse store: A Greek salad with anchovies and crumbled cheese, and a fruit salad with mango, strawberries and other fruit. We had an appetizer of spicy hummus and  drank coffee and seltzer.


For the last few weeks, I've wanted to add antibiotic-free poultry back into my diet -- Readington Farms chicken from ShopRite and turkey parts and duck from Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff.

But I haven't done that yet, secure in the knowledge there are so many other good things to eat that don't involve meat.

A delicious, meatless meatloaf

Image via Wikipedia

Our last meal with meat was on Feb. 28 at Wondee's in Hackensack, and we've tried a number of substitutes -- some good, some great and some we won't be eating again.

Two of our best meals -- great texture and taste -- came from the Original Field Roast Grain Meat Co. in Seattle, which is carrying on a tradition rooted in 7th Century China, according to its Web site. That's where "grain meat," the precursor to seitan, was developed. 

We had a meatloaf and a stuffed celebration roast, both from the refrigerated section of Whole Foods Market in Paramus and both about $7.99. The dense, 1-pound loaves -- made from wheat and vegetables -- each serve three, with rice or potatoes and a salad. In both cases, I heated the loaves in the oven and poured barbecue sauce over them for the last 10 minutes.

www.fieldroast.com 

Fluctuating prices at Costco

One of my favorite purchases at Costco -- Earthbound Farm organic spring mix -- has gone up 50 cents, to $4.99 a pound. Still, you won't find it for less anywhere else. I love this pre-washed salad for taste and convenience -- salad-making or sandwich-stuffing is accomplished in minutes. 


But two pounds of Sunset-brand, herbicide-free Campari tomatoes were $4.59 on Tuesday -- a drop of at least 40 cents. 

One item I bought Tuesday for the first time was a package of six sweet red peppers for $6.99 -- compared to $3.99 a pound at H Mart and $4.99 a pound at ShopRite. There is no weight on the package.

ShopRite's natural meat and poultry

Although we haven't been eating meat, I've kept an eye on ShopRite's sales fliers for discounts on free-range, grass-fed Australian beef and lamb, and its Readington Farms antibiotic-free chicken. None of these have been on sale since the end of March, when you could buy leg of lamb for $1.99 a pound.

The beef is sold under the Nature's Reserve label, but the lamb appears under several names.
  

Comparing supermarkets

If you want to shop right at ShopRite, you'll have to pick the right store. With three ShopRites within 6 miles of my home, that hasn't always been easy.

The ShopRite in Englewood, where I lived for more than 25 years, is the smallest of the three, but carries more of the products I look for when food shopping. The ShopRite in Rochelle Park, though larger, often disappoints when I'm looking for Readington Farms drug-free chicken and doesn't carry the Certified Angus Beef Natural line. The ShopRite in Hackensack, which is closest to me, doesn't seem well-run and doesn't run a sale as often as the Englewood store. Rather than go there, I'd keep driving to the H-Mart, the Korean supermarket at the Little Ferry Circle.

The Englewood store is the only one of the three to carry the Applegate Farms line of preservative-free cold cuts and Certified Angus Beef Natural, which is antibiotic- and hormone-free. On Saturday, I saw London broil and ground beef. It also has the largest selection of Readington Farms vegetarian-fed chicken.

Rochelle Park's strong suit is produce -- large bunches of arugula for 98 cents each and Jersey peaches for 99 cents a pound. But it had a 1-pound container of Campari tomatoes for $4.99, twice the price as elsewhere, and a pound of Olivia's organic spring mix for $6.99 v. Costco's price, $4.49 for Earthbound Farm. On Sunday, a sign said two bunches of arugula or watercress were $4, which seemed high, but the two arugula bunches rang up for $1.99. Basil was $1.49 a bunch, but a few days before, it was $1.69. Go figure.

Still, all the ShopRite stores have sold me more produce that never ripened or rotted overnight, because of poor storage, than I care to remember.

All three stores often fail me when I'm in search of Australian free-range lamb, especially the moderately priced shoulder chops. And the availability of Nature's Reserve free-range steaks from Australia is spotty. I stopped buying fish at ShopRite after an employee in Rochelle Park told me he sprayed it with a preservative. I do buy live lobsters there. (Revised Tuesday, Aug. 4.)

Chicken taste test: Murray's v. Readington Farms

Opening day at Fairway Market in Paramus. Image via Wikipedia

Since Fairway Market opened in Paramus in March, I have been buying and preparing Murray's free-roaming, drug-free, bone-in chicken at home instead of ShopRite's Readington Farms brand, which is also antibiotic-free and fed an all-vegetable diet. Murray's is priced a bit higher.

I usually get leg quarters and roast them with cinnamon and allspice, serving the pieces with rice or pasta cooked in the chicken fat and chicken broth. 


Or I bread the pieces in chili spices before baking them. My wife prepares jerk chicken wings or legs or chicken in a brown sauce. 

The other day, she said she doesn't like Murray's chicken as much as the Readington Farms poultry.

So now I'm buying Readington Farms again and will conduct a side-by-side-comparison sometime in the future. 


Last night, we had Readington Farms wings and leg quarters coated in chili spices (you take breadcrumbs, combine them with the spices and salt in Wick Fowler's 2-Alarm Chili Kit, except for the masa flour, and add sesame seeds and any other spices you might want, then wet the chicken before breading). 

I make a lot of the spicy breading at one time and keep it in the fridge.

Besides tasting better and being better for you than ordinary supermarket chicken like Perdue, drug-free chicken cooks faster.

--VICTOR E. SASSON

Paramus food smackdown: Whole Foods Market v. Fairway

The fresh seafood counter at Whole Foods Market in October 2016.

Editor's note: When I wrote this post in 2009, I couldn't have seen how Fairway Market turned into a terrible place to shop. Prices rose dramatically over the years, and keeping with the staff's New York attitude, a Fairway employee refused to devein the jumbo wild Gulf Shrimp I wanted to buy. At Whole Foods in Paramus, they gladly devein your shrimp.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Food shopping will take a giant leap forward when Whole Foods and Fairway open supermarkets separated by only a few miles in Paramus. 

Whole Foods will get the drop on Fairway, with its grand opening set for Thursday, March 19 (and it's only 1.2 miles from my house); Fairway's opening is scheduled for March 25.

I shop at Fairway's Harlem store just about every time I return from doing something in the city, loading up on Murray's free-roaming, drug-free chicken; inexpensive 32-ounce bottles of Fairway pasta sauce, great fish, goat meat and other items. 

I've visited the Whole Food stores in Edgewater and Ridgewood only sporadically; they are just too inconvenient for someone who lives in Hackensack. I remember going to the Edgewater store when it opened and being disappointed by the selection of tomatoes and the high price of the organic salad mix, but Whole Foods does have great seafood and a wide choice of drug-free poultry and meats.

Whole Foods has the better location, and not only because it's closer to my home. The Fashion Center has always seemed to be in last place in a borough with great malls. Now, it will be interesting to see how the prices compare at the two supermarkets.

One caveat about Fairway's organic, grass-fed beef. Admittedly, I bought the cheaper cuts, but the shoulder steak I prepared last week was one of the toughest I ever ate. My wife couldn't finish her portion. I have another package, a different cut, but will have to find a way to tenderize it.

I'm looking forward to the drug-free pork and ribs available at Whole Foods and the high quality of produce at both stores, a welcome alternative to the crappy stuff sold at other supermarkets.

How many times have I brought home produce from ShopRite that either rotted overnight because of improper refrigeration or never ripened? I have to commend ShopRite for selling Readington Farms chicken, which is raised on a vegetarian feed and never receives antibiotics, and free-range Australian beef and lamb.

A couple of years ago, I asked a Fairway official in the Harlem store why the company initially hesitated in opening a store in northern New Jersey. He said Fairway felt it couldn't compete with the low-price supermarkets like ShopRite. 

But ShopRite is no competition for Fairway, unless you are shopper that judges all food by its price; then you deserve the low-quality of many items and the questionable freshness of fish there.

Here's a shout-out to my friend, Sue. Your husband, Jay, who as you know thinks organic food is a scam, is being careful not to mention the Whole Foods opening this week in Paramus. See you there, Sue.