In the wide world of food and drink, here are some of my favorite things

Garofalo Whole Wheat Pappardelle isn't organic and it's more expensive than the imported organic whole-wheat pastas sold at ShopRite and other stores. But these wide, mouth-filling noodles have an appeal no other shape can match. Here, I dressed them with Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale ($7.99). A 1-pound package of pappardelle is $2.59 at Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St., Englewood. Cook them for 10 minutes in unsalted boiling water, not the 8 minutes listed on the package.

I stuffed an egg-white omelet with slices of Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon, Basil Pesto and reduced-fat Swiss cheese, all from Costco. A 1-pound package of the sliced salmon is $15.99. The Hackensack Costco is closing on Tuesday, and a bigger Costco will open in the Teterboro Landing Shopping Center off of Route 46 on Wednesday.

Arirang Kimchi is made by hand in a storefront in the H&Y Shopping Center, 1 Remsen Place, Ridgefield. This crunchy mahk or cabbage kimchi is about $11 for a half-gallon jar.

Mustard greens were $1.79 a pound at H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike, Little Ferry. At home, I washed the greens, cut them into smaller pieces and sauteed them with olive and sesame oils, and minced garlic. Seasonings included black pepper, red-pepper flakes and sea salt.

Two cage-free organic eggs over organic quinoa, which I prepared in a rice cooker with organic diced tomatoes, and drained and rinsed black beans. Two dozen organic eggs are $6.99 at Costco Wholesale. Quinoa has fewer carbs than rice or pasta. 

These bottles of red wine from Chile and Portugal were among 15 shipped to me from Splash Wines, an online retailer. I paid about $5.67 a bottle with a Groupon ($55.20) and shipping ($29.95). I especially like the Carmenere from Chile's Colchagua Valley, left.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Whole eggs or just whites, try these great breakfasts

Two organic eggs from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack served over leftover organic brown rice, both seasoned with za'atar thyme mixture from Fattal's Bakery in Paterson. The eggs also get a pinch of Aleppo pepper, also from Fattal's. As the eggs were cooking in extra-virgin olive oil, I shaved Costco's Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese over them.

A wedge of frittata made with Kirkland Signature Egg Whites from Costco, chopped garlic and green pepper, shredded cheese and fresh tomatoes. Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto was added after the frittata came out of the oven, and the wedge was served with a leftover organic brown rice-lentil dish prepared in an electric cooker.

Two organic eggs sunny side up with Aleppo pepper are served with skin-on sweet potatoes and garlic cloves that were boiled together, then mashed with extra-virgin olive oil, Costco's Himalayan Pink Salt, cinnamon and other seasoning.

This morning, I threw together a quick egg-white omelet with Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon and a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese, and ate it with leftover steamed wild haddock fillet from Costco, right, and a spinach-like green called collaloo. The Canadian haddock was $8.99 a pound.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Going nuts and getting soaked at Costco Wholesale

These 2-pound bags of raw hazelnuts at Costco Wholesale are imported from Canada, but the label says, "Product of Turkey or USA." They are $10.99 a bag.

Northern New Jersey had another day of on-and-off thunderstorms on Monday, but the rain had stopped when I got out of the car at Costco Wholesale, armed with a full-size umbrella.

As I write this, even more heavy rain is falling today, just as it did on Monday and last Friday.

On Monday, by the time I had checked out with more than $106 worth of fresh wild king salmon, smoked wild salmon, beefsteak tomatoes, seedless watermelon, canned fish and other items, Hackensack was hit by another wind-whipped rainstorm.

Back of the lot

It was a long walk to the car, which I usually park at the back of the lot to avoid the congestion of lazy shoppers who insist on a space closest to the door.

The umbrella kept my head and shoulders dry, but the wind-whipped rain soaked my shirt sleeves and the back of my pants, not to mention everything in my cart.

When I opened my car doors, the seats got wet, and when I grabbed the soaked box of 4 Tropicana half-gallons, the box broke and flew out of my hand onto the carpeted floor in front of the back seat.

A heavy, oblong seedless watermelon (no bargain at $7.49) nearly slipped out of my hands before it landed on a car seat.

One shopper abandoned a bag of sweet peppers at the Heinz Tomato Ketchup display. Did he or she think ketchup is a vegetable?

Kirkland Signature spices come in the same size jar, but their weight varies.

Snacking nuts

In the store, a display of raw, sodium-free hazelnuts caught my eye.

I decided to try a 2-pound bag for snack food, and roasted them at home in a 275-degree oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes, then dusted them with Kirkland Signature Ground Saigon Cinnamon from Vietnam.

We've been doing the same with  Costco's salt-free raw almonds, and four of us usually finish a 3-pound bag in about 10 days.

At 2 pounds for $10.99, the hazelnuts are more expensive than the almonds, but they have a distinctive taste.

At $2.59 for a 10.7-ounce bottle, Kirkland Signature Ground Saigon Cinnamon from Vietnam is one of the cheapest items in the Hackensack warehouse store. Only 3 pounds of bananas at $1.39 are cheaper.

Leftover wild king salmon with steamed organic quinoa, both from Costco.

A canned-fish salad over organic spring mix, with beefsteak tomato and hothouse cucumber, all from Costco. Canned tuna, pink salmon, and sardines are combined with chopped celery and apple, and dressed with hummus, Dijon mustard, lime juice and ground cumin.

A quick egg-white omelet with Trader Joe's Jalapeno Yogurt Cheese and Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco.

Food shopping in San Francisco

A Trader Joe's in South San Francisco, Calif.

Editor's note: Food shopping in San Francisco was only slightly different than in North Jersey, but after a week there I was glad to get back to my familiar stores.

 
Jack and Rina, my hosts in San Francisco, spend most of their food-shopping dollars at Trader Joe's and Costco Wholesale.

Jack picked me up at the airport on Feb. 13 and, after we had a bite to eat, we headed over to a big Costco store in South San Francisco.

I wanted to buy a few familiar items that would make me feel more at home as well as compare this store to the Costco warehouse store in Hackensack, where I usually shop. 

Image via Wikipedia

The South San Francisco store appears to be bigger than the one in Hackensack, with many more tables and chairs in the food court. And the selection and brand names differ, and so do some of the prices.

I found Costco's Kirkland Signature Smoked Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon for $15.59 or about 20 cents more than I paid the last time I bought the 1-pound package in Hackensack. 

But Earthbound Farm's Organic Spring Mix was only $3.79 -- compared to $4.79 to $4.99 for the 1-pound package in North Jersey.

I also picked up three bottles of organic carrot juice, cartons of egg whites and dried organic Black Mission figs.

But when I went over to the fresh-fish case, I could find only farmed fish, including whole trout.

Three days later, the fish case offered several wild-caught fillets: Pacific rock fish for $5.99 a pound, California halibut for $12.99 a pound, True Pacific Cod for $5.99 a pound and Pacific Sea Bass for $12.99 a pound.

In Hackensack, I usually find cod for a couple of bucks more a pound, haddock from Iceland and flounder -- all wild-caught. Fresh wild salmon is sold in North Jersey from the end of May until October.

The sea bass made a wonderful main dish for dinner at Jack and Rina's, cooked on the stove top for about 15 minutes with a can of organic diced tomatoes, olive oil, fresh lemon juice and organic non-salt seasoning -- all from Costco or Trader Joe's.

Image via Wikipedia

At Trader Joe's, I found a 1-pound package of Smoked Wild Sockeye Salmon for $16.99. I checked the sodium content, which is about the same as the cheaper Costco smoked wild salmon for a 2-ounce portion.

Trader Joe's also was selling non-organic Gala apples for 59 cents each, but the store didn't have a produce scale. An employee said Trader Joe's prices on produce were better than at Safeway, one of the big supermarket chains. 

I wanted lactose-free milk at Trader Joe's, but found only Lactaid half-gallons for $3.99. I passed, thinking I could do better at Safeway. I was wrong.

I couldn't find a store brand of lactose-free milk at Safeway, and Lactaid was $4.69 for a half-gallon.

Small Gala apples at Safeway were $1.99 a pound, and when I weighed one, it was 8 ounces, meaning they were about a buck apiece, compared to 59 cents for the larger apples at Trader Joe's.

I also purchased Two Buck Chuck -- $1.99 bottles of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon red wine from Trader Joe's. We opened a bottle at dinner and it was drinkable.

The Trader Joe's we visited was in a shopping center -- one floor below the parking lot. It had up and down escalators for shoppers, and in the middle another up escalator for shopping carts.

Jack mentioned there was a large Korean supermarket in the city, but we never got there, so I can't compare it to the H Marts in North Jersey.

Costco Wholesale, 451 S. Airport Boulevard, South San Francisco, Calif.

Trader Joe's, 265 Winston Drive, San Francisco, Calif.

Safeway, 2350 Noriega St., San Francisco, Calif. 

Jersey bounce

Back in North Jersey,  I resumed visiting my familiar food stores.

On Tuesday, I picked up fresh mustard greens for 69 cents a pound, three blood oranges for $1 and 3 pounds of small Fuji apples for $2.49 at H Mart in Englewood.

Sauder's Cage Free Large Brown Eggs were $2.99 a dozen, and store-prepared stewed tofu was $3.25.

On Wednesday, I found the store brand of 2% lactose-free milk for only $2.89 in the grocery section of Target in Hackensack. A half-gallon of Lactaid 1% milk with added calcium was only $3.59. 

I got 5% off my order for using a Target credit card and 5 cents back for a reusable bag. 

At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, a trio of large, seedless, pesticide-free cucumbers were only $2.99 -- $1 less than the last time I bought them. Earthbound Farm's Organic Spring Mix was $4.99.

A half-dozen yellow mangoes from Mexico were $5.99. They have a sweet, silky interior that makes them worth the price. Five pounds of Sunset greenhouse-grown beefsteak tomatoes were $6.99.

I also bought 64-ounce cartons of Tropicana 100% Florida Orange Juice, organic 1% milk, wild-caught haddock fillets and 2 pounds of French green beans. 

Rebates and coupons


At my Costco, I used a $489.22 reward coupon from the American Express True Earnings Card -- and left the store with more than $415 in cash. 

The card gives me a 3% rebate on gasoline purchases, 2% back at restaurants and for travel, and 1% back at Costco and everywhere else.

In the mail today, I received a $10 off coupon, if I spend $75 or more at Fairway Market in Paramus -- good until March 1.

The New York-based supermarket is continuing its "shock prices" campaign to lure shoppers to its store in the Fashion Center mall on Route 17 north. 

Eating alone

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My wife and son are away, freeing me from having to prepare dinner for three this week.

So I've been eating this and that for breakfast and dinner, and keeping our meatless pledge.

Our last meal together was Sunday night, when I served lobster ravioli with pesto sauce and king crab-and-corn chowder -- all from Costco in Hackensack -- along with toasted Balthazar Bakery bread and a salad of organic greens. (Photo: Basil leaves.)

We went to Lotus Cafe in Hackensack for dinner Saturday night -- tofu and spinach soup, large shrimp in chili sauce, lo mien with vegetables and snow pea tips with fresh garlic.

On my own Monday, I had a sardine sandwich for breakfast and fish and pasta for dinner -- spinach egg noodles with pesto and steamed Pacific flounder (from frozen).

This morning, I grazed for breakfast on leftover dips from Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson, smoked salmon fillet, sardines, cheese, a toasted bagel, sliced tomato with za'atar thyme mixture and kimchi, all washed down with black tea.

Dinner came from H Mart in Englewood, where I found a spicy fish-and-tofu soup ($4.99) and rolls of rice, vegetables, imitation crab and seaweed ($3.49). I ate the soup with steamed yellow rice I prepared.

Food prices go up and down

You can find wild Alaskan sockeye salmon three ways at Costco -- canned, smoked without preservatives and frozen in fillets. I picked up the last two yesterday at the Hackensack store and one pound of the wild lox rang up at $14.79 -- a hike of 80 cents and the first price change in a long while. Even at the higher price, you won't be able to find smoked wild-caught salmon for less at Trader Joe's or Fairway Market.

Three pounds of frozen wild salmon runs about $8.50 a pound at Costco. I put these fillets into a glass dish and place it over a steamer. I cover the fish after adding cheap sake, sesame oil and some fish sauce, and steam them for about 15 minutes for medium. I've cooked them frozen and defrosted.

Also at Costco, small, round Campari hot-house tomatoes were $4.99 for two pounds -- 50 cents less than a couple of weeks ago. These are not herbicide-free, however.

At H Mart, the Korean supermarket near the Little Ferry Circle, five pounds of Earthbound Farms organic carrots were $5.49 on Saturday, according to the sign on the shelf, but mine rang up at $4.99, the old price. Green Swiss chard was $1.49 a pound, according to the sign, but mine rang up at 79 cents a pound. I bought collard greens there in previous weeks that also rang up less than the price on the sign, but eventually the store computer caught up. At ShopRite, my experience often is the opposite -- the register charges you more than the sign price -- and you curse if you don't see that until you get home.

Also at H Mart, I bought 20 pounds of Kokuho-brand, yellow-label, California-grown rice for $12.99, on sale from $19.99. This rice also was on sale a month ago and that's what we've been eating ever since. In the southern United States, some rice is grown in old cotton fields and carries traces of the arsenic used to kill pests.

Chuck, one of my readers, reports that Murray's free-roaming, antibiotic-free boneless chicken breast is on sale this week at Kings Super Markets for $1.99 a pound, a great price.