Summer delights: Grilled Jersey peaches, salad with ripe figs

This morning, I finally found decent looking Jersey peaches at the ShopRite in Paramus, where they were $1.49 a pound, 50 cents more than when they first appeared and didn't look good enough to buy. The labels on the peaches themselves matched the box, which is not always the case.

Start with a spray can of canola or olive oil, heat up a grill pan, add peach halves and listen for the sizzle ...

Turn the peaches, grill some more and then add a little Ground Saigon Cinnamon from Costco Wholesale. Grilled ripe peaches go perfectly with wild sockeye salmon, also available at Costco.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The hard Jersey peaches I bought this morning are ripening on my kitchen counter until they are ready for my stove-top grill.

When I brought them home, I still had a few South Carolina peaches I got last week instead of the misshapen Jersey fruit I saw at the ShopRite in Paramus.

So, I grilled them on the stove top, and dusted them with cinnamon.

They'll go great with leftover wild sockeye salmon I have in the refrigerator -- making a sweet and savory dinner.

Don't you just love summer fruit?

I sliced ripe, sugary Black Mission Figs from California for this salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, salt-free almonds I roast at home and dust with cinnamon, and small plum tomatoes from my garden. The dressing is extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

It pays to comparison shop for fish, shrimp and rotisserie chickens

Whole Foods Market in Paramus has the best seafood counter in northern New Jersey (2018 photo).



By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

You'll find some of the freshest seafood at Whole Foods Market in Paramus -- and some of the highest prices, too.

I was looking over the wonderful fish display on Tuesday and noticed wild-caught Gulf of Mexico shrimp for $16.99 a pound.

I just happened to be carrying the sales flier from Fairway Market in Paramus and pulled it out to show the Whole Foods fishmonger.

Fairway has wild-caught Gulf of Mexico shrimp on sale for $7.99 a pound through Sept. 5. 

Fairway calls its shrimp "jumbo," while Whole Foods says there are 16 to 20 shrimp in a pound. They could very well be the same shrimp.

Whole Foods does have wild bay scallops from Mexico on sale for $7.99 a pound, a discount of $4 a pound -- as part of a "Madness Sale" that ends today.

Wild-caught, meaty hake fillets from the U.S.A. are $5.99 a pound, a savings of $3 a pound. I've tried these and they are terrific eating.

Whole Foods also has a sale on Jersey Fresh peaches at $1.19 a pound -- about what I paid on Monday at Costco for large peaches that were distributed by a New Jersey company, but appear to be from South Carolina.


Image via Wikipedia
I also noticed Whole Foods' naturally raised rotisserie chickens now are $8.99 each -- up a dollar -- but you can save $3 by buying two for $14.98. I rate this chicken tops in North Jersey.

On the coffee line at Whole Foods, I said to the woman in front of me, "This store should give out more free samples."

She agreed, and said that's why she likes shopping at Costco. I told her she'd find great free samples, especially cheese, at Jerry's Gourmet and More on South Dean Street in Englewood, and not to miss Balthazar Bakery on that same street.

This morning at H Mart in Little Ferry, I picked up two dozen black figs from California for $7.99, and the ripe one I ate after breakfast was like sugar.

I had a cheese omelet filled with pesto, accompanied by the Korean supermarket's stewed tofu in red-pepper sauce, and cabbage and radish kimchis.