Don't wait for holiday to make meals a riot of flavor and color

For dinner on Sunday, we had wild-caught shrimp from Mexico -- $16.99 a pound at H Mart in Englewood -- over a moist side dish of organic quinoa prepared in an electric cooker with organic chicken stock, organic diced tomatoes, organic lentils and peeled whole California garlic cloves, all from Costco Wholesale. The shrimp were marinated in chopped garlic and fresh lime juice.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I can't get into Thanksgiving this year. Too much traffic. Too many people in the food stores.

This morning, I made my final holiday shopping trip -- to Whole Foods Market in Paramus for two small naturally raised hams for the meat eaters in the family ($7.99 a pound).

We also have four turkey legs from Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff stored in the freezer, and my wife also plans to serve curry goat and rice with pigeon peas.

I'm planning to have a whole red snapper prepared by a family friend, a crab cake and, possibly, a wild-salmon burger. 

The last two are from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, and already in the freezer.

A sweet Thanksgiving

I bought conventional sweet potatoes from Trader Joe's last week, and today, I picked up organic purple sweet potatoes at Whole Foods.

I'll boil them with whole garlic cloves, drain them and mash them with extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt, cinnamon, curry powder and other seasonings.

We'll also serve a big organic spring mix salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, pomegranate seeds and Grana Padano Cheese, all dressed in EVOO and balsamic vinegar. 

My wife went to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack on Monday right after it opened and reported it was "mobbed."

She bought pomegranates ($14.99), a 9-inch apple pie ($9.99), Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix ($4.79) and 3 pounds of organic bananas ($1.99).

I also went holiday shopping on Monday morning on the way home from the gym, stopping at ShopRite in Paramus for two sale items, a 5-pound box of Spanish Clementines ($4.99) and Turkey Hill Ice Cream ($1.99).

My wife steamed whole wild-caught porgy last week -- $2.49 a pound at H Mart in Englewood -- with fresh okra, onions and sweet peppers.

Quinoa with creamy garlic cloves stood in for bread at breakfast with two organic eggs, non-fat Greek yogurt with cucumbers and mint, and pomegranate seeds. I sprinkled za'atar thyme mixture over the quinoa before I reheated it.

A half-dozen jumbo California Pomegranates were $14.99 at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. Though they are more expensive, the seeds from them are far superior to those from smaller and cheaper pomegranates, such as those I bought for 99 cents each at ShopRite in Paramus.

A 5-pound box of Spanish Clementines were $4.99 at the Paramus ShopRite. The store also had 5-pound boxes of sweet potatoes for $2.49.

A beautiful display of sweet potatoes and yams greeted shoppers this morning at Whole Foods Market in Paramus. I bought about 2 pounds of organic Purple Stokes Sweet Potatoes on sale for $1.49 a pound to mash with conventional sweet potatoes from Trader Joe's.

You can't beat eating breakfast at home

Where can you get a filling and delicious breakfast of organic brown eggs, wild and brown rices, and broccoli with plenty of garlic? At home.

I like the way the cheese in a wedge of homemade frittata with tomato, pesto and smoked wild salmon melts into the organic brown rice when re-heated for a few minutes in the microwave.

Editor's note: I love dinner leftovers for the boost they give me at breakfast. Today, I also discuss picking up the last few items I need for Thanksgiving on Thursday.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Eating out is expensive, and you don't always know what you're eating or how it's prepared.

Why stop for one of those egg-and-mystery meat sandwiches when you can buy preservative- and antibiotic-free bacon at Trader Joe's that microwaves in minutes?

Skipping breakfast at home is especially foolhardy, because it deprives you of taking advantage of those great dinner leftovers to help launch your day.

An important component of my weight-loss strategy is to have a filling breakfast at home, allowing me to avoid all those unhealthy temptations at Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.

And I can skip lunch by relying on snack bars from Kashi and Nature's Bakery (try the terrific Fig Bar available at Costco Wholesale). 

Few places offer such breakfasts as the eggs with fried or broiled whiting you can order at the Golden Grill on Queen Anne Road in Teaneck, where a bottle of hot sauce stands ready on every table.

But when eating breakfast at home, you can always plate a piece of leftover fish -- such as the fried haddock, onions and sweet peppers we had the other night -- with a wedge of frittata and pasta or rice.

Coscto Wholesale in Hackensack was a pleasure in the first hour it was open today, above and below. Maybe the bad weather kept pre-Thanksgiving shoppers away.

Today at Costco

The doors were thrown open well before 10 this morning at the Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, and it was a pleasure for me and other early shoppers to pick up the last few items for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.

There was no line at the Seafood Road Show, and I went overboard, asking for five Alaskan King Crab legs and claws at $19.99 a pound.

They weighed in at nearly 3 pounds or $58.57.

I also picked up a 4.60-pound bag of wild-caught Littleneck Clams for $3.49 a pound or $16.05. 

Among other items, I purchased 10 pounds of organic carrots for $7.99, and 6 pounds of Bosc Pears for $5.99.

As I headed for the exit of the parking lot around 10:20 this morning, I noticed a line of cars going out to the street as lazy shoppers were trying to get spots closest to the doors.

I saw the same phenomena when I visited the Wayne Costco on Monday.

At Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood, the Meals To Go went fast today.

We're sorry

This afternoon, at Jerry's Gourmet & More on South Dean Street in Englewood, the parking lot was full, but the refrigerated case holding Meals To Go was empty.

An employee explained the store prepared a ton of dinners, only to see them sold out during the morning hours.

The restaurant-quality dinners of fish, pork and chicken with pasta, vegetables and other side dishes are only $7.99 or $5.99 after 4 p.m.

This year, we're giving thanks without the turkey

The wine department at Costco Wholesale in Wayne offers some pricey bottles, above. A 3-liter bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne from France is priced at $299.99.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Our Thanksgiving menu this year offers a bounty for meat eaters and vegetarians alike, but doesn't include the traditional turkey.

A whole turkey hasn't been the centerpiece of our meal for several years, because we prefer the dark meat and usually visit Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff for naturally raised drumsticks, thighs, wings and necks.

This year, we're picking up ingredients for the holiday meal at Whole Foods Market, Costco Wholesale and ShopRite.

For the meat eaters, we'll serve a Niman Ranch Smoked Uncured Petite Ham from Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

This fully cooked, 3.3-pound ham -- which is vegetarian fed and raised without antibiotics or growth hormones -- was $7.99 a pound. 

We'll also serve a Kirkland Signature Frenched Lamb Rack from Australia ($10.99 a pound) that I picked up today at the Costco Wholesale in Wayne.

Kirkland Signature Champagne, left, and California Cabernet Sauvignon flanking Beaujolais Nouveau.

I drove to Wayne to shop the only Costco wine, beer and liquor department in the area, picking up Kirkland Signature Cabernet Sauvignon and Kirkland Signature Champagne (Brut).

A 1.5-liter bottle of the California wine was a bargain at $7.99. 

The champagne, from France, was $19.99, about half the price of such premium brands as Veuve Clicquot Brut (more than $40 at Costco).

I also purchased a bottle of Goerges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau for $8.39, about 60 cents less than elsewhere.

The new wine has always been overpriced, and this year is no exception.

On Wednesday, I plan to shop the Seafood Road Show at the Hackensack Costco for Alaskan king crab legs and mussels.

They will be part of my Thanksgiving seafood meal, which also may include whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, and sardines, shrimp or salted cod -- possibly all three.

For side dishes, we also have ShopRite sweet potatoes to bake or mash; and broccoli, organic spring mix and Campari Tomatoes from Costco.

As for turkey, I plan to donate a whole one to the Center for Food Action in Englewood, as I do every year.

The early bird gets the turkey

A festive display at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

Boxes of  Spanish clementines were piled high at the Paramus ShopRite.

This morning, on the way home from the gym, I finished the food shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner.

As we've been doing all week, I went to stores early to beat the crowds.

I stopped at the ShopRite in Paramus for another Golden Pineapple ($1.99), a 5-pound box of clementines from Spain ($4.99) and four bottles of 100% sparkling Apple Cider, also from Spain, at the lowest price I've ever seen, 2 for $3.

I also picked up half-gallons of ShopRite lactose-free milk ($3.39 each) and 1.5 quarts of Breyers ice cream ($1.99). 

At the Paramus ShopRite, Lactaid milk was on sale, but not the store brand. What appear to be gallons of Lactaid (bottom shelf) are only 96 ounces, not a full 128 ounces.

 

My next stop was Whole Foods Market, less than a half-mile from the ShopRite.

The store had a festive air, and I saw chestnuts from Italy, Brussels sprouts and other fall items in the produce section.

I headed for cold cases opposite the butcher counter to buy a Niman Ranch Petite Ham, which is boneless and smoked, to supplement the antibiotic-free turkey parts we picked up last week at the Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff.

The ham ($7.99 a pound) is uncured and contains no preservatives, and comes from an animal that was raised on vegetarian feed and never received antibiotics and growth hormones.

At checkout, a woman ahead of me told Whole Foods employees she was going to the poultry farm for her turkey, but would have to wait on line for 2 hours.

I mentioned Goffle Road Poultry Farm is selling duck eggs for $1 each, and the workers said Whole Foods charges 99 cents for a duck egg. 

The front label of a Niman Ranch ham at Whole Foods Market.

  


On Monday, my wife stopped at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack and I returned on Tuesday for farm-raised U-15 Black Tiger Shrimp (4 pounds for $41.99); 3 pounds of sodium-free raw Mexican almonds to roast at home ($12.99); corn and crab chowder, lobster bisque, seedless red grapes, Bartlett pears, organic brown eggs, multi-grain bread, and organic salad mix.

Sunset Gourmet cucumbers at Costco are shorter, but the price is higher ($3.99).

H&Y Marketplace

About 10 days ago, I stopped at H&Y Marketplace, a Korean supermarket on South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, and noticed all of the price signs had the words "Healthy & Young" on them.

That's a stretch.

The floor of the store was worn and torn up in places. Live lobsters were displayed on ice, not in a tank of water.

Produce, prepared foods and other items didn't look as fresh and appetizing as they do at H Mart, the supermarket chain once known as Han Ah Reum.

And the prices for everything at H&Y Marketplace appeared to be slightly higher than at H Mart, and the quantities smaller.

The H Mart in Little Ferry has seen better days, but it's a more pleasant shopping experience than the Bergenfield H&Y Marketplace, as is the freshened Englewood H Mart.


24 Hour Fitness

I've been going to 24 Hour Fitness in Paramus since January, because I get a free gym membership as part of my AARP Part B Medicare health insurance.

And on the way home, I can stop at ShopRite and Whole Food Market.

The gym is a huge, impersonal place, where early morning employees seem more intent on getting large cups of coffee than on doing their jobs.

After my usual 30 minutes on a recumbent bicycle on the upper level of gym, I went over to a paper-towel dispenser so I could wipe down the equipment with a disinfectant spray the gym provides.

Most of the dispensers were empty.

Downstairs, I called over to an employee carrying a large cup of takeout coffee and said most of the "paper dispensers" were empty.

"What's empty?" she replied.

Your head, I thought.

   

Put the turkey farm on your shopping list

Slow down for antibiotic-free turkey.

Editor's note: It's time to get ready for Thanksgiving.

How do you know the holidays are just around the corner?

Clementines show up in the supermarket after a long journey from Spain, and it's time to visit the Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff.

The buildings may be covered with solar panels, but turkeys, chicken and other poultry are raised the old-fashioned way: without harmful antibiotics or animal by-products.

Thousands of Thanksgiving turkey shoppers walk through this door.

We serve turkey parts to guests on Thanksgiving, rather than a whole, big-breasted bird, so this morning I called in an order for 6 legs, 6 thighs, 6 wings and 6 pounds of turkey necks.

I'll probably be eating homemade shrimp and pasta, plenty of salad and wine.

When I stopped in to pick up the order around 3 this afternoon, I also bought an 18-ounce bottle of Uncle Dougie's Wicked Good No-Fry Wing Marinade for $5.95 or 50 cents more than last year.

My bill for the fresh-killed turkey and marinade was $49.15, but I passed on a guilty pleasure, big-yolk duck eggs, now $1 each.

The poultry farm also sells wild turkeys. 

It's the kind of friendly place where an employee gave lollipops to the children of two Japanese housewives who were waiting for their fresh-killed poultry.


Goffle Road Poultry Farm, 549 Goffle Road, Wyckoff; 201-444-3238. Web site: Gobble, gobble

At the Paramus ShopRite on Tuesday, the price of tangerines was a guessing game, but on Wednesday, a sign told shoppers they were five for $1.99.

Clementines from Spain were $4.99, a discount of $2.

   

The ShopRite in Paramus on Wednesday had a good buy on a 5-pound box of Spanish clementines for $4.99, and continued to offer Golden Pineapples for $1.99 each.

Jerry's Gourmet and More in Englewood.

 At Jerry's in Englewood, I picked up 2.2-pound boxes of La Santa Maria Fine Iodized Sea Salt for 99 cents each.
 

I added Jerry's assorted Italian olives and whole garlic cloves to a salad.

Another great item at Jerry's are assorted Italian olives and whole garlic cloves for a low $3.99 a pound (410 S. Dean St.; 201-871-7108).

I stopped there on the way home from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, where I volunteer on Wednesdays and pick up a vegetarian soup and salad from the Garden Cafe.

At home, I added Jerry's olives, manchego cheese and smoked Alaskan wild salmon to turn the salad into dinner, and poured myself a glass of red wine.

A snack of smoked wild salmon, whole-grain mustard and reduced-fat cheese.

 

I eat Costco Wholesale's Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon year-round, not just at the holidays.

The price for a 1-pound package of the preservative-free salmon, in two sealed portions, has held steady at $15.39.

At Fairway Market in Paramus, smoked farmed salmon is nearly $30 a pound. 

I also add this wild salmon to my open-face egg-white omelets with manchego or reduced-fat sliced cheese, or eat it out of hand with sliced cheese and Trader Joe's Whole Grain Dijon Mustard.
 
 

What you buy when meat is off the table

Image via Wikipedia

The First Thanksgiving by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863-1930).

On my weekly, pre-Thanksgiving swing through Costco in Hackensack on Monday, I spent $123.77 -- every penny on food.


I plan to eat a homemade carrot-and-fennel soup, and lobster ravioli for my holiday dinner, while serving my wife, son and guests turkey drumsticks and thighs from Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff.

At Costco, I picked up more Pasta Prima lobster ravioli ($11.99), enough for two dinners, and a two-pound bag of kale ($2.99) that I plan to sautee with extra-virgin olive oil and garlic as a Thanksgiving side dish.

My other purchases:

• Kirkland-brand smoked and sliced, wild-caught sockeye salmon ($14.99 for 16  ounces).
• Kirkland-brand frozen, wild-caught Pacific mahi-mahi fillets ($15.99 for 48 ounces).
• Kirkland-brand frozen, wild-caught Pacific cod fillets ($14.99 for 32 ounces).
• Earthbound Farm organic spring mix salad ($4.49 for 16 ounces).
• Jarlsberg sliced, reduced fat cheese ($8.99 for 32 ounces).
• Bartlett pears ($6.49 for 12).
• Newman's Own 100% grape juice ($6.99 for two, three-quart bottles).

I also bought cans of Le Sueur sweet peas, and Kirkland-brand sweet corn kernels and fancy green beans to donate to the Center for Food Action in Englewood, which said it was seeking canned vegetables and potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner baskets.

New beaujolais, lower price for Australian lamb

I have been very happy for decades drinking the new beaujolais from France with my Thanksgiving turkey, and may choose the light, fruity wine again this year. Total Wine & More in River Edge is selling the 2009 red wine from producer Georges Duboeuf for $7.49 a bottle. I bought the same wine for $7.99 last week at the liquor store next to Costco in Hackensack (you don't need a membership card to shop there).
 
We had some nice dinners of  free-range, grass-fed Australian shoulder lamb chops I bought on sale for $3.69 a pound with a store card from Stop & Shop, but they were a lot bonier than pictured in the sale flier. Now, Pathmark is offering these same chops for $2.49 a pound with its store card, from Nov. 27-Dec. 3. The lower price may make the bone factor easier to swallow.

Thanksgiving food and wine run

Image via Wikipedia

I made three stops this afternoon, gathering ingredients, prepared dishes and wine for our Thanksgiving dinner at home.

First, I went to Total Wine & More in River Edge to replenish my supply of red wine. The most expensive bottle I bought was $9.99 -- a malbec from Argentina. I also brought home shiraz, bordeaux, pinot noir and some Italian bubbly, nine bottles in all for a total for $70.53, including tax and a $5-off coupon on the purchase of $50 or more. I'm no expert; all I want is drinkable wine. (135 Kinderkamack Road, River Edge; 201-968-1777)

My second stop was the store at Abma's Farm in Wyckoff, where I picked up prepared sausage-and-apple stuffing ($9.99), cranberry relish (cranberries, sugar and oranges, $6.49), yams and sweet white potatoes. We already have a pumpkin pie. (700 Lawlins Road, Wyckoff; 201-891-0278)

Finally, I drove to the Goffle Road Poultry Farm, also in Wyckoff, to pick up the sleek heritage turkey I had reserved. It was a 12 -pounder for $32.25, which seems low. When I got home, I called and was told they charge $2.29 a pound live weight, before the bird is killed, cleaned and so forth.  (549 Goffle Road, Wyckoff; 201-444-3238)

I'm still not sure I got the right turkey. This is what I wrote Oct. 8 after calling the poultry farm:

This year, we plan to buy a heritage turkey, which was developed in the United States and Europe over hundreds of years. The Narragansett variety sold in Wyckoff will be going for $5.95 a pound (live weight) and the bird we get will weigh 8-10 pounds after gutting and cleaning. Compared to the ungainly, tasteless, broad-breasted white turkey, the Narragansett is an athlete with flavorful meat.

It was pretty busy today and tomorrow will be a zoo. I'm not sure what I will do. If the bird I have is not one of the heritage breeds, at least I know it was raised  on a vegetarian feed and without antibiotics. Last year, I wanted a heritage bird, but the Web site didn't mention the farm had them and we settled for turkey parts.

Two store-bought Thanksgiving dinners

I've reserved my sleek heritage turkey and I'm planning a simple menu at home for Thanksgiving, but you can avoid all the work by buying complete dinners at several North Jersey markets.

Comparing offerings by Fairway Market in Paramus and Maywood's Marketplace, you'd get a far better deal and can feed more people with the dinner from the mid-size specialty market in bustling Maywood.




Fairway is preparing dinner for six at $119 and dinner for 12 at $199. For six, the Maplecrest turkey is 10-12 pounds and appears to be raised conventionally with antibiotics. Also, Fairway doesn't say whether the bird's feed was vegetarian. You might be able to substitute a drug-free, free-roaming Murray's turkey or an organic bird, at higher cost.


Maywood's Marketplace says its dinner will feed 12 people for $99.99 or $129.99, if you want fruit salad and steamed veggies. The turkey weighs 18 pounds and appears to be raised conventionally.

Dinners from both markets include the turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy and one (Fairway) or two pies. Fairway also gives you soup, sweet potatoes and dinner rolls.

The Fairway flier that came with today's paper is heralding a Thanksgiving stock-up sale Nov. 20-26 in Parmaus "priced like it's 1999 -- woo-hoo."

Fairway Market, Fashion Center Mall, Route 17 north, Paramus; 201-267-9700. 
 www.fairwaymarket.com


Maywood's Marketplace, 78 W. Pleasant Ave., Mayroood; 201-843-8361. 
www.wmarketnyc.com

Turkey drumsticks, custom-ground coffee

The crowds are building at the Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff, where we stopped to pick up turkey parts I ordered over the phone and to reserve a heritage turkey for Thanksgiving. All of the birds sold here are raised on a vegetarian diet and without antibiotics.

As a special treat, I also got six duck eggs -- which are yolkier than the ones from chickens -- because we have been using egg beaters for about a year now to help keep our cholesterol down. For the eggs, three turkey drumsticks, three thighs, three wings and four pounds of turkey neck, I paid a total of $26.80. (549 Goffle Road, Wyckoff; 201-444-3238. www.gofflepoultry.com)

Our next stop was Fairway Market in Paramus, because I had run out of their custom-ground coffee. I picked up three pounds of dark- and medium-roasted beans, ground Turkish style, for $4.99 to $7.99 a pound, several dollars below anything available at Starbucks.

But I noticed some of the Fairway sale items weren't all that they seemed. The store is selling three one-pound containers of Campari tomatoes for $5 -- a good buy -- but these were not herbicide-free. Jumbo white shrimp from U.S. waters are $5.99 a pound, which is a good price if they were wild-caught, which they are not.

I did indulge myself with the purchase of a wedge of Spanish fig cake with nuts. However, it seemed pricey at $8.99 a pound.  (Fairway Market, 35 E. Ridgewood Ave., Paramus; 201-444-5455. www.fairwaymarket.com)