At our holiday feast, we throw in the towel a couple of fish short of mark

TODAY'S FIRST FISH: Lobster Bisque from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro with a pinch of Aleppo red pepper.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

After I gave up meat and poultry, the Italian-American Feast of the Seven Fishes has always been my idea of a great celebratory meal.

OK. So I took a little liberty, serving the feast on Christmas Day instead of Christmas Eve.

And both me and my son just didn't have room for the Sixth and Seventh Fish -- organic whole-wheat pasta with sardines and anchovies.

And if purists insist that I shouldn't have had lobster twice, I offer up the egg-white omelet I had for breakfast today -- stuffed with wild Alaskan smoked sockeye salmon and reduced-fat Swiss cheese.

SECOND AND THIRD FISH: Salads of fresh-cooked live lobster and canned wild Alaskan pink salmon, both dressed with fresh lime juice, Dijon mustard and seasonings. 

$8.99 A POUND AT SHOPRITE IN PARAMUS: I boiled three live lobsters weighing a total of 3.95 pounds for 12 minutes, and used the tender claw, knuckle and tail meat to make the lobster salads.

FOURTH FISH: A Maryland-style jumbo lump crab cake, with a spoonful of basil pesto, both from Costco.

TRADER JOE'S STUFFED LOBSTER HALF: We had only one frozen crab cake left so I served my son a frozen item from Trader Joe's in Paramus, a shell stuffed with lobster, crab and langostino.

FIFTH FISH: Live Prince Edward Island Mussels, also from the Paramus ShopRite, cooked quickly in a covered pot with chicken broth, sesame oil, sake, fresh tomatoes, and chopped garlic, sweet pepper, celery and scallion.

SIXTH AND SEVENTH FISH: Our final course in today's Feast of the Seven Fishes was supposed to be leftover organic whole wheat pasta spirals (ShopRite) with Moroccan sardines (Fattal's in Paterson) and fresh spinach, dressed in Trader Joe's Puttanesca Sauce, which is made with anchovy paste. This is a portion I had on Friday night.

Spicy monkfish with organic mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and olives

Monkfish coated in Asian-Indian and other spices is ready in 20 minutes when popped into a preheated 400-degree oven with fresh spinach, organic mushrooms, tomato, olives and grated cheese.

Editor's note: Heart-healthy food doesn't have to be boring, as you can see from two easy to assemble dishes -- a quick-cooking Fish & Vegetable Medley, and a sweet-and-savory egg-white frittata.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

My plan to prepare a quick-cooking fish-and-vegetable dish hit a snag last week when my wife went to Costco Wholesale and was told the usual shipment of Icelandic fish hadn't arrived.

That meant the Teterboro warehouse store on Tuesday was offering only farmed tilapia fillets from Colombia, and had no wild-caught cod or haddock.

Plan B was going to the Whole Foods Market in Paramus not far from our home, and seeing if the best fish counter in North Jersey had any fillets on sale for $7.99 or $8.99 a pound -- the usual price for Icelandic fish at Costco.

No luck, but whole monkfish tails, which plump up in the oven and have the texture of lobster, were an easy to swallow $11.99 a pound.

I only needed a pound to make a big dinner for two with fresh spinach, organic mushrooms, fresh Campari Tomatoes and chopped pitted olives.

I coated the fish in Asian-Indian and other spices, which I keep in a container in the refrigerator to bread chicken and beef, as well as seafood.

Then, I assembled the ingredients in a pan lined with parchment paper, drizzling the spinach with extra-virgin olive oil. 

I squeezed fresh lemon juice and sprinkled grated cheese over everything, and put the pan into a preheated 400-degree oven.

Dinner was ready 20 minutes later.

Fresh fish fillets on ice at Whole Foods Market in the Bergen Town Center mall in Paramus.

A Fish & Vegetable Medley I prepared on Dec. 1 began with fresh spinach drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, above.

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees while I assembled the other ingredients. 

One pound of monkfish fed two people with leftovers.

For a frittata, you'll need to boil skin-on slices of a medium to large sweet potato until they are fork tender. Meanwhile, prepare a mixture of 16 ounces of egg whites and several generous tablespoons of grated cheese, and pour it into a 10-inch non-stick pan with olive oil heated over a medium flame. Drain and distribute sweet potato slices and fresh Campari Tomato slices in the egg mixture on the stove as the crust sets.

When the crust sets, transfer the pan into the oven, where it will brown and finish cooking under the broiler. Add Costco's Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto when the frittata is cooling on the counter. Cut into wedges with a spatula and serve.

A Costco with no parking problems, no crowds, no waiting to check out

Costco Wholesale members who fight for a parking space, then fight the crowds inside the store, fantasize about shopping in a near-empty warehouse, such as the one shown above and below.

This warehouse even has a food court with 18-inch pizzas and all of the other Costco favorites you find elsewhere.

Editor's note: We prepare most of our meals at home, so I'm still waiting for the one food store in northern New Jersey that has organics and everything else at great prices. Meanwhile, I continue to make the rounds of my favorites, including Costco Wholesale, H Mart and ShopRite.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You died and went to Costco Wholesale shopping heaven in Hackensack, N.J.

That sums up the experience of walking into a Costco warehouse where you'll encounter only a handful of other customers and cashiers waiting to check out your purchases.

This warehouse closed in October 2015, when a bigger and far busier Costco, plus a gas station, opened in the Teterboro Landing Shopping Center off of busy Route 46.

Five months later, a renovated Hackensack warehouse opened as a Costco Business Center, where the focus is on such small businesses as restaurants and caterers, and delivers their orders.

That's why the parking lot and the store are such a pleasure.

The old food court also was renovated, but you won't find a pharmacy, optical services, photo department, tires, clothing or a separate store with wine.

True. The selection is limited. 

But you can pick up produce, eggs, milk, bread, water, snack bars, candy and many other items stocked by a regular Costco Wholesale.

Instead of fighting the crowds at the Teterboro Costco on Saturday afternoon, I dashed out to the Hackensack warehouse for:

One of the best salads in the world, Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix ($4.79 for a 1-pound package); incomparable Campari Tomatoes ($5.49 for 2 pounds), 6 pounds of large Bosc Pears ($6.99), 2.5 pounds of Starbucks French Roast Coffee Beans ($15.49 with an instant coupon), and KIND snack bars ($18.99).

The Costco Wholesale Business Center in Hackensack carries hothouse-grown Campari Tomatoes from both Canada and Mexico. They prove winter tomatoes don't have to be watery or mealy or both. For a real treat, pop one whole into you mouth and bite into it.

The Business Center also carries 22-ounce jars of Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, a refrigerated product. Here, I dressed organic whole wheat pasta with pesto and organic pine nuts, and washed them down with a glass of Kirkland Signature Malbec, a red wine from Argentina.

After my pasta, I enjoyed a salad of triple-washed Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, including peppery arugula, dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

 

The Costco Wholesale Business Center at 80 S. River St. in Hackensack is open until 6 p.m. on weekdays, 4 p.m. on Saturdays and closes on Sundays. It's also closer to my home than the new Teterboro warehouse.

Although the H Mart supermarket in Little Ferry is as shabby as ever, managers have added dividers in the fresh fish case, as well as new signs, above and below. On Sunday, the store had no heat, so a free sample of hot noodle soup with fish cakes was greatly appreciated.

An employee acknowledged the new signs are missing a required piece of information -- whether the fish is wild or farmed -- and said the store will be remedying that. I bought three whole wild-caught red snappers for pan frying at home, and munched on free seafood samples at a nearby counter while my fish was cleaned.

I also bought Organic Brown Shimeji Mushrooms.

At the Little Ferry H Mart, the price of a 5-pound box of Spanish Clementines has fluctuated -- from $7.99 on Nov. 6 to $3.99 on Dec. 4, above, and to $5.99 on Sunday.

At the ShopRite in Paramus this afternoon, 1-liter bottles of Alonia-brand Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain were only $3.99 each, an unusually low price for an EVOO that isn't a blend from several countries. I bought three bottles with a best-by date of January 2019 for dressing salads, adding to pasta sauces and eating with bread. 

The ShopRite in Paramus, at 224 Route 4 east, also is accessible from Forest Avenue.

Amid the widely publicized adulteration of some extra-virgin olive oils in Italy, the price of this heart-healthy oil has risen dramatically, and producers have been shrinking the traditional 1-liter bottle and 3-liter tin, and selling what are called Mediterranean blends of EVOOs from several countries, including Greece, Spain, Tunisia and Portugal. Above, Colavita "100% Certified Italian" Extra-Virgin Olive was $14.99 for less than a full liter at the Paramus ShopRite.

A blend of extra-virgin olive oils was $7.99 for a half-liter bottle. A full liter is 33.8 ounces.

ShopRite says it imports extra-virgin olive oil made from Italian-grown olives. Here, a 1-liter bottle was $8.99, but I've seen it on sale for $6.99.

Wild sockeye salmon with organic diced tomatoes, garlic, fresh herbs

Fresh wild Copper River Sockeye Salmon from Alaska was $14.99 a pound at the Costco Wholesale in Teterboro on Thursday or $2 less per pound than the week before.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A rich reduction of organic diced tomatoes, sliced garlic and red wine is delicious over grilled wild sockeye salmon fillets.

You'll need a 10-inch non-stick pan to thicken the tomato mixture and a stove-top grill for the skin-on fillets, which cook through in about 7 minutes over a medium-high flame -- less if you like them on the rare side.

A 1.65-pound fillet from Costco Wholesale yielded six serving portions -- plenty of heart-healthy fish to serve four ($24.73).

First, I sauteed thinly sliced garlic in olive oil until it was fragrant, then added a 14.5-ounce can of Kirkland Signature Organic Diced Tomatoes, a couple of ounces of red wine, the juice from one lime and seasonings, including red-pepper flakes and ground black pepper.

I brought that to a boil in a partially covered pan until the tomato juices and wine mostly evaporated, then grilled the salmon.

Once the fish was transferred to a platter, I added the garlicky tomato mixture and chopped herbs from my garden (mint, rosemary and basil).

If you have Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto in the refrigerator, a half teaspoon or more on top of the tomatoes would be a perfect accent.

Salmon, organic diced tomatoes, peeled garlic, pesto and seasonings are available from Costco Wholesale.

A 3-pound bag of peeled Christopher Ranch California Garlic was $7.39 at the Teterboro Costco.

My stove-top grill straddles two burners and easily accommodates six to nine pieces of salmon. I use spray oil and a medium-high flame and turn the fish in the last 2 minutes of cooking.

A platter of heart-healthy wild salmon, organic diced tomatoes and garlic.

Another use for Costco's peeled garlic is a 10-inch frittata with chopped garlic, black olives, grated cheese, fresh tomatoes and pesto, served here with sweet potatoes that were boiled with whole cloves, then mashed, using extra-virgin olive oil and seasonings, including cinnamon, curry powder, red-pepper flakes and black pepper.

Pour about 3 cups of liquid whites or whole eggs -- including plenty of chopped garlic, grated cheese and olives -- into a 10-inch pan over medium-high heat until the crust sets, then move the pan to the oven, where the top of the frittata will set and brown nicely under the broiler. Add Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and chopped fresh herbs after you take the pan out of the oven.

You can prepare whole garlic cloves, organic diced tomatoes and organic brown rice in an electric cooker. The cloves will turn creamy.

On Friday, Baby Bok Choy was on sale for 88 cents a pound or half price at the H Mart, 25 Lafayette Ave., in Englewood. I sauteed nearly 2 pounds with olive and sesame oils, sake and seasonings.

For a dinner salad, I enjoy Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix with hothouse tomatoes and cucumbers -- dressed in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar -- over reheated organic brown rice.

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

Costco egg whites and fresh blueberries are up, wild salmon is down

Medium-spicy Kirkland Signature Organic Salsa, a new item at Costco Wholesale, tastes great, judging from a free sample I tried in the Hackensack warehouse store today. Each of the two jars holds 2 pounds 6 ounces of salsa ($7.89).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Tens of millions of egg-laying chickens caught the flu and farmers killed them, raising the price of eggs, according to news reports last month. 

At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, the impact has varied:

Kirkland Signature Egg Whites (six 16-ounce cartons for $9.99) were replaced by Egg Beaters, the same 100% pure egg whites, but members now get only four 16-ounce cartons for $8.99.

Meanwhile, the price of cage-free Kirkland Signature Organic Eggs doesn't seem to have been affected (two dozen whole eggs for $6.99).

Egg Beaters replaced Kirkland Signature Egg Whites.

Two organic eggs from Costco Wholesale made for a hearty breakfast over organic whole wheat pasta with sardines and chopped garlic. The price of organic whole eggs hasn't been affected by avian flu.

Blueberries and wild salmon

On Wednesday, my wife came home with an 18-ounce package of fresh blueberries from Michigan for $4.99, compared to a 32-ounce package of Jersey blueberries she bought at Costco a couple of weeks ago for $5.99.

But Costco has again reduced the price of fresh wild sockeye salmon fillets, this time to $8.99 from $9.99.

Tonight, I plan to grill the salmon on the stove top with a little sea salt and fresh lime juice, and serve it with Kirkland Signature Organic Salsa and Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto.

Now, fresh wild sockeye salmon fillets are $8.99 a pound, only $2 more a pound than artificially colored farmed Atlantic salmon, below.

Marriage of eggs and pasta in the morning is made in cooking heaven

I poached two organic eggs from Costco Wholesale in marinara sauce and extra-virgin olive oil with shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, a little basil pesto and chopped herbs from my garden, and served them for breakfast over leftover organic linguine with sardines.

Editor's note: Eating a heart-healthy diet doesn't mean you have to give up on flavor or comfort foods, such as organic whole-wheat linguine eaten with the yolks of organic eggs, poached in marinara sauce, sunny side up.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I poached two organic eggs in marinara left over from making organic whole-wheat linguine with sardines the night before, and served them with the pasta for a hearty, rib-sticking breakfast.

Twirling the linguine in the broken yolk and marinara adds layers of sensual flavor.

Since embarking on a heart-healthy diet more than five years ago, organic whole wheat pasta is one of my bread substitutes at breakfast -- good with whole eggs, egg-white omelets, frittatas and other foods.

I used a 10-inch GreenPan, about a cup of marinara and a few ounces of extra-virgin olive oil.

When the mixture started to simmer, I broke two eggs into the pan and added shredded cheese and, later, chopped fresh mint, parsley and oregano from my garden. 

Organic eggs over organic whole-wheat linguine.

Linguine with sardines

I heated up leftovers from 1 pound of linguine I had made for dinner the night before with:

Victoria Marinara Sauce, red wine, extra-virgin olive oil, a can of drained and rinsed anchovies, three cans of Moroccan sardines in tomato sauce, capers and such seasonings as black pepper, ground garlic and red-pepper flakes.

The Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Linguine came from ShopRite in Paramus, and many of the other ingredients are from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

See more heart-healthy ideas below:

An egg-white omelet stuffed with fresh spinach, smoked wild salmon and reduced-fat cheese, served over leftover organic quinoa prepared in an electric cooker.

For an egg-less breakfast, I heated up leftover whole wheat pappardelle from Jerry's Gourmet and More in Englewood, dressed in Costco's Basil Pesto and pine nuts, and stewed tofu from H Mart in Little Ferry, and served them with fresh spinach sauteed in olive oil.

H Mart in Englewood usually sells fresh wild-caught whole red snapper for $7.99 a pound ($26.37 for three). Here, my wife seasoned the fish, added fresh tomato, okra and onions, closed the aluminum-foil to form a pouch and roasted them for 30 minutes in the oven at 450 degrees.