Fresh Copper River salmon arrives at Costco

Fresh, wild-caught Copper River Sockeye Salmon from Alaska prepared with toasted garden herbs.

Late May 2013, Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor
 
I could see the distinctive, deep red-orange color of the wild salmon even though I still was 10 feet from the seafood case Saturday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Employees on Saturday put out the season's first fresh Copper River sockeye salmon from Alaska at $13.99 a pound -- one dollar a pound less than last year. 

When that's gone, fresh wild salmon from other rivers will be priced at $8.99 a pound, if last year is any guide, and be available until September.

At the other end of the refrigerated Costco case, fat fillets of pale Atlantic salmon were selling for $8.49 a pound  -- no bargain for artificially colored, farmed fish.

I saw fresh Copper River salmon fillets at Wegmans in Woodbridge on Friday for $24.99 a pound.

The Web site of PCC Natural Markets has this to say:

"What’s so special about Copper River salmon? It’s the high oil content, stored up from the salmon’s long journey along the nearly 300-mile Copper River. That extra oil makes the fish among the richest, tastiest fish in the world, tender and moist whether roasted or grilled. Add it to your dinnertime rotation as another great spring tradition."

In 2009, the Copper River salmon arrived at my Costco store on June 2 for only $9.99 a pound. Last year, the first Copper River salmon didn't show up until June 12.

The first Copper River salmon of the season arrived in Washington State on May 17 aboard an Alaska Airlines cargo flight -- in "a public-relations ritual" started more than 23 years ago -- the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

At Costco, I bought a skin-on fillet that weighs about 1.8 pounds. I'll cut it into smaller pieces and bake it in the oven on Sunday with little more than lemon juice, ground Aleppo red pepper and chopped herbs from the garden.

I like my wild salmon rare, and it will melt in my mouth. I'll eat leftovers right out of the fridge over salad.

My fresh Copper River fillet joins other wild sockeye -- frozen fillets and sliced, smoked salmon in my refrigerator -- all from Costco. There's good eating ahead.

'Why does my broccoli rabe turn brown?'

Image by urbanfoodie33 via Flickr

I was looking over the produce selection at DePiero's Farm in Montvale on Wednesday afternoon when I saw a woman picking up a bunch of broccoli rabe (photo) -- the dark green, bitter, Italian variety many people prefer over the standard vegetable. 

I tapped her on the shoulder, then asked, "Why does my broccoli rabe turn brown?"  She answered immediately, "You cooked it too long." Ah-ha.

She described how she prepares it: A few minutes in boiling water, where it turns bright green, "to remove some of the bitterness." Then, she adds it to hot olive oil with chopped garlic and a little red pepper flakes, cooking it for well under 10 minutes, until it is tender but not limp.

Over at the eggplants bin, another woman complains her husband is "a pain in the neck," because he insists she prepare it Italian-style, with an egg wash and breading. I say, "Do you fry it? The eggplant soaks up so much oil. I grill slices on the stove with a little olive oil and salt."


"I don't fry it. I bake it." Voila.

I stopped at DiPiero's for a cup of coffee with a friend after we left a meeting in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. The hilltop farm store is next to U.S. headquarters for Mercedes-Benz, where I once picked up new models to evaluate for my automobile road test column in The Record. 

I made sure I picked up four ears of bicolor Jersey corn for dinner, to accompany fried, wild-caught flounder from Costco in Hackensack and wilted, fresh spinach in garlic and oil from H Mart in Little Ferry. I steamed the corn, and it was so sweet, we ate it as is. 

I also found a large, stainless-steel pot with two steamer inserts at the Korean supermarket for $29.99. It will allow me to steam vegetables and frozen, wild-caught sockeye salmon in sake, soy sauce, sesame oil and lemon at the same time or prepare forty Korean dumplings at once.

DePiero's Farm, 300 W. Grand Ave., Montvale; 201-391-4576.

My usual Monday run to Costco

Image via Wikipedia

I usually make my weekly visits to Costco in Hackensack on Mondays. This is what I picked up today:

1. Two pounds of U.S.-grown strawberries, $5.99
2. Three pounds of Amy Lu preservative-free
    andouille chicken sausage, $13.99
3. Three pounds of Kirkland wild sockeye
     salmon fillets, $25.89
4. Two loaves of  Kirkland 100% whole grain bread, $3.99
5. Wild-caught Little Neck clams, $2.99 a pound
6. Six pounds of frozen broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, $6.59
7. Two pounds of Finlandia thin-sliced, lactose-free
    Swiss cheese, $8.99

Last Friday, I again went in search of Kirkland preservative-free smoked wild sockeye salmon from Alaska -- missing from the refrigerated case for two Mondays in a row -- and found some at $14.79 a pound.

Costco Wholesale, 80 S. River St., Hackensack; 
(201) 487-5471; open seven days, www.costco.com

Image via Wikipedia