Enjoying my first Cherrystone Clams of the season on Sandy Hook Bay

Fresh and roasted Cherrystone Clams, above and below, were served at a buffet luncheon on Saturday at the New Jersey headquarters of the American Littoral Society.

At the annual Members Day, I filled a large paper plate with arugula and pasta salads, an inch-thick veggie burger and roasted clams, and washed down my lunch with cold beer.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Saturday, I enjoyed the sound of the waves breaking on shore and my first taste of fresh New Jersey clams washed down with cold beer.

This year, the American Littoral Society treated members to a big buffet lunch outside its headquarters in Highlands, N.J.

Besides fresh and roasted Cherrystone Clams, I loved an arugula salad with cherry tomatoes and a pasta salad with peas and sun-dried tomatoes.

Veggie burgers with all the fixings also were available for those who don't eat hamburgers and hot dogs. 

The lunch was the biggest ever served at a Members Day, so we didn't have room for our usual early dinner at The Fishery, a seafood restaurant on Route 35 in South Amboy.

Today, I found out The Fishery has closed. 

I ate my lunch on the porch of  America Littoral Society headquarters in Fort Hancock, overlooking Sandy Hook Bay.

I went back for seconds of the arugula salad, but they weren't available. 

Farfalle pasta with peas and sun-dried tomatoes.

The Sandy Hook Lighthouse.

Hospital Steward's Quarters at the old Fort Hancock, which was built in 1859 to defend New York Harbor.

Many of the old buildings housed officers.

An American Littoral Society pickup with shells that likely will be used in oyster restoration programs.

Costco is struggling to supply fresh wild sockeye salmon to N.J. stores

Last August, I cooked fresh wild sockeye salmon from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack on a stove-top grill, topped the serving pieces with a reduction of organic diced tomatoes and red wine, and accented them with chopped fresh herbs, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Fresh wild sockeye salmon from the Copper River in Alaska usually arrives at Costco Wholesale's New Jersey warehouses in late May or in the first week of June.

But not this year, and the bad news came Friday in a call from Costco Wholesale headquarters in Washington State.

"Yeah, it's been a real challenging season. Supplies [of fresh wild sockeye salmon] have been hand to mouth," said Lyle French, the fresh-seafood buyer at Costco headquarters in Issaqua, Wash.

"The fishery is about 68% below last year's catch, and the 5-year average," French said.

He said Costco was able to supply "a little bit" of fresh wild sockeye salmon to East Coast warehouses, but not enough "to sustain a full day's business."

$35 a pound

The shortages might explain why, about 10 days ago, Whole Foods Market in Paramus was selling fresh sockeye salmon for about $35 a pound.

The first Copper River sockeye usually sells for about $15 a pound at Costco.

My wife went to the Teterboro Costco on Friday morning, and found only fillets of troll-caught wild king salmon.

A week to 10 days ago, the Teterboro warehouse also had some wild king salmon from Canada, but no sockeye, which has a deeper red-orange color and a bolder taste.

French said he expects Costco's New Jersey members will start seeing more fresh sockeye on or before the Fourth of July.

Here's a post I wrote two years ago about the ascendancy of the Copper River:

Costco celebrates wild sockeye salmon

Home cooking: Icelandic Golden Redfish and other good things to eat

I brought home Icelandic Golden Redfish in a California Orange Marinade from The Fish Dock at 219A Closter Dock Road in Closter; added pitted olives, Campari Tomatoes, lime juice and chopped fresh mint, and popped the takeout tray into a preheated 400-degree oven.

About 15 minutes later, dinner was served. The marinade, imported from Germany, includes canola oil, salt, orange granules and peel, and lemon-juice powder. It's gluten free and non-GMO, according to The Fish Dock, which is owned and operated by Icelanders (201-564-7939).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

This seafood lover has a new mantra:

When in Closter, stop at The Fish Dock and check out the selection of fresh fish flown in from Iceland.

On Thursday, I found fillets of wild-caught Golden Redfish with and without a marinade ($12.99 a pound and $14.99 a pound, respectively).

I chose the marinated fish, and when I got home, added olives, tomatoes and a couple other things before putting the takeout container into a preheated 400-degree oven for 15 minutes.

I plated the moist, flaky fish, poured a glass of red wine and finished with a big salad of red-and green-leaf lettuce from our garden, dressed simply with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Two fillets weighing about 1.2 pounds fed three people.

When cooked, Golden Redfish breaks into large, meaty flakes.

Ling, Wolffish, Icelandic Salmon and other fillets were available when I dropped into The Fish Dock on Thursday afternoon.

A 10-inch pesto and sweet-potato frittata I made early in the week kept on giving. Here, I enjoyed a wedge with leftover falafel and hummus, a small sweet potato and sauteed spinach.

An organic egg with shredded cheese, Aleppo pepper and chopped fresh mint is wonderful eaten over organic whole-wheat fusilli prepared in a red sauce with sardines, especially when you break the yoke over the pasta.

For a hearty breakfast, a simple egg-white omelet joins sauteed spinach, sweet potato and coarse brown bulgur wheat. I added Mexican-style salsa to the bulgur and sweet potato before reheating them.

At So Gong Dong in Palisades Park and Lotus Cafe in Hackensack

ASK FOR SECONDS: I look forward to the five complimentary side dishes at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park just as much as the soft-tofu stew, seafood pancake and other Korean specialties. Crunchy cucumber kimchi, above, is one of my all-time favorites.

MORE CRUNCH: Fresh-tasting cabbage kimchi hasn't been fermented as long as the version served in some other restaurants. A third side dish is seaweed in gochujang, a spicy vinegared red-pepper sauce, top.

RADISH AND SPROUTS: Crunchy radish and bean sprouts are the other side dishes, and you can ask for seconds or even thirds of those you finish.

HOLD THE MAPLE SYRUP: A Seafood Pancake -- made from rice flour, scallions and cooked squid -- comes with a soy dipping sauce ($11.99, rounded up to $12 on the check).

COMPLETE MEAL: I ordered my Oyster Soft Tofu Stew with Perilla Seeds "more spicy," one of four levels listed on the menu ($10.99 or $1 more than other complete soft-tofu dinners, which include steamed rice, side dishes and a fresh egg to cook in the bubbling broth).

KOREAN RIBS: The three meat-eaters in my family shared an order of Beef BBQ, left rear ($16.99).

DETAILS: Dinner for four was $74.90 before the tip. Still, four can eat well for under $50, if they limit themselves to a filling soft-tofu dinner with an egg, five side dishes and rice (118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 201-313-5550).

GINGER AND SCALLION: Lotus Cafe in Hackensack offers whole fish, fillets, shrimp and other seafood prepared with ginger and scallion, such as this whole 1.5-pound lobster ($30.95), above and below, enough to feed three with another entree, a vegetable and brown or white rice.

LARGE SHRIMP: We also ordered Prawns in Garlic Sauce ($17.95) and Sauteed Chinese Star Squash, below ($10.95).

DETAILS: Dinner for three was $76.30 before the tip, including two Wonton Soups to start the meal ($1.25 each) and a House Special Won Ton Soup for 2 to go ($6.95). Lotus Cafe is a BYO in the Home Depot Shopping Center, 450 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack. Open 7 days; 201-488-7070. Free delivery within 3 miles ($12 minimum).

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Good buys on organic eggs, fresh whole fish, sweet potatoes, olives

PESTO AND EGGS: Two dozen Kirkland Signature Organic Eggs are a good deal at the regular price of $6.99, but at the Costco Wholesale in the Teterboro Landing shopping center, an instant coupon dropped that to $4.99. Here, I poached two eggs in marinara sauce, served them over organic brown rice and added pesto for the Italian colors: Green, white and red.

PASTA AND EGGS: Two organic eggs served over whole-wheat Garofalo Pappardelle -- a wide ribbon pasta from Italy -- with anchovies and sardines in marinara or what I like to call a seafood bolognese.

BIG EYES: Fresh wild-caught Ocean Perch look like Red Snapper, but at $2.99 a pound costs less than half the price. I bought these at H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike, Little Ferry, and poached them in a light sauce of organic chicken stock, sake, miso and minced garlic.

SWEET ON POTATOES: Three pounds of Organic Sweet Potatoes in a net bag are $4.49 at Trader Joe's, 404 Route 17 north, Paramus. Here, I drained steaming skin-on pieces with peeled garlic cloves I had boiled for about an hour, and mashed them with extra-virgin olive oil and seasonings, including curry powder, cinnamon, red-pepper flakes, sea salt and black pepper, below.

SKIP THE BREAD: Mashed sweet potatoes, here with roughly chopped fresh mint, are a great bread substitute in a breakfast of eggs, fish and sauteed spinach. 

SWEET-POTATO FRITTATA: Organic sweet potato slices, Campari Tomato halves and Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale top a 10-inch frittata of whole eggs and whites, and two kinds of grated cheese, below.

FOUR CUPS: You'll need about 4 cups of whole eggs and whites for a 10-inch frittata. Set the crust of the frittata over a medium flame on the stove, finish under the broiler and add the pesto after you remove the pan from the oven.

PASTA WITH OLIVES: Cans of ShopRite Pitted Black Olives were on sale for 88 cents each at the Paramus store, compared to the regular price of $1.19. A 1-pound package of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli was $1.29. Here, I prepared the fusilli and olives in a combination of marinara and vodka sauces, with three cans of Moroccan sardines. Two bunches of fresh spinach sauteed in olive oil and sake -- on sale for 99 cents at the Super H Mart, 321 Broad Ave., Ridgefield -- made a great side dish.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Dashing out to Paterson for $1 bag of falafel, sardines and much more

A bag of five freshly fried falafel is $1 at Salah Edin Middle Eastern Restaurant, 995 Main St., Paterson. Fattal's is on the next block.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

An ideal visit to Paterson would combine sightseeing at the Great Falls, lunch in Aleppo Restaurant and shopping for Syrian bread, spices, yogurt drink and other food in the city's bustling Middle Eastern bazaar.

On Saturday, I wanted to replenish my supply of canned Moroccan sardines, bread and spices, but didn't want to fight the crowds at The Falls, now a national historical park.

So, I headed for Fattal's, where you can get Syrian bread, groceries, meat and poultry, and sit down and enjoy a freshly made falafel sandwich (975-977 Main St.).

In addition to one-stop shopping, Fattal's offers a large parking lot. 

Fattal's parking attendant allowed me to run over to Salah Edin on the next block to order two $1 bags of falafel, but said next time I should try Fattal's superior version.

A refrigerated case in Fattal's offers many kinds of cheese, including Middle Eastern-style string cheese, bottom shelf.

Fattal's offers three types of Al Shark-brand Moroccan sardines, but the ones in tomato sauce contain the lowest amount of sodium (99 cents a can). I use them to prepare organic whole-wheat pasta with sardines and anchovies in a red sauce.

Other shelves hold kits for making falafel, tabbouleh salad and other Middle Eastern specialties; fig preserves, extra-virgin olive oil, bulgur wheat and many other items.

A za'atar spice mixture has four ingredients: Dried thyme, sumac, sesame seeds and salt. I don't buy mixtures that include wheat as a filler.

Yogurt drink, meat pies, sardines

At Fattal's, I filled my shopping cart with a gallon of Merve Ayran Yogurt Drink ($10.29), 18 cans of Al-Shark Sardines in Tomato Sauce ($17.82); and a bag with a dozen medium-size Syrian pocket breads, which are preservative free ($1.50).

Six Fattal's Meat Pies and six Fattal's Spinach Pies were $9.49 each.

A bag of Toros Brown Bulgur Wheat was $1.49, and a box of Sadaf Tabouli Mix was $3.19.

A large bag of Salloum Bros. Za'atar from Lebanon that weighed nearly a pound was $5.59.

You can add za'atar to fried eggs, omelets and hummus; rub it into poultry or meat before cooking, or add olive oil to the thyme mixture and spread it on bread.

On returning home from Paterson, I stuffed two halves of a fresh Syrian bread with falafel, organic spring mix and hummus, and enjoyed them as a light lunch.

I added fresh lime juice, minced fresh garlic and Lebanese extra-virgin olive oil to the contents of a can I had in the cupboard, above and below, and garnished the dip with chopped fresh mint from the garden.

Libano Verde-brand Chickpea Dip from Lebanon is sold at Fattal's. Ingredients are chickpeas, sesame paste, salt and citric acid.