Worth the detour: 99-cents sardines, cheap wine

Bottles of wine imported from Italy, Spain and Hungary were $3.99 to $5 at Corrado's Family Affair on the Clifton-Paterson border.

A bottle of Charles Shaw California Cabernet Sauvignon (Two-buck Chuck) from Trader Joe's, left, supposedly contains the same 750 milliliters as the imported bottle next to it. The Charles Shaw bottle costs $2.98 at the Westfield store.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss a shopping trip to Paterson's Middle Eastern food bazaar; a canned-fish salad with chick peas, feta cheese and spinach; and plastic-bag recycling.

I still jump into my hybrid car and drive 10 miles to Paterson's Middle Eastern food-shopping district for the best prices on sardines, wine, yogurt drink and other products.

At Fattal's Bakery on Sunday, I picked up 20 cans of Al Shark-brand Moroccan Sardines in spicy oil or tomato sauce for 99 cents a can (4.23 ounces and 4.38 ounces, respectively).

A 1-gallon container of Merve Ayran Yogurt Drink was $8.69.

Parking at Fattal's (975-77 Main St.) is far easier than at Brothers Produce in the Paterson Farmers' Market, another source of 99-cents sardines.

Then, I drove a short distance to just over the Paterson-Clifton border and Corrado's  Family Affair for 1-pound bags of salted cod fish, but the store didn't have any.

So, I picked up store-made crumbled feta cheese ($2.99 a pound) and a bunch of fresh spinach ($1.69 a pound) I needed for a recipe.

In Corrado's liquor store, I bought 5 bottles of imported red wine ($3.99 to $5 each).

Canned-fish salad with chick peas, apple, feta cheese and spinach, served over fresh spinach leaves dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Fishing for salad

I had seen a tuna salad with chick peas, feta cheese and spinach on the cold food bar at the Whole Foods Market in Paramus, and decided to try it with the items I got at Corrado's.

But I didn't stop at tuna, adding cans of pink salmon and sardines with their liquid to my canned-fish salad.

Then, I diced a Gala Apple and celery, including the leaves; drained, rinsed and added a can of chick peas; and crumbled feta cheese.

I washed the fresh spinach leaves and cut them into ribbons and added that to the salad with spinach stems.

The dressing was Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice and ground cumin, all added to taste. 

Canned-fish salad with organic spring mix, beefsteak tomato, olives and garlic cloves.

Recycling bags   

ShopRite is the only supermarket chain in North Jersey that accepts plastic bags for recycling, but we also put plastic food wrapping, plastic food seals and any other flexible plastic in the same bag.

     

ShopRite in Paramus has two large bins for recycled plastic bags.

Golden Pineapples were 2 for $5.

I didn't go home empty handed, picking up 2 Golden Pineapples for $5. 

When I told the cashier I would take the pineapples without a plastic bag, she gave me the 10-cent credit for customers who bring a re-usable bag.

Honey, they shrunk the hummus can

Cans of hummus dip from Lebanon are flanked by sardines from Morocco.

When I stopped eating bread to lose weight, I also cut down on hummus, that wonderful Middle Eastern dip I loved to scoop up in warm pocket bread for a quick snack.

I don't bother making hummus with tahini from scratch, relying on a canned dip from Lebanon that needs only garlic powder, fresh lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil.

Now, I've noticed the cans of Libano Verde dip I've been buying for years at Fattal's Bakery in Paterson shrank to 14 ounces from the original 15 ounces.

But the price also shrank to 99 cents from the $1.09 I paid for a 15-ounce can in September 2009.

99 cents sardines

There was more good news the last time I shopped at Fattal's at the beginning of May (975-77 Main St., 973-742-7125).

The supply of Al-Shark sardines from Morocco has been restored at the old price, 99 cents a can. They come in tomato sauce, as well as in regular and spicy vegetable oil.

For a while, I was buying those sardines from Brothers Produce in the Paterson Farmers' Market for $1 a can.

I also picked up two packages of crushed, mildly spicy Aleppo pepper for $6.99 a pound, and ground cumin for $4.99 a pound.

I use the red pepper on fish, fried eggs and omelets (see photo above). 

The cumin is wonderful in tuna or canned-fish salad, along with Dijon mustard, chopped celery  and fresh lemon or lime juice.

I use the sardines on salads or over pasta after heating them up in bottled red sauce seasoned with red-pepper flakes and dried Italian herbs.  

Breakfast goes swimmingly

Image via Wikipedia

The pink salmon is called the smallest of the true salmon. It has less oil than others.

I've been eating a breakfast sandwich for many years -- smoked wild salmon, sardines or canned fish salad between toasted, whole-grain bread or stuffed into pocket bread, spread with pesto or hummus and garnished with lettuce and tomato.


Now that  I've been advised to cut down on bread and pizza to lose weight, I continue to eat fish for breakfast with a slice of bread or none at all. A favorite breakfast is a canned fish salad with sweet and hot peppers, onion, Dijon mustard, ground cumin and lemon juice. You'll need:


1. Two 7-ounce cans of Genova-brand Yellowfin light tuna in olive oil (Costco) or other solid light tuna.

2.Two 6-ounce cans of wild-caught Alaskan pink salmon (Costco) or one large can or other pink salmon.


3. Two cans of Al Shark-brand Moroccan sardines in vegetable oil (Fattal's Bakery, Paterson) or other sardines, with or without skin and bones.


4. Sweet and hot peppers, and a medium onion.


5. Dijon mustard and ground cumin (Fattal's Bakery) to taste.

6. Two lemons.


To make less salad, use one can of each fish. I've made this salad with Alaskan red salmon, but I have not seen it on sale at ShopRite, Fairway Market or anywhere else for a long time, so I've switched to the lower-cost pink salmon, the smallest salmon. You could also add a can of anchovies, if you're a fan of them, as I am.


Empty all of the cans into a large bowl, with all of their liquid, to avoid a dry salad. Mash with a fork or large spoon. Add chopped sweet and hot peppers, chopped onion, fresh lemon juice and the other ingredients, and combine well.

For breakfast this morning, I placed a mound of the salad on a plate with red-leaf lettuce, sliced tomato sprinkled with za'atar thyme mixture (Fattal's Bakery), stewed tofu with red pepper sauce (H Mart), kimchi and a toasted slice of Kirkland-brand 100% whole-grain bread (Costco).


Enjoy.

99 cents sardines are alive and well

Image via Wikipedia

Sardines at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

Seafood is a crucial part of my non-meat diet and those plump, little sardines are one of my favorites -- as part of a breakfast sandwich with hummus, cheese, lettuce and tomato, or with spaghetti and red sauce.


For the past two or three years, I have been buying Moroccan sardines at Fattal's Syrian Bakery in Paterson, where the price of 99 cents a can is lower than at Corrado's, Costco, ShopRite or any other North Jersey store I know. Of course, if you insist on skinless and boneless, you'll pay more.


Today, I drove to Paterson to replenish my supply and found that while the price remains at 99 cents, Fattal's now carries both Moroccan and Thai sardines. I bought 15 cans -- 10 from Morocco and five from Thailand. I also picked up Fattal's small spinach pies, canned hummus from Lebanon, canned large fava beans, string cheese and a yogurt drink.


For dinner, I emptied four cans of Thai sardines, including their spicy oil or hot tomato sauce, into a covered pan large enough to hold a pound of spaghetti, and broke up the fish with a wooden spoon. I added about half of a bottle of arrabbiata sauce from Modena, Italy (red like a Ferrari), dried Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, black pepper and dried and powdered garlic, and heated it over a medium flame.


Meanwhile, I heated water for thick spaghetti, and when it started to boil, I blanched two heads of fresh spinach in two batches, transferring it into another pan with hot olive oil. Then the pasta went into the same water, while I seasoned the spinach, covered it and turned off the heat.


When the pasta was cooked, I drained it and dumped it into the pan with the sauce and sardines, mixed it well and served it with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, Italian red table wine and the spinach. Mangia bene.

Fattal's Bakery, 975-77 Main St., Paterson; 973-742-7125. 
Open seven days, free parking in lot.

99 cents sardines in Hackensack

Image by Ahron de Leeuw via Flickr

I was delighted to find the Moroccan sardines I have been buying in Paterson for 99 cents a can at Sahara Stores -- the Middle Eastern deli and grocery in Hackensack where I stopped for bread on Tuesday.

Sardines are so versatile -- they make a great sandwich with hummus, cheese, greens and tomato; they're wonderful added to rice or spaghetti and tomato sauce; and they are a tasty component in canned fish salad (sardines, tuna, red salmon, chopped red onion, cumin and Dijon mustard).

I have been buying Al Shark-brand Moroccan sardines from Fattal's Syrian Bakery, which has the lowest prices around, even lower than the much bigger Corrado's supermarket about a mile away. They come in oil, spicy oil and tomato sauce -- usually 99 cents for a 4 and three-eighth ounce can.

On Tuesday, Sahara Stores had the Al Shark sardines in spicy oil for 99 cents, and I picked up 10 cans. I also bought California Gardens-brand fava beans with mild chili for $1.09 a can and grape leaves stuffed with rice (Turkey) for $2.79. This is a well-stocked grocery and I didn't check out all the items.

Chef-owner Mohsen Mekawi, who is Egyptian, also prepares a large number of Middle Eastern dishes. Falafel are four for $1 and a pound of stuffed grape leaves is $5.99. Sandwiches range from falafel for $2.99 to egg and basterma for $5.99. Dinners with rice, salad and bread are $9.99 to $11.99.

Sahara Stores, 242 S. Summit Ave., Hackensack; 

201-487-7222.

Fattal's Syrian Bakery, 975-977 Main St., Paterson; 

973-742-7125.

Getting more fish in your diet

Image via Wikipedia

Here is something my friend Sue brought to my attention from The New York Times. We've been eating fish and seafood non-stop since taking a meatless pledge weeks ago. 

Tonight, we had excellent lobster ravioli from Costco and the last of the fried fish my wife brought back from Jamaica, and Sunday night, I prepared spinach egg noodles from Corrado's with a homemade tomato sauce filled with anchovies and leftover red snapper and sardines (as in sardines with steamed rice).

Click on the following link for a sardine-and-Swiss chard recipe and other advice: Getting more fish in your diet

A rare visit to Corrado's Family Affair

Image by Kurt Wagner via Flickr

I once shopped regularly at Corrado's Family Affair, the large ethnic supermarket near the Clifton-Paterson border. I loved the aisle with bread from two dozen or more ethnic bakeries and the bottles of imported wine -- three for $10.

The store sold many Italian specialties under its own label, including extra-virgin olive oil and pastas. It always stocked pasta with squid ink, one of my favorites. Corrado's also opened food and non-food stores across Getty Avenue.

But the inexpensive imported wine became scarcer and prices for some items seemed better elsewhere, such as sardines at Fattal's Bakery on Main Street in Paterson. And I didn't like how the store sometimes pasted price labels over the expiration dates for Earthbound Farm salad mixes. So I went back to Corrado's less frequently, and visited the new Wayne supermarket only a couple of times (photo).

On the way back from Morristown yesterday, I stopped at Fattal's for bread, canned hummus, yogurt drink and a few other items, then headed over to Corrado's for the lemons I needed to prepare hummus. It had really big lemons at six for $1.99. I bought four, plus a red pepper at 99 cents a pound and a seedless cucumber for 75 cents. A 1-liter bottle of black currant syrup was $4.89 (to pour over plain yogurt).

The interior was renovated a couple of months ago and painted, an employee said. But you still won't find any signs in the crowded aisles, and shopping there is something of a treasure hunt. Customers are friendly and talkative -- unlike the snobs that frequent Fairway Market in Paramus.

At Corrado's, I noticed that a lot of the produce seem wilted, despite the almost constant stocking of bins. For example, I saw loose romaine lettuce with brown bottoms -- not a good sign. And I didn't even look at the bread aisle.

On the way home, I went to Crooks and East Railway avenues, where the Paterson Farmers' Market has set up shop year-round. Looking over produce at several stores, the prices here seemed even better than at Corrado's, but I was disappointed in not being able to find the dozen containers of organic, Greek-style yogurt that I bought Feb. 6 for only $2. "Probably Friday," the woman said.


 Corrado's Family Affair, 1578 Main Ave., 
Clifton; 973-340-0628. Web site:  Corrado's

Food bargains

I just sent an e-mail to a reporter I used to work with, listing some great food values in northern New Jersey. I did so after reading his piece on "Top 10 rip-offs." Now, he's soliciting ideas for great deals. Here's my list:

1. The restaurant-quality, complete meals for takeout at Jerry's in Englewood. Fish, chicken or pork is the main course, $6.99 each. Usually includes two vegetables, pasta and other items.

2. The low everyday prices for fresh fish at H Mart, the Korean supermarket in Englewood, Little Ferry and Ridgefield. Try the meaty ocean perch fillets at $4.99 a pound. More variety of whole and filleted fish than just about anyplace else.

3. The $2 baguette at Balthazar Bakery in Englewood, the same price this crusty sandwich loaf has been sold for since the place opened around Thanksgiving in 2002.

4. Fat Moroccan sardines for 99 cents a can at Fattal's on Main Street in South Paterson, where you'll also find the best pita bread in North Jersey.

5. Crisp Portuguese vinho verde wine, usually under $5 a bottle, Total Wine in River Edge and elsewhere.

6. The eight-course dinner for six at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, $20 per person, including tax and 15% tip.

7. Deals at Costco, where use of the American Express rebate card returns more cash than the annual fee: a pound of organic salad mix, $4.29; three liters of organic carrot juice, $2.50 per liter; two loaves of sliced, 100% whole grain bread, $1.99 each. The salad mix has gone up to $4.49, still a bargain (updated March 25, 2009).