At ShopRite: Spanish cider, organic pasta, grass-fed beef from Australia

SWEET DEAL: At the ShopRite in Englewood on Tuesday, I bought four 25.4-ounce bottles of Sparkling Cider from Spain at $1.88 each, the lowest sale price I've seen in the many years I've enjoyed this non-alcoholic beverage, which is made with 100% apple juice, but has no added sugar. There was a limit of four with store card.

PALE IMITATION: Not far away, but at a higher price, was Goya-brand Sparkling Cider, labeled as an authentic Spanish import, but a check of the label showed this non-alcoholic beverage contains only 35% apple juice. Other ingredients include sugar, apple vinegar, preservatives and caramel color.

ORGANIC IS BETTER: A 1-pound box of Gia Russa-brand 100% Whole Wheat Roman Rigatoni or Penne Rigate from Italy were reduced to $1.39 from $3.29, but at the same ShopRite you can buy Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti and other shapes for $1.29 a pound.

SEAFOOD SHELLS: Whole Foods Market in Paramus also carries imported Organic Whole Wheat Shells and other shapes for $1.49 a pound. Here, I prepared the shells with anchovies and sardines in Victoria Marinara, adding red wine and seasonings to the sauce. Victoria Marinara and Vodka Sauce also were on sale at ShopRite ($3.49 for a 40-ounce jar).

FROM AUSTRALIA: At ShopRites in Rochelle Park and Englewood last Friday and Saturday, Nature's Reserve Grass Fed Beef from Australia was on sale for $2.99 a pound with a $10 additional purchase and a store card. A roast or strip steaks were available with a limit of two packages.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

In northern New Jersey, seafood lovers should start with reading labels

Inspired by a fish medley I bought at The Fish Dock in Closter, I prepared fresh, wild-caught flounder from Canada with spinach, pitted olives, tomatoes, Mexican-style salsa and Aleppo red pepper.

I also used extra-virgin olive oil, Meyer Lemon and a little sea salt on the fish before putting the pan into a preheated 350-degree over for about 12-14 minutes. The flounder fillets were $7.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

One day, we were eating local Black Drum Fish, freshly shucked oysters and crawfish prepared in a spicy boil. 

But on our return from New Orleans, we found ourselves surrounded by imported seafood, including farmed fish from China and Vietnam, two countries with poor food-safety records.

New Jersey boasts several fishing ports, and you can find seafood from the shore at the Whole Foods Market in Paramus, including whole fish and clams.

But if you shop at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro, you'll see wild fish only from Canada and Iceland or just labeled "USA."

The Fish Dock, a small market owned and operated by Icelanders, specializes in wild and antibiotic-free farmed fish from Iceland, but also carries domestic shrimp and other items.

Restaurants and take-out present a special problem, because few places tell customers whether the fish, shrimp or other seafood they sell is wild-caught and, if farmed, whether antibiotics or preservatives were used.

The Costco Wholesale Business Center in Hackensack is aimed at restaurants, caterers and other small businesses, but carries no fresh fish. Frozen farmed catfish fillets from Vietnam -- called Basa or Swai -- will likely end up on restaurant or catering menus. A restaurant can buy a pound of this fish for just $2.40.

Aqua Star is a Chinese processing company, and although these frozen salmon fillets are wild-caught, they are from keta salmon, not the more desirable sockeye, coho or king. A pound of 6-ounce fillets costs about $5.40 at the Costco Business Center.

Aqua Star also offers frozen Coconut Breaded Butterfly Shrimp to restaurants and caterers for about $5.50 a pound (16-20 per pound). The box doesn't say whether they are farmed or wild, but I'm guessing the former.

In New Orleans, a Rouses Supermarket offered fresh wild-caught Gulf Shrimp for only $5.99 a pound. You also could find ready to eat spicy boiled crawfish, wild caught in Louisiana, for $2.49 a pound, below.

Back in New Jersey, nothing says welcome home better than a hearty dish of organic whole wheat fusilli in marinara sauce with wild-caught Moroccan sardines and anchovies from cans, the first dish I prepared on our return home.

I fried two organic eggs in olive oil for breakfast the next day and ate them over leftover fusilli. 

My wife seasoned sections of whole fresh King Whiting and pan fried them. I ate mine with sauteed cabbage and sweet peppers, and Meyer Lemon. Fresh, wild-caught whiting usually goes for $3.99 a pound at H Mart in Englewood and Little Ferry. A single center bone makes them easy to eat, even out of hand like a chicken leg.

I had leftovers of my homemade fish medley with sauteed spinach and organic quinoa, prepared in a rice cooker with organic beans and organic diced tomatoes.

Before we attended a performance of the Doo Wop Project at William Paterson University on Saturday night, we enjoyed a dinner of seafood, pasta and salad at Amore, 611 Ratzer Road in Wayne (973-595-7717). We split a special of Black Linguine with Lobster, Shrimp, Clams and Mussels in a light tomato sauce ($36.95), above and below.

Missteps by the kitchen included some overcooked shrimp, above, and a Trecolore Salad that was much too tart and didn't have enough extra-virgin olive oil in the dressing ($9.95), below. I don't know whether the seafood was local or imported, wild or farmed. 

We also had a Caesar Salad ($8.95) and a glass of Chianti ($8).

At Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood this afternoon, I picked up three takeout seafood dinners, including Shrimp Scampi, Linguine with Red Clam Sauce, Roasted Potato and Artichoke-Fennel Salad, above and below, marked down to $5.99 after 4 p.m. I don't know whether the shrimp are wild or farmed.

Jerry's is at 410 S. Dean St., Englewood.

A few good buys at ShopRite's Can Can Sale and at Super H Mart

At the Super H Mart in Ridgefield on Sunday, king whiting, front, and red snapper, both wild caught, were $3.99 and $4.99 a pound, respectively. Whole porgy (not shown) were only $2.99 a pound.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Now you see it, now you don't.

That seems to be the nature of sales in such supermarkets as ShopRite in Paramus and Super H Mart in Ridgefield.

At the Paramus ShopRite, the second week of the Summer Can Can Sale doesn't offer the same deals as last week.

On Friday, I used a Super Coupon I clipped from a flier to purchase three 28-bottle packs of Poland Spring for $10 with the store card and the purchase of $10 in other items.

My other purchases were Bing Cherries from Washington State for $1.67 a pound, two 1-pound packages of Luigi Vitelli Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli at $1.25 each and a 3-pound bag of Organic Sweet Potatoes for $5.99. 

We used a second Super Coupon to buy three more 28-bottle packs of Poland Spring for $10 at the Englewood ShopRite.

The Summer Can Can flier that came with Sunday's paper no longer offers the Poland Spring deal.

And the Paramus ShopRite last week didn't repeat the deal on six pints of New Jersey Blueberries that I purchased for $6.99 on July 10.

H Mart -- a week later

On Sunday, I found the usually good prices on fresh fish at the Super H Mart in Ridgefield.

I bought two wild-caught whole king whiting that weighed about 2.5 pound each ($3.99 a pound).

My wife cut them into about eight pieces, and seasoned, floured and pan fried them.

Whiting is a mild-tasting fish that flakes beautifully, and the central spine is just about the only bone you have to deal with.

Baby Mustard Greens or Gaichoy were 88 cents a pound, a discount of 10 cents a pound, and two heads of red-leaf lettuce were 99 cents or half-price.

I wanted to buy another large, heavy watermelon like the one I got a week earlier for $6.49, but all of those I saw were smaller and the price went up a dollar per melon.

The produce section of the Super H Mart, the Korean chain's biggest store in Bergen County.

Super H Mart makes its own cabbage kimchi and sells several bottled brands, but I prefer to go to Arirang Kimchee, which specializes in cabbage, cucumber and other kimchi, at H&Y Marketplace, Ridgefield, not far from Super H Mart.

Details

ShopRite, 224 Route 4 east at Forest Avenue, Paramus; 1-201-291-4180. Open 7 days.

Super H Mart, 321 Broad Ave., Ridgefield; 1-201-943-9600. Open 7 days.

Arirang Kimchee, 1 Remsen Place, Ridgefield; 1-201-313-7975. Call for hours.

Let them eat bread -- while you maintain your hard-won weight loss

A 10-inch frittata with smoked wild salmon, sweet potatoes and fresh spinach (folded into the egg mixture) starts out on top of the stove and finishes under the broiler. After you remove it from the oven, add Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale, where you can find most of the other ingredients.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Sweet potatoes, baked or mashed. Organic brown rice and organic quinoa prepared in an electric cooker. Organic whole-wheat pasta imported from Italy.

Let me count the substitutes I've enjoyed since embarking on a no-bread, no-pizza diet several years ago, and shedding 40 pounds.

I put back about 10 of those pounds after I gave up one of my two part-time jobs and became less active.

But the bread substitutes still work to help me maintain my weight loss, and they can be enjoyed at any meal where bread is served, even breakfast.

Of course, I don't drink soda, never touch dessert, eat reduced fat cheeses and try to avoid pasta sauces and other products made with added sugar, which is linked to the obesity epidemic.

A wedge of the frittata with baked and mashed sweet potatoes, the latter made with extra-virgin olive oil, cinnamon, curry powder and other seasonings.

Organic brown rice joins mashed sweet potatoes at another meal with a wedge of frittata.

Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Capellini, an Italian import available for $1.25 a pound at ShopRite in Paramus, complements an egg-white omelet stuffed with spinach.

Mateo's Gourmet Salsa and Earthbound Farm Organic Baby Spinach, both from Costco Wholesale, are perfect for stuffing a 10-inch omelet made with Kirkland Signature Egg Whites.

Mateo's Gourmet Salsa has no added sugar. A 32-ounce jar was $4.97 at Costco in Hackensack.

Some Kirkland Signature spices now have a new top, above, replacing a top that would sometimes come off, below, dumping ounces of black pepper, red-pepper flakes and other seasoning into the food you were preparing.

Here, I was seasoning the frittata egg mixture (16 ounces of whites and three whole organic eggs) after folding in the fresh spinach with a spoon.

Here, organic brown rice makes a nice foundation for a light dinner of salted fish prepared with sweet peppers, all accented with Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce, below.

Organic quinoa (prepared in an electric cooker with organic black beans, organic diced tomatoes and olive oil), with Roasted Chipotle Salsa I used tonight to poach wild-caught Icelandic Haddock Fillets, below.

The fresh haddock was $8.99 a pound at Costco. A 16-ounce jar of the salsa was $2.69 at Whole Foods Market in Paramus. I used most of the jar to poach 1.8 pounds of the fish in under 10 minutes. Tonight, I added the fresh juice of a lime and a little red wine to the salsa, and brought them to a boil before adding the fish and covering the pot.

Chasing Whole Foods' 99 cents turkey drumsticks

The homely monkfish on a well-iced display at Whole Foods Market in Paramus. The huge mouth is perfect for hunting in deep waters. The store pledges that all the seafood it sells is free of antibiotics and preservatives, and that fresh fish is delivered six days a week.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss a Black Friday food sale I always shop, whole wheat pastas and a spicier stew at my favorite Korean tofu house.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

I had to make two trips to Whole Foods Market in Paramus before I found a parking space in a lot that was packed with Black Friday shoppers besieging other mall stores.

On the second trip, after 7 on Friday evening, I found several empty spaces not far from the entrance, and only a handful of shoppers inside the organic supermarket.

I picked up two packages of naturally raised turkey drumsticks for 99 cents a pound, and another two packages of turkey backs and necks for $1.99 a pound.

I couldn't find any 16-ounce boxes of organic whole wheat pasta shells sold under the store's 365 Everyday Value label for $1.39.

So, I bought two 16-ounce packages or 365 Everyday Value Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti.

Whole Foods sells organic whole wheat pasta made in Italy -- linguine, spaghetti, shells and other shapes -- for $1.39 a pound, but Italian brands of organic whole wheat pasta on the same shelf go for more than $5 or $6 a pound.

A new ingredient in So Gong Dong's "more spicy" soft-tofu stew are chopped, hot green peppers, above. The broth is hot enough to soft boil a fresh egg that comes with the meal. Excellent cabbage kimchi is one of four free side dishes, below. We also ordered a seafood pancake.

Turning up the heat

I found a new ingredient in the Oyster Soft Tofu I ordered on Saturday evening at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park, our favorite Korean tofu house in North Jersey.

I asked for my soft-tofu stew "more spicy," as usual, and when it came to the table, I noticed chopped green chilies sprinkled on top.

They added a new level of heat to the stew I hadn't encountered before at the second-floor soft tofu parlor, which also serves an array of other traditional Korean dishes, including barbecue and bibimbap.

Soft tofu is comforting and a bargain, and it's not uncommon to see three generations happily enjoying the meal, including infants that have to be fed by their parents.

For $9.99, a complete soft-tofu meal includes the stew, a second stone bowl of steamed white rice and four side dishes, including bean sprouts, two kimchis and a fiery preparation of raw squid.

We asked for and received a second set of side dishes, and a third portion of the wonderful cucumber kimchi.

As a comfort food, soft tofu is especially good in the chilly months of winter. It's also available "no spicy," "little spicy" and "medium spicy." 

I love poaching the fresh egg that is provided, breaking the soft yoke over the rice and eating them together.

We also ordered pajun, a seafood-and-scallion pancake that serves four ($11.99).

On the bill, prices are rounded up a penny and include tax ($10 and $12).


So Gong Dong, 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 201-313-5550. Open 7 days. BYO. Free parking on side streets.

Two organic brown eggs sprinkled with shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Costco Wholesale and served with Thanksgiving leftovers.

Good wine, pasta and poultry buys at Whole Foods

The Don Simon Tempranillo, front, is a smooth red wine from Spain.

By Victor E. Sasson

Editor

Antibiotic-free chicken drumsticks for $1 a pound.

Red wine from Spain for $3.99 a bottle.

Organic 100% whole-wheat pasta from Italy for $1.39 a pound.

I found these good deals on Thursday at Whole Foods Market in Paramus. 

The drumsticks, from vegetarian-fed chickens, are on sale through Oct. 29, and come in packages weighing 4 pounds to 5 pounds.

The whole-wheat pasta matches the price at Trader Joe's, but comes as linguine and shells, two shapes not available there. 

With a price like this, why would anyone buy crappy chicken from Perdue?

Cases of wine were displayed under signs offering reds, whites and a rose for "under $7.99" and  "under $9.99."

I bought two bottles of Spanish red wine for $3.99 each and a bottle of California pinot noir for $4.99.

I screwed opened a bottle of tempranillo from Spain, and had a glass with my dinner of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti with marinara sauce, sardines, anchovies, sweet peppers, onions, garlic and fresh tomatoes.

Sweet Potato and Apple Soup.

The wine was smooth and free of harsh tannins.

I'll drink to that.

As usual, Whole Foods offered about a dozen soups. 

I tried an 8-ounce cup of Sweet Potato and Apple Soup ($3.49), and I'm not sure that combination really works.

More wonderful things to eat from stores in northern New Jersey

Manchego 100% sheep's milk cheese at Costco Wholesale is aged twice as long, but costs much less per pound than the version sold at Whole Foods Market.

Colavita Whole Wheat Capellini with langostino in vodka sauce.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Costco Wholesale in Hackensack sells more than 50 cheeses, but the 100% sheep's milk cheese from Spain has a special place in my heart.

I first enjoyed the rich, distinctive taste of manchego as part of a dessert in the 1970s after a meal of rabo de toro -- tail of the bull -- in a Madrid restaurant. 

I had spent the late afternoon watching bullfights in Madrid's famous ring, Las Ventas.

The dessert is Manchego y Membrillo -- sheep's milk cheese and quince paste -- recommended by author James Michener in "Iberia."

In the 1980s, on another trip to Spain, I brought home a 2.2 kilogram wheel of Manchego, hidden in my luggage.

I stopped going to bullfights decades ago, and no longer eat meat.

But I can still enjoy manchego from Costco Wholesale, and now pair it with fig marmalade from Lebanon, just one of the many Middle Eastern products sold at Fattal's Bakery, 975-77 Main St., Paterson.

Salloum Bros. Fig Marmalade is accented with anise.

Slices of manchego and a big spoonful of fig marmalade go wonderfully with the unsalted almonds I buy at Costco and roast at home.

Or you can pair the cheese with crisp apple slices or slice it thinly for use in an open-face omelet or with eggs sunny side up.

Earthbound Farm's Organic Half & Half is a great way to end a meal.

Our dinner one night this week was thawed, fully cooked langostino, Colavita Whole Wheat Capellini and bottled Paesana Vodka Sauce, plus a salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Half & Half (Baby Spinach and Spring Mix).

Langostino tails, from a crustacean that falls somewhere between shrimp and lobster, are sold frozen.

I didn't use a recipe. I just assembled the meal:

First, I heated up the sauce, adding some red-pepper flakes and several ounces of extra-virgin olive oil.

Second, I cooked the capellini until it was al dente in just enough unsalted water to cover the pasta. 

The 3-minute cooking time on the Colavita package is optimistic.

Then, I drained the cooked pasta and transferred it and the thawed langostino tails to the sauce, mixing them well over low heat.

The wild-caught, preservative-free langostino, vodka sauce and salad mix are from Costco. The whole wheat pasta came from Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St., Englewood.

Baskets full of merchandise left behind by spoiled Costco customers who change their minds, but who are too lazy to return the items to where they found them.

Part of a mural at Trader Joe's Chelsea store in Manhattan.

As much as I like Colavita's imported whole-wheat pasta, the whole-wheat pasta from Trader Joe's has several advantages.

Trader Joe's pasta is made from organic durum whole wheat, it contains no sodium, it has more fiber and it costs 10 cents less for a 16-ounce package.

Today, at the Paramus Trader Joe's, I compared the nutrition labels of whole-wheat pasta and Trader Joe's Italian pasta made from durum semolina.

The major difference is more than twice as much fiber in the whole-wheat product.

Two ounces of whole-wheat spaghetti, bottom label, has 5 grams of dietary fiber.

I also stopped at Fairway Market in Paramus, but didn't buy anything beyond what I went for: 3 pounds of coffee from Colombia and the Dominican Republic for $6.99 or $7.99 a pound.

With small pieces of baguette, I sampled a few of the expensive extra-virgin olive oils the store sells.

I saw fresh wild king salmon for $15.99 a pound, compared to $12.99 a pound at Costco.

A Manchego cheese aged for 15 months was $18 a pound, compared to Costco's 6-month Manchego for $8.29 a pound.

Some of the cheeses are so expensive, signs give the price for one-quarter pound, not a full pound, as in most other stores.  

I saw Sunset-brand Campari Tomatoes in a 1-pound package for a high $3.89. 

The store did have 3 packages of grape tomatoes for $5, but many of them contained crushed tomatoes and I passed. 

Jerry's takeout container is marked "MICROWAVABLE SAFE."

We continue to enjoy restaurant-quality Meals To Go from Jerry's in Englewood, but never heat them up in the plastic Anchor-brand takeout container.

I usually get the multi-course meals on Wednesdays after 4 p.m., when they are marked down to $5.99 from $7.99.

As we've done for many years, we plate the food before heating it up in the microwave to avoid a potential transfer of chemicals from the plastic container.

A red-snapper dinner from Jerry's was heated up on a plate, never in the plastic container.