the wimperoo wrote:Chanterelles in stock at the St. Charles Costco. $8.99 for a 1 lb package.

The same is true at the Glenview location, as well.

=R=

Oakbrook is out of Chanterelles until Tuesday However, Urbani has a rep on hand offering fresh truffles, both white and black. The black ones are about $25 per ounce. The whites I didn't consider - but I think were $130 per ounce. I guess a shaved black truffle will have to substitute for the mushrooms I was going to throw on some pappardalle! They also have the truffle oils and some bruschetta condiments.

Hi,

At Costco in Glenview this evening, I saw a ham shaped object:



A little closer look:



These hams are $140 and up. Since these are eaten in paper thin slices, it is a feast for the masses. The food demo lady speculated only a restaurant would want that much ham. It certainly would be a center piece at a party. A few aisles over were portioned thin slices of similar ham for $18. a pound, so it potentially is a good deal if you can use it all.

***

On a separate note, I had a Costco Polish for dinner. It seemed kind of mushy. I think I am going back to the hot dog.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:On a separate note, I had a Costco Polish for dinner. It seemed kind of mushy. I think I am going back to the hot dog.

The dog's no better: the reformulated dogs and polishes are very spongy in texture, and both rather smoky in flavor. I still prefer the polish for one of the world's cheapest prepared meals, but I'm going to be doing it less often.

JoelF wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:On a separate note, I had a Costco Polish for dinner. It seemed kind of mushy. I think I am going back to the hot dog.

The dog's no better: the reformulated dogs and polishes are very spongy in texture, and both rather smoky in flavor. I still prefer the polish for one of the world's cheapest prepared meals, but I'm going to be doing it less often.

Hi,

It's not so much reformulated, but a new vendor. The hot dogs and Polishes were from Best Kosher before, right?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

At Costco in Glenview this evening, I saw a ham shaped object:

Any ideas on how long these would keep? I think I could manage to get through one in a month or two.

Costco is running it's annual Vitamix special right now. I adore mine.

Cathy2 wrote:

JoelF wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:On a separate note, I had a Costco Polish for dinner. It seemed kind of mushy. I think I am going back to the hot dog.

The dog's no better: the reformulated dogs and polishes are very spongy in texture, and both rather smoky in flavor. I still prefer the polish for one of the world's cheapest prepared meals, but I'm going to be doing it less often.

Hi,

It's not so much reformulated, but a new vendor. The hot dogs and Polishes were from Best Kosher before, right?

Regards,

At the Lincoln Park one (Damen/Clybourn) they were Vienna Beef. Are they no longer?

I'm pretty sure the ones on Clybourn are still Vienna Beef, and I'm pretty sure they're the only Costco in the country serving Vienna Beef hot dogs in the cafe.

Strolling through the Niles Costco today I found that they were selling cases of their own brand of beer. The "Kirkland Signature Handcrafted Beer" case contains six-packs of four different styles (pale ale, amber ale, hefeweisen and german lager). I'm sipping on a pale ale now and its actually pretty good! Price is $18.99 for the 24 pack.

Escargots - product of France (Costco Schaumburg)
$12.69/36 count

Any ideas on how long these would keep? I think I could manage to get through one in a month or two.

i think it's a year or so old already.

leek wrote:
At the Lincoln Park one (Damen/Clybourn) they were Vienna Beef. Are they no longer?

Yes. They are still serving Vienna's in Lincoln Park, but that is the lone exception (presumably because the Vienna factory is nearly across the street). All other Costo's are now serving "Kirkland" brand polishes and dogs. Blech!

Eric Ripert's take on cooking a full meal for Alan Richman using Costco ingredients.

Eric Ripert wrote:How can you be inspired for cooking when there are Christmas trees mixed in with the food? And the lighting! I feel like I am in an emergency room.

stevez wrote:All other Costo's are now serving "Kirkland" brand polishes and dogs. Blech!

The Pittsburgh area Costco I visited over the weekend serves Hebrew National dogs. Maybe the Kirkland switch is limited to the non-Vienna Beef-Serving Chicago area Costcos? In any case, I agree: Blech.
--Rich

Costco is running it's annual Vitamix special right now. I adore mine.


This was posted on the 13th... don't know how long this special will last, but if you can see $400 (instead of the usual $460 or so) for a blender that will crush rocks, check it out. It makes the most amazing smoothies, and I had to fix my wife four or five just wonderful frozen Daiquiris when she fould out what I paid for it - but she does like it.
I stumbled on the Vitamix special in Reno, and was willing to carry it back on the plane to Chicago. It ain't light. Michael Chiarello has one.

One of these days, I'm going to see if it will puree a coconut. I expect that it will...

They had these at the Lincoln Park Costco, though I don't think they were demoing it with rocks...

aschie30 wrote:

Eric Ripert wrote:How can you be inspired for cooking when there are Christmas trees mixed in with the food? And the lighting! I feel like I am in an emergency room.

Here's a direct link to the GQ story.

I don't think Ripert gets it: "I do not want to be seen as somebody who supports this kind of store and this kind of system. I want people to be aroused by products when they shop."

A lot of Americans find Costco extremely arousing.

aschie30 wrote:Eric Ripert's take on cooking a full meal for Alan Richman using Costco ingredients.

Eric Ripert wrote:How can you be inspired for cooking when there are Christmas trees mixed in with the food? And the lighting! I feel like I am in an emergency room.

Also from that article

. I realize we bought the best products at Costco, and not everybody does that, but I have to confess that they are good. I am not happy to say that.

I added the bold

aschie30 wrote:Eric Ripert's take on cooking a full meal for Alan Richman using Costco ingredients.

Eric Ripert wrote:How can you be inspired for cooking when there are Christmas trees mixed in with the food? And the lighting! I feel like I am in an emergency room.

Great piece. Sometimes we forget, not everyone has access to little markets & boutique food shops. Lovely to show what can be purchased & made from a Warehouse Club. I had to put it on Twitter.

Thanks,

Love Love Love Costco!!!!!

Eric Ripert wrote:Alan asks me to push the cart, and I will not. Yes, I know I am being a spoiled brat, but for me it is an acceptance of the system.

Tough patooties, Eric.

Costco is what is is: the majority of people in the US do not have access to a farmer's market with salmon where "we know what it ate." We can't feed the population of this planet with organic produce (although we could go significantly more sustainable, for sure).

I'm happy I can get high-quality provisions from Costco. All they're doing is cutting out a middleman or two versus the other retailers, and they actually do butchering on-site, which is a big step above Jewel these days -- not even counting the fact that it's all choice and above.

Grow up, Eric. There are different systems out there, find what works best.

The Kirkland 2009 Tuscano extra virgin olive oil, from the "October/November 2009 harvest" is in stock at the Niles Costco

Yes! At our Costco in Lake Zurich as well.

Picked up two bottles yesterday. We're set for awhile.

The wife brought home a product called "Kirkland Signature Smoke Pulled Pork." The label claims it is "slow smoked for 12 to 14 hours in a traditional pit-style method using real hickory logs. The hickory logs are the source of both the heat and the smoke...."

The ingridents are: pork, water, salt, sodium nitrite, spice extract.

It comes shrink wrapped and needs only to be mircrowaved.

I am not someone who has eaten much pulled pork. But, the labeling on this product seems pretty accurate. This was a smoky hunk of pork, nothing else (it had been pulled/shredded, but compacted in the shrink wrap, so needed re-pulling once cooked). There were pieces of what I believe you smart fellers would call bark.

$9 for 2 lbs. This is NOT the type of product that comes in sauce and is called BBQ. Note that the lable doesn't mention those three letters nor the longer word they are shorthand for.

Given my limited exposure to the real stuff, I will offer the giant caveat that for the price, and for the ease of prep, this appealed to me as a good, smokey, fatty, bark-y, porky product. Truly I hope a more experienced hand and a more trained palate gives it a try. But, you know, if you hate it (and I don't think you will), I'm not re-imbursing you!

Shasson wrote:The wife brought home a product called "Kirkland Signature Smoke Pulled Pork."

Can you tell us which store and where in the store?

Shasson wrote:The wife brought home a product called "Kirkland Signature Smoke Pulled Pork."

Food Nut wrote:Can you tell us which store and where in the store?

The Kirkland Signature pulled pork is available at the Oak Brook store.

Also, about 6 months ago Costco had a strikingly similar product called Austin Blues pulled pork by Hormel. I tried the Austin Blues and it sounds like it is the same product reported by Shasson.

I read on addictedtocostco.com: "Kirkland Signature Smoked Pulled Pork – This stuff is delicious, and much better than the old brand of pulled pork too (which I liked, just not this much). The KS pulled pork doesn’t seem as greasy, which is the best difference to me but it still has tons of delicious smoky pork goodness. Much the same as the previous stuff, the pulled pork is in a vacuum packed container that you just pop in the microwave for 7 minutes and it does the rest. It’s got a nice amount of juices that it cooks in, so it comes out moist and delicious, but not greasy. You get 2 pounds of meat in the container, and it really is a lot of meat. We made sandwiches and made just a small dent in it the first night. So, we had leftover to have for burritos for lunch the next day. We didn’t even feel the need to add any kind of barbecue sauce or anything else when we made the sandwiches because the meat is so super yummy all on its own. If you like pulled pork, you really have to check this out"

Please know I didn't post that. I am not apt to go with "super yummy" as a description.

anyhow, my purchased it at the Costco by the leaning tower Y.

Shasson wrote:...the Costco by the leaning tower Y.

I believe that one is in Niles - just off Touhy

Costco
7311 North Melvina Ave
Niles IL 60714
(847) 972-3003

Costco on Clybourn is out of the EVOO. Also the whole of Costco has "deleted" the escargot described somewhere above. They no longer carry them. I like the rack of lamb at Costco; the price is right and the taste is good. I am preparing one this evening.