Costco-A-Go-Go

[chefsteban]

In so far:

Shannon-Elise - Columbus, Ohio

Ronnie_Suburban - Suburban Chicago

Haggis man - Northern Virginia

Perlows - NJ

Marlene - Ontario, Canada

ylm23 - PA

Fifi - Houston (maybe)

torakris - Japan

chefsteban - San Diego (maybe)

jmcarath - boston

anythingbutliver - Detroit

jayt90 - Pickering, Ontario, Canada

There's still time. Cooking can be done Sat or Sun. Come on and join the party!

....Hey......why is there a "maybe" by my name? I didn't use the maybe word in my count-me-in post.........grrrrrrr.............I'm ready to shop and chop chill'en

[Marlene]

sorry, it looked like you were looking for a group to join. I'll fix.

[Marlene]

In:

Shannon-Elise - Columbus, Ohio

Ronnie_Suburban - Suburban Chicago

Haggis man - Northern Virginia

Perlows - NJ

Marlene - Ontario, Canada

ylm23 - PA

Fifi - Houston (maybe)

torakris - Japan

chefsteban - San Diego

jmcgrath - boston

anythingbutliver - Detroit

jayt90 - Pickering, Ontario, Canada

mnebergall - Alexandria, VA

[jmcgrath]

In:

jmcarath - boston

jmcgrath - Boston

[mnebergall]

In:

mnebergall - location?

Alexandria, VA

[Haggis man]

I guess collecting all the free samples as our dishes is not kosher, right? LOL In any event I am off for my 300 dollar shopping spree tomorrow ( that is generally our haul when we go) I am also getting gas ( for the car)! I think I will do a summer theme. As I understand it we are to take pics and submit recipes ( I have not done this before). Do you want pics of the shopping trip? I am also going to use fresh herbs out of the garden. Wine and beer are also available here in Virginia.

Good luck all! If we combine all the purchases, costco might have there best day ever!

Cheers

Scott

[Marlene]

If you want to take pics of the shopping trip, that's great! I didn't think of it. I just got back from my ($700) Costco trip. Why is it I can never get out of there without buying a bunch of stuff I never knew I needed?

I'm all set. Baby back ribs, 10 lbs of red potatoes for potato salad, some great beefsteak tomatoes so hubby can make his famous tomato/onion and blue cheese salad. 2 lbs of strawberries for a dessert of some sort. A wheel of brie for brie in puff pastry, crackers, and enough other stuff that I could have an entire weekend of Costco breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Most of the cooking will be done tomorrow in preparation for our guests on Sat. Recipes and pics to come.

No beer and wine at our Costco stores in Ontario , but I did pick up a maragrita mix to make frozen margarita's with

[mnebergall]

I just got back from my ($700) Costco trip. Why is it I can never get out of there without buying a bunch of stuff I never knew I needed?

But just think of how much money you saved.

[Marlene]

I just got back from my ($700) Costco trip.  Why is it I can never get out of there without buying a bunch of stuff I never knew I needed?

But just think of how much money you saved.

Yes, that's exactly what I'll tell my husband

[ylm23]

Ooh. I hate to do this but it looks like I am going to have to back out. I wish all the rest of you the most entertaining and interesting of experiences, and if this becomes a regular thing I am definitely on board (I know, I have no legitimacy right now ...)

[Lan4Dawg]

Any one mind if I play? The only problem is I do not know if I will have time to go by Costco this w/e but I suppose we are allowed to use items previously purchased fr/ the store. If so then count me into the mix.

Gwinnett County, GA -- Duluth Costco

let's see, after a quick trip to the kitchen.....I have Ahi Tuna filets in the freezer as well as butter, lemon, capers all of which I purchased on my last trip so what about seared tuna w/a picatta style sauce? over basmati rice (also purchased fr/ Costco) and use the frozen green beans and almonds (both came fr/ Costco) for a side dish of green bean almondine? There are a lot of mixed ethnicities in there but it should work. None of this is in the receipt archives so I hope I am not cheating.

[Marlene]

Welcome to the party! Of course you may use things from Costco you already have. And if the recipes aren't in the archive, you can put them there, even better!

[Rachel Perlow]

We're shopping tomorrow with our friends. We will probably do our costco standard of charcoal grilled steaks, coated/marinated in lots of chopped garlic. This will most likely be accompanied by sauteed spinach, rice, and a salad.

[Marlene]

I've made my three salads, (potato, coleslaw and macaroni), the ribs are marinating, and the dessert is halfway made. The brie (I found a cranberry chutney to use with it) will be made just before guests arrive.

[mnebergall]

It is pouring down rain here in DC. I am going to postpone my Costco-a-go-go until tomorrow when I will be able to fire up the grill.

[robyn]

I just want to say that I'm sorry I couldn't participate. Would have liked to - but my father-in-law is starting 4 weeks of radiation therapy Monday - 5 days a week (we'll be driving him 100 miles a day to do it) - so I thought tomorrow would be a good time to take him to dinner and a movie (NASCAR at the Imax theater - looks like a great vertigo movie ). Please contact me if you plan to do it again and perhaps I'll have more time on my hands then. Robyn

[jmcgrath]

I cooked a half-assed Costco-A-Go-Go dinner today. Costco just isn't conducive for a dinner for two. The lamb and butter for the hollandaise sauce came from Costco. Everything else was purchased elsewhere.

I started with asparagus

pea tendrils

and a rack of lamb

I made a crust for the lamb with a half cup of Panko, three Tbsp of EVOO, three large cloves of garlic run through the garlic press, and the leaves of a large rosemary sprig, finely chopped.

The lamb with crust looked like this

I got the fire started, lump charcoal with a splint of cherry.

and tossed on the lamb

I made some Hollandaise sauce from a stick of frozen butter, a Tbsp of fresh lemon juice, a pinch of cayenne and two egg yolks.

Only wimps use a double boiler

The sauce is coming along nicely

And now it's done

I started the asparagus in a little water

I steamed the pea tendrils for a few minutes and they ended up looking like this

I tossed them with a bit of EVOO and raspberry vinegar.

The lamb finished

and I plated things up.

We had a loaf of french bread with this butter

Looking out into my backyard towards the Sudbury River

I bought some raspberries and clotted cream for desert, but we were too full. I think it will make a good breakfast.

It's the morning after and I'm still full. This was my breakfast

Jim

Edited June 6, 2004 by jmcgrath (log)

[Marlene]

An awesome dinner was had by all here. pics and recipes to follow tomorrow.

[Lan4Dawg]

sorry, but I had to postpone until tomorrow. The Fuss came down w/ cold/flu this morning while I was out so I had to make "healing soup"-- chicken, pasta, and vegetable w/ lots of garlic & ginger. It is what she craves when ever she does not feel good. She is doing much better now so the stuff does work.

I hope you people are not expecting pictures. I have a digital camera but my cat has a better idea of how to use it than I do & I am embarassed by all of the effort jmcgrath put into his presentation. (Reminds me of when you had to turn in a report at school and yours is torn fr/ a note book and dog eared and the other kid shows up w/ a professional binder and computer generated graphics.)

[binkyboots]

ooh.. timely! I could have a costco a go go tommorow (babysitting today)

can I ask a question, uk costco shoppers, what sort of prices are you paying in store for loo roll, washing powder.. or anything, I'm trying to work out if it's worth the petrol/joining fee..

also do the really sell books? eep... books!

Edited June 6, 2004 by binkyboots (log)

[esperanza]

Well damn, I just read this entire Costco a-go-go thread this morning. Here I am in the middle of Mexico--and there is a huge Costco only an hour away! I have to go there on Tuesday, just a little late for the go-go.

Here's what I usually buy there: TP, paper towels, paper napkins, evaporated milk, wines, liquor. I've not bought meats or fish, but others swear by them. The standard array of products available in the USA is available here, for the most part, with some country-specific differences: all the books are in Spanish, the dry and canned goods are heavy on the things we use here: rice, beans, fideos, chiles en escabeche, etc. We get delicious pitted green olives stuffed with anchovies; I'm not an anchovy lover, but I love these.

Here's a point to ponder: Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in Mexico. Scary, huh?

[Anything_but_liver]

My husband and I shop at Costco every week. Sometimes twice a week. We like Half and Half in our coffee and Costco sells half gallons for the same price as a quart elsewhere so that's really the main reason why we shop there every week. Well, we also like trolling for samples and most don't suck. Anyway, last night I grilled up one of those Costco pre-cooked ducks. They are quite good and a handy piece of meat to have in your frig when you don't feel like doing a lot of cooking. The carcass makes a decent stock too.

With the exception of the cinnamon stick, all the ingredients in this dish were purchased at Costco.

The food:

Grilled Duck

Fragrant jasmine rice

Grilled asparagus

Pan roasted pine nuts

Sauteed porcini and portobello mushrooms

Roasted red peppers

I sauteed an onion in EVOO and added one cup of rice aand a handfull of white raisins. I cooked that for a 2 minutes then added 1 1/2 C stock and a 1/4 C OJ, an inch cinnamon stick, the zest of a lemon and the peel of a tangerine. This simmered for 15 while I grilled up (reheated) the duck and aspargus.

Earlier in the day I hydrated the porcini, sliced the portobellos and sauteed both finishing it off with a red wine reduction. I also pan roasted the pine nuts and red peppers and set all three aside to be plated when the time came.

The dish was paired with a 1999 Elk Cove Vineyards Roosevelt Pinot Noir.

Tonight, we're grilling a Costco flank steak, zucchini and marinated whole portobellos. I'll serve with some caramelized onions and a fresh tomato salad.

Edited June 6, 2004 by Anything_but_liver (log)

[ronnie_suburban]

We ended up doing 2 separate nights of go-go-ing--with some qualifications--which I will note as I go. Everything was purchased from Costco unless otherwise noted and in some cases, the items were previously purchased at Costco.

Night 1 (joined by eGulleters, guajolote and niv):

Rib Eye steaks

Grilled Asparagus (tossed in olive oil not purchased at Costco)

Wilted Spinach with Smoked Bacon & Red Onion (Hungarian-style smoked bacon was not purchased at Costco, red onion was previously purchased at Costco)

Strawberries with Ice Cream (not pictured, ice cream previously purchased at Costco)

Total Cost for 4 steaks, spinach, asparagus and strawberries was approximately $40.50

Night 2 (joined by eGulleter, Derek Wildstar & family):

Flank Steak

(Marinated in Newman's Own Italian dressing, previously purchased from Costco)

Basmati Rice with Spinach, Red Onion and Smoked Bacon

(basmati rice was previously purchased at Sam's Club. Again, dish includes the Hungarian-style smoked bacon which was not purchased at Costco and the previously purchased red onion. Spinach came from the bottomless 2.5# bag used on Night 1)

Greens Salad with Roasted Pepper Dressing

(Earthbound Gardens greens and dressing made with mini bell peppers, were both previously purchased from Costco)

Strawberries with Ice Cream

(by 2nd night, the ice cream was no longer from Costco and the Ready-Whip never was )

Total Cost for Flank Steaks (there were 2, we ate only 1) was approximately $17.00. Strawberries and Spinach were accounted for above. Total cost for previously purchased items (greens, mini peppers) was probably about $8.00.

Some other notes....salad dressing on Night 2 was made mostly with items not from Costco. I'd purchased the mini bell peppers on a previous trip and realized that I needed to use them, so I threw them on the grill after the steaks were cooked on Night 1 and used them in the dressing on Night 2. Ditto for my seasonings, including salt and pepper, which were mostly purchased at The Spice House or Penzeys. Into both the rice dish and the spinach dish I incorporated some home-made stock concentrate from my freezer tray stash. Finally, the charcoal for the grill was not purchased at Costco.

On neither night did we have beverages from Costco. Over the 2 nights we had wine, soda, water and cocktails, all from other sources. On that note, overall I think I could have done a far better job--and gotten everything at Costco--if I'd been more organized about the whole thing. I was glad to have company at both meals because otherwise, we'd have had far too much food. Of course, I wouldn't have bought the flank steaks if I didn't know about Night 2, going in. Still, if I'd opted to make brisket or ribs, I probably could have purchased only meat to cover both nights.

There aren't really any true 'recipes' for what I made...I just mostly grilled up a bunch of items and threw some stuff together, but I will write up recipes for the appicable dishes and upload to RecipeGullet asap.

Oh...and here's one last pic from Night 2. This was done, not by one of our children, but by eGullet member Derek Wildstar...

=R=

[Marlene]

Here's our Costco dinner.

The food and recipes:

Appetizers

Baked Brie in Puff Pastry with Cranberry Chutney

Shrimp with Seafood Sauce

Frozen Margaritas

Dinner

Baby Back Ribs

Coleslaw

Potato Salad

Macaroni Salad (I haven't got that recipe into the Archive yet

French Bread and Flatbreads (from Costco)

Berries Delight

The Ingredients from Costco were:

The ribs, the Brie, the Shrimp, the potatoes for the potato salad, the mayonnaise for all three salads, the macaroni for the macaroni salad, the crackers for the brie, the flatbreads, the cream cheese for the dessert, the berries for the dessert and the Maragrita mix.

The Brie and Shrimp

The Brie

Kirkland Ribs

Marinating the ribs

The finished ribs

More ribs

Potato Salad

Berries Delight

Frozen Margarita. It was a tought job, but Alan was up to the challenge of testing the margaritas. Some of the pictures are not as clear as I'd like them to be. Our friends, are our testers for all of our egullet cooking adventures and Alan wanted to take the pictures this time.

[Haggis man]

I will post a more informative reply later

Menu

Mojitos (not from costco)

Mariated Shrimp Cocktail with Cocktail Sauce (horseradish not from costco)

"Bloody Mary" London Broil (horseradish not from costco)

Hot German Potato Salad

Squash Cassorole

Salad

Several cabs..one from costco

Cherry and fruit bread pudding with lemon sauce and ice cream

Allmost all incrediants from costco except for spices and sugar. Where do I post the receipes? What do I do with the 10 lemons I have left?????

Cheers

Scott