Barbecue sardines — recipe
Picture: Iain Gillespie
Kirsty Carre — January 22, 2015 — Posted in the The West Australian
Serves 4
2 lemons, zested and juiced2 green chillies1/2 cup olive oil2 tbsp parsley3 garlic cloves1 shallot, peeled1/2 tsp salt16 sardines, butterflied2 tbsp olive oilsourdough bread Place the lemon zest and juice, chillies, olive oil, parsley, garlic cloves, peeled shallot and salt in a food processor and blitz until it forms a thick sauce. Coat the sardines in olive oil and place them in a barbecue cage (you may need to do this in several batches). Grill on either side for 2-3 minutes. Serve on grilled slices of sourdough with the sauce drizzled over the top.
How to fillet fresh sardines, no knife required
By Michael CimarustiMay 10 - LATimes.com
Filleting fresh sardines is worth the effort. (David Silverman / Getty Images)
Fresh sardines are a bit of work to prepare. Small fish usually are, but don't let that deter you. They're worth the effort. And once you get it down, the process goes quickly. You don't even need a knife to fillet a sardine. Their flesh is so soft they can be filleted with your thumbnail. In fact, doing this will help you preserve the texture. By filleting sardines this way, you force the bones out of the flesh. When you cut sardines with a knife, you cut through the bones, leaving them behind in the fillets.Start by gutting the fish. Place the fish on a clean napkin with the belly facing you. Use your thumbnail to separate flesh from bone where the anal fin meets the belly.Work your thumb under the flesh while sliding your thumb toward the tail of the fish. At this point the flesh of the sardine should be separated from the bone on the first side.Slide your finger on top of the backbone toward the head of the fish to separate the ribs from the fillet. At this point you will be able to see where the backbone terminates at the tail. Pinch the backbone of the sardine between your thumb and pointer finger and break it.Gently lift up on the severed backbone, and it will pull free from the flesh, bringing many of the smaller bones with it. When you get to the head of the sardine, you can pinch the backbone again to sever it from the head and lift it free. Whether you leave the head on the fish is up to you.View the original article here.
Sardines and mackerel: inexpensive, sustainable and dynamite
By Michael Cimarusti — May 10 — LATimes.com
Lightly salted and pickled sardines on toasted baguette with artichoke puree, tomato and black olive. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Good things come in small packages. Sardines and mackerel are proof of this adage. These are fish for the converted, fish for people who truly enjoy the flavor of fish.My first experience with fish of this sort came on a fishing trip in Maine when I was about 12. We were fishing freshwater, but we had brought along canned mackerel for quick lunches. I decided I'd try one. I turned the key on that little can and it opened up a whole world of briny, fatty deliciousness. I still love canned mackerel and canned sardines. Don't get me started: Ever try a sardine bánh mi? No? Well, trust me, you've been missing out.Sardines and mackerel are plentiful fish, whether you're buying them canned or fresh. They are easy to come by and inexpensive. In a world where buying wild fish can be a minefield from a sustainability standpoint, these fish offer a haven, and a delicious haven it is.When buying sardines, look for shiny, firm fish. They should still be flexed in rigor when you buy them, and make sure their bellies are intact.Once you've found the sardines, you'll need to decide what to do with them.One of my very favorite dishes — one I could eat every day — is the pasta con le sarde we've served for years at Providence. It's a play on a traditional Sicilian recipe. The pasta includes fresh sardines, olive oil, fennel, pine nuts, raisins and bread crumbs. It's crave-worthy. Grilled sardines are also delicious with nothing more than sea salt and lemon.Fish this flavorful does the heavy lifting; you really don't need to do much in order to make them memorable.If you want something that's a little more involved and definitely dinner party material, try quickly pickling the sardines. Serve these on grilled slices of baguette you've smeared with artichoke purée and then top them with roasted tomatoes. It's a terrific appetizer, or you could serve it with a big salad of arugula dressed with simple vinaigrette for more of a main course salad.Really, any preparation that includes salt and a touch of acid will do: The salt to bring out the flavor in the fish and the acid to tame the fat. It's hard to go wrong with sardines.Mackerel is just as flavorful and easier to prepare, since it usually comes already scaled and filleted. I particularly like Spanish, or sierra, mackerel, which has a shiny spotted skin that does beautiful things when crisped in a pan or on a grill. This fish is also particularly abundant and inexpensive, and is recommended as a best choice based on sustainability by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.One way I love to serve it during the summer is alongside a piperade, a slightly spicy mix of peppers, tomatoes and chorizo. This mixture works with all sorts of fish: mackerel, sardines, swordfish or bluefish.
Sardines and mackerel, like black licorice, aren't for everybody. I get that, but you really need to give them a try. My son, one of the pickiest eaters on the planet, hounds me, nearly every Sunday, to take him to Park's Barbeque for their broiled mackerel. Go figure. If he can relish them, so can you.
View the original article here.
Food Blog: Lemon Grilled Sardines
Total preparation time: 20 minutes. Total cooking time: 7/8 minutes. Total approximate cost: £1.02.Autumn is definitely upon us now, but for a flavour of summer that is really cheap and not to mention great for you, give these sardines a go!Ingredients:
- 1/2 Lemon
- 3 Sardines
- 2 Cloves of garlic
- Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
- Clean and gut your sardines. You may be able to find them already prepared, or you can ask a fishmonger to do it for you. However if braving it yourself rub the fish all over to remove any scales, and then just cut the belly from the gills to about 2 cm away from the beginning of the tail and remove the innards. Rinse out and it’s done. See it wasn’t so bad!
- Slice the lemon into thin wedges and scatter about half onto a baking tray. With the other half place in the carcass of the fish to allow the citrus flavour to permeate through.
- Similarly slice the garlic and do the same.
- Place the sardines on top of the lemon wedges, before seasoning and drizzling with olive oil.
- Now grill in a preheated oven at about 250C for about 3-4 minutes each side and serve.
- Enjoy! Best served with a green salad and some fresh crusty bread.
Read the original recipe and see a photo here.
Small fish bring big menu opportunities
Despite their reputation as oily, smelly, fatty and usually packed in a tin, there’s lot to like about anchovies, sardines and smelt. They’re extremely flavorful, loaded with healthy omega-3s and abundant in our oceans. And while small fish are found most often on menus in Caesar salads, atop pizzas or inside sushi rolls, lately more chefs are using them in appetizers or entrees.According to Datassential MenuTrends, 21 percent of all restaurant menus feature at least one variety of small fish, an increase of 2 percent since 2009. They can be found most often at fine-dining restaurants, where 36 percent of menus feature a small fish. Anchovies, appearing on 19 percent of menus, are the most common small fish offered by restaurants.Their rarity on menus, along with and their distinct flavor, is precisely why chef Joe Realmuto loves to put anchovies, sardines and smelts on the menu at Nick & Toni’s East Hampton and Nick & Toni’s Café in New York City.Read the full article here.
Anchovies are moving out of the can and into the mainstream as chefs and grocers embrace them
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Canadian Press] - August 16, 2013 - Maligned and misunderstood, anchovies have long been those stinky little fish that sneak into Caesar salad or top some adventurous person's pizza.``My father would eat them out of a can,'' says New Orleans restaurateur and TV chef John Besh. ``If Dad was going hunting, he'd grab a can of smoked oysters or anchovies and crackers and that would be his lunch.''But today, chefs like Besh have moved anchovies to the top of the food chain, showcasing them as elegant bar snacks, sophisticated bruschetta or the foundation for pasta dishes and stews.``They make friends and enemies quickly,'' says Seamus Mullen, chef-owner of Tertulia in New York City. ``A bad anchovy is not a good thing. It's a question of making sure you get the right ones.''Getting the ``right'' anchovies has become much easier in recent years. The mushy, salty tinned anchovies eaten by Besh's father are still out there. But more and more, the shelves of gourmet stores and upscale supermarkets offer high-quality anchovies preserved in olive oil, pickled in vinegar or sometimes even fresh.More menus feature items such as ``boquerones,'' white anchovies, often dressed with vinegar. Fresh anchovies might be cooked over a wood fire or dressed with breadcrumbs and garlic. Sometimes, anchovies go undercover.Besh uses them as what he calls ``nature's MSG,'' melting them into beef daube and lamb stew to intensify the savory flavours.Nick Stefanelli, executive chef at Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca in Washington, D.C., uses them to make an ancient Roman fish sauce called garum.``One of the most classic pasta dishes is spaghetti with fish sauce, garlic and chilies,'' says Stefanelli, who includes the dish on his tasting menus. ``The product itself really takes it where it needs to be... It's so simple and beautiful.''Anchovies have been a staple of Italian, Spanish and Provencal French cooking for centuries. French and Italian country stews use them to provide umami, a sense of meatiness and depth. They are made into marinades and tapenades, tossed into pasta and mixed with garlic, breadcrumbs and parsley to stuff vegetables, such as peppers and eggplant. In Spain, they are among the finest tapas.Read the full article here.
'Dancing Squid' Phenomenon: How Soy Sauce Brings A Dead Creature Back To 'Life'
Soy sauce may be able to revive a dull dish, but it hardly has the ability bring dead things back to life. Yet, that's exactly what the condiment appears to do in a GIF recently posted on Reddit.Borrowed from a 2010 Youtube video, the GIF shows a cuttlefish seemingly coming back to life when soy sauce is poured atop it. The cephalopod's body lifts up and writhes in the bowl, prompting viewers to ask: Is it really dead?Indeed, the cuttlefish in the video -- part of a seafood dish named odori-don -- is no longer living. The cuisine, sometimes prepared with squid and known as the "dancing squid rice bowl," rose to prominence after Japanese sushi restaurant Ikkatei Tabiji began preparing the plate in this particular fashion, according to CBS News.So how does the squid "come back to life?"Read full story here.http://youtu.be/iqphVlp2VJI
How to prepare squid: How to clean, prepare and cook squid.
These are a few tips from our friends in the UK on how to clean, prepare and cook squid, note that the squid is a little larger than California squid, but the process is similar.
Points to remember:
- Pull out the tentacles from the main body. Cut just below the eye and discard the innards. Discard the beak and then trim the long tentacles level with the rest.
- Pinch the two fins together, thread thumb underneath and pull them away from the body, along with the membrane and discard.
- Pull out the shell or 'quill' and then remove the innards using the back of a knife.
- Cut the squid open, and scrape any more innards out and discard. Cut into slices, or score the squid and cut into pieces.
- You can now cook the squid. Frying is a popular method - squid pieces just need to be cooked for 30-40 seconds on a very high heat. Serve immediately.