The sardines are coming your way.
November 15, 2015
The week-end was exceptionally good. We met up with our daughter her friend and our grandsons. Of course, much of it was also spent in reflections on the horrors of Paris and Beirut. Both Lebanon and France subject to so many people getting killed. It seems the media’s attention was focussed on France and much less so on Lebanon where over forty five people were also massacred. No national Lebanese colours draped over our harbour bridge or Parliament house. Hardly a word!
Our daughter’s boy friend is a well known chef who used to run the kitchen at Berowra Waters restaurant near Sydney. He now runs his own restaurant. He was going to cook lunch at our daughter’s place in Allawah. To give them both a free go, we took one of our grandsons to Miranda Shopping Mall, a Mecca for shoppers and eating. We parked just outside the parking station on the street because in the parking station itself there are just too many trying to park and nerves get frayed and agitation is so often just below the surface. A kind of mini-terrorism classes seem to be growing at large Shopping Mall parking stations. Has anyone else noticed that too?
I decided to follow a terrific act of generosity and benevolence . Some days ago as we were getting out of the car at Aldi, a woman offered me her trolley. She was getting in the car and had finished her shopping. I quickly flashed her my two dollar coin. She refused with kindness. “No,” she said; “I want you to enjoy this as a small deed, a small gift,”, she added. I was so pleased that I returned the favour after we had done our shopping. The woman I gave our trolley to, looked somewhat perplexed. I quickly walked back to our car. I did not want to be seen as some Samaritan which I am not at all. I do hope she appreciated it. I remember many years ago when the Harbour Bridge toll still had to be paid in cash. The driver before me paid my toll. I have never forgotten. There are kind people about.
While at the large Miranda Mall I managed to get a hard-cover linen bound cooking book on fish dishes. It was discounted to $ 5.99. I noticed a brilliant recipe for sardines. I told Helvi that we should now also try to get fresh sardines to practise the recipe. I bought a kilo of them!
Back to my daughter’s place, daughter and friend were almost ready with a lovely lunch of grilled lamb cutlets, grilled Dutch carrots and Dutch Kipfler potatoes. All that downed with a very fine bottle of Leeuwens Estate wine. It was a great day.
After driving back home I decided to fillet the small sardines, take the back-bone out. Dust them with some flour and pepper and fill them with pine-nuts and spinach. We are going to have them tonight.
I will keep you informed.
Lovely …. but spinach ?
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Yes, but not silverbeet which is often called spinach. I love spinach and has given me formidable biceps which I flex in front of the mirror before going to bed.
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Awaiting the verdict on the sardines.
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I had to jettison the filling of the sardines with spinach and pine nuts. Even though the sardines were fresh, the sales girl from Costa’s at Mirranda’s Mall explained they had been frozen. The process makes the sardines fragile, less solid when gutting and cleaning. It was a big job. I decided to dip them in flour mixed with spices and quick fry them in some oil. They were delicious with fried rice and chives and spinach. The spinach was small leaved frozen in cubes.
In the meantime I will continue in my search fro fresh sardines. I mean freshly caught sardines, which will probably involve a trip to the fish markets, preferably direct from the fishing boats.
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Poor Gerard – guess what – my fish monger in Albury had fresh sardines yesterday. He is fussy about all his fish but a tip is not to buy the sardines from a fish market selling them in packed in big boxes – the little things are easily squished and not very satisfactory. I just cook them (gutted and beheaded) quickly on a hot flat fry pan with a little olive oil and plenty of salt flakes. When in top nick they also cook well over coals. There is one company selling sardines filleted but they are in, I think, 1 kg pack and you have to thaw and cook the lot so only good if you have others to share. They are Australian. The bones can be eaten or the spine left uneaten. They are still cheap and must be cooked the day you buy them. These came fresh from Melb the same day. I didn’t buy them though because he had fresh cooked school prawns from coast east of Melbourne. The two of us demolished a kilo – bloody delicious. We don’t get them often.
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Ah well, What can I say? A kilo of school prawns hotly competing with sardines. A difficult choice. We just had the Webber going and cooked lamb cutlets with spuds and carrots. Simply delicious.
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PS – your grandsons look lovely, handsome growing boys.
Lamb cutlets on BBQ – yummo.
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