butterflied sardines | Robin Ellis

Posts Tagged ‘butterflied sardines’

Butterflied sardines–Summer Fare

Posted in other sides to this life, tagged butterflied sardines, diabetes-friendly recipe, how to butterfly sardines, sardine recipe on June 20, 2015| 8 Comments »

Sardines for lunch. Well, it’s summer–almost.

Tomorrow is the Solstice.

I was in Castres market by 7h30 this morning, as it came alive.

Late arrivals still unloading last night’s pickings–manoeuvring their vehicles between the early punters, bantering with their neighboring marchands, already set-up and selling.

It’s the best time to go on a Saturday–before the throng chokes up the passageways.

Peaches, raspberries and strawberries confirm the season–only one stall now of asparagus.

Green beans are in–but expensive.

Courgettes and shiny black aubergines! Tomatoes look tempting but are bound to disappoint. The sun hasn’t had time to do it’s magic. Still with a swirl of best olive oil, they’ll complement the sardines and help us with the gear change into the new season.

Officialy summer–but who knows these days…?

Two weeks ago it felt like August in Florence–32C/90F.

To filet a sardine (not for the squeamish, perhaps!)

[Video versions below]

You’ll need a chopping board and plenty of kitchen paper.

Have a pair of scissors to hand and a plate to receive the fillets.

The fishmonger scales the sardines. Check that there are no scales left on the fish, then with the fishhead in your left hand and the body in your right, gently pull the head off–drawing out as much of the innards as possible.

Use the scissors to snip along the belly,

then with your left thumb coax out the rest of the innards.

Place the fish, belly down, on the board and press gently up and down the backbone with both thumbs.

Flatten the fish.

Lift and snip off the small fin, discarding it.

then snip the backbone at the tail end…

…and, with the left hand, peel it gently away from the body, taking care not to take too much of the filet with it.

Voila! You have a butterfly fillet!

12 firm and fresh sardines–butterflied

The stuffing:

100gms/4 oz wholewheat breadcrumbs

Mix in:

1 tablespoon parsley–chopped

2 garlic cloves–chopped fine

1 tablespoon of capers–chopped

a pinch of dried oregano (optional)

1 tbs olive oil

salt and pepper

set oven at 180C

Cover a shallow oven tray with foil and lightly brush it with oil.

Lay out the butterflied fillets.

Cover them not too thickly with the stuffing–a teaspoon lends a helpful guide.

Bake on the top shelf of the oven for ten minutes–less or more depending on the size of the sardines.

I like to finish them under a hot grill for about 30 seconds.

And now here’s the video version of how to butterfly a sardine:

And Part Two illustrates how to stuff the butterflied sardines:

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Sardines on a sad sunny day

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged butterflied sardines, pets, sardines, sick cat on May 11, 2011| 21 Comments »

It’s a beautiful pre-summer day and there were some fresh looking sardines at Intermarché in Realmont.

A bit early to be thinking “summer lunches” but we need cheering up, so I bought three each–juicy ones–and butterflied them.

We had them baked with a simple fennel salad which cuts the richness of the sardines.

Butterscotch is still not well–in fact poor mite–she’s worse and so thin.

Butterscotch aka little Mother

She wants to eat and to go on as usual and doesn’t understand why she can’t.

She came out into the garden this morning while we did the exercise routine with our friend Flo and was “with us”–as cats often like to be.

Going over to Flo she did one of those wonderful cat “rolls” they do for you– “it’s a greeting” Meredith says.

She managed it and even did a return roll–that lifted our spirits.

She is twelve now and some systems seem to be failing her.

“On s’attache”–“you grow fond”–of your pets and it’s hard.

Here’s the recipe to cheer you up after reading this!!

For 2

6 firm and fresh sardines–butterflied (see below)

100gms/4 oz wholewheat breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon parsley–chopped

2 garlic cloves–chopped fine

1 tablespoon of capers–chopped

a pinch of dried oregano

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

Heat the oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 if using.

Butterfly filleting is a bit of a business but rewarding.You’ll need a
chopping board and plenty of kitchen paper. Have a pair of
scissors to hand and a plate to receive the fillets. Make sure

there are no scales left on the fish, then with the head in your

left hand and the body in your right, gently pull the head off
and as much of the innards as possible from the tail end. Use
the scissors to snip along the belly, then with your left thumb
coax out the rest of the innards. Place the fish, belly down, on
the board and press gently up and down the backbone with
both thumbs. Flatten the fish as much as you can with three
fingers of both hands. Lift and snip off the small fin, then snip
the backbone at the tail end and, with the left hand, draw it
carefully away from the body, taking care not to take too
much of the flesh with it. Voila! You have a butterfly fillet.

Wash and dry the fillets
Place a sheet of foil on a shallow baking tray
Using a brush if you have one it spread it with a tablespoon of oil.
Place the fillets on the tray.
In a bowl combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, capers, oregano and season with the salt and pepper.
Pour over a tablespoon of olive oil and mix it all together thoroughly.
Spoon the mixture evenly over the fillets.
Drizzle over the remaining olive oil adding a little extra if you feel it needs it.
before baking
Bake for 15 minutes.
and–after baking