Frank and I have always loved our seafood, be it battered, grilled, pan-fried, steamed, poached, raw....as long as they are fresh, we love them anyway! I came across these really fresh sardines at the Victoria markets this morning. With their clear, dewy, bright eyes, they seemed to beckon to me from behind those glass shields at the fish stalls "Buy me! Buy me! I am packed full of Omega-3 goodness!" And I did. For $4.90/kg, simply irresistable! Most people detest the fishy smell of sardines and the thousands of soft little bones tucked and hidden away in that small little body. I used to hate them too, and the only way Mum got me to eat them was canned sardines in tomato sauce, cooked till they look like a disintegrated pile of red mass, with no resemblance whatsoever to a fish! But fresh sardines are different....these ones, not only do they not stink, they smell of the ocean! :) Sardines only stink if they are not fresh, like all seafood do. But, I won't kiss them though! :p And because they are fresh, they are easy to clean. If you snip off the backbone at the tail end and pull towards the head, the whole back bone, together with the rib bones, come off really easily.
Our first thought was to grill them, but our ill-equipped kitchen did not have a proper functioning grill, so the only way was to pan-fry them, and our lemons came into really good use! We stuffed them with a mix of toasted herbed bread crumbs, lemon zest and goat's cheese. Popped them onto a hot frying pan and pan-fried both sides till golden brown, then serve with a drizzle of fresh lemon juice!
Also got some fresh black mussels. We always felt that mussels are an underated seafood, they cheap, easy to clean and good to eat! Anyway, Frank cooked his speciality dish with them, Chilli Mussels! Served with crusty bread, YUM!
And here we have, our sardines and mussels dinner! Both delicious, and full of the goodness from the sea! And they definitely won't create a hole in the pocket!
The following weekend....we visited our local fishmonger this afternoon, Frank got a dozen of these oysters....seasoned them with parsley, crumbed and fried....lined them up, entree's served!
A close-up of these big and juicy jewels nestled in their shells, served with a touch of tabasco and mayonaise. Delish!
Our main dish of herbed butter flounder grilled with Kipfler potatoes...flatfish species are interesting, they started off looking symmetrical just like other fishies in the ocean, but by juvenile stage, one of their eyes will migrate to the other side of the body. Which eye of this flounder do you think had migrated? Left or right? ;)
Frank and I have always loved our seafood, be it battered, grilled, pan-fried, steamed, poached, raw....as long as they are fresh, we love them anyway! I came across these really fresh sardines at the Victoria markets this morning. With their clear, dewy, bright eyes, they seemed to beckon to me from behind those glass shields at the fish stalls "Buy me! Buy me! I am packed full of Omega-3 goodness!" And I did. For $4.90/kg, simply irresistable! Most people detest the fishy smell of sardines and the thousands of soft little bones tucked and hidden away in that small little body. I used to hate them too, and the only way Mum got me to eat them was canned sardines in tomato sauce, cooked till they look like a disintegrated pile of red mass, with no resemblance whatsoever to a fish! But fresh sardines are different....these ones, not only do they not stink, they smell of the ocean! :) Sardines only stink if they are not fresh, like all seafood do. But, I won't kiss them though! :p And because they are fresh, they are easy to clean. If you snip off the backbone at the tail end and pull towards the head, the whole back bone, together with the rib bones, come off really easily.
Our first thought was to grill them, but our ill-equipped kitchen did not have a proper functioning grill, so the only way was to pan-fry them, and our lemons came into really good use! We stuffed them with a mix of toasted herbed bread crumbs, lemon zest and goat's cheese. Popped them onto a hot frying pan and pan-fried both sides till golden brown, then serve with a drizzle of fresh lemon juice!
Also got some fresh black mussels. We always felt that mussels are an underated seafood, they cheap, easy to clean and good to eat! Anyway, Frank cooked his speciality dish with them, Chilli Mussels! Served with crusty bread, YUM!
And here we have, our sardines and mussels dinner! Both delicious, and full of the goodness from the sea! And they definitely won't create a hole in the pocket!
The following weekend....we visited our local fishmonger this afternoon, Frank got a dozen of these oysters....seasoned them with parsley, crumbed and fried....lined them up, entree's served!
A close-up of these big and juicy jewels nestled in their shells, served with a touch of tabasco and mayonaise. Delish!
Our main dish of herbed butter flounder grilled with Kipfler potatoes...flatfish species are interesting, they started off looking symmetrical just like other fishies in the ocean, but by juvenile stage, one of their eyes will migrate to the other side of the body. Which eye of this flounder do you think had migrated? Left or right? ;)
2 comments:
Yum Yum Yum.. could easily order any of the above (flounder, oysters, mussels, sardines) if choosing from a menu. Very nice presentation.. I hear MasterChef is auditioning again.. hint hint!
Hee...I will let Frank know about the Masterchef auditions!!!
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