Barbecue baked sardines with thyme and ginger

They will always be Greek to me - Σαρδέλες.

Sardines (Sartheles in Greek - also known as pilchards) are the seafood bargain of the century. They are a schooling fish, sustainably managed, and taste great. You can generally buy them for less than $10 a kilo. They are quick to clean and gut. And did I mention? They taste great!

Ingredients

• 8 sardines (or 3–4 per person)

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1 lemon juiced
• 1 lemon grated zest
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 sprig thyme plus 2 for garnish
• 4 dried chilli

Method

• Clean the sardines and place in a bowl or tray
• Place one sprig of thyme in the cavity of each sardine
• Mix the rest of the ingredients (except the last sprigs of thyme and the dried chilli) in a bowl
• Pour mixture over sardines
• Add chilli and extra thyme
• Cover and place in refrigerator for 2 hours

Now, to cook, you can use your oven if you like, preheated to 200˚, but I use my barbecue.

Preheat your barbecue with all burners on and the hood down. While the barbecue is warming, take a roasting pan and coat it with olive oil. Place your sardines on the tray, and pour over the marinade juices.

We are using the convection method here, so turn off once side of the barbecue burners, and place your tray on the side that is turned off. Place the hood down, and cook for 20 minutes.

Serve with fresh tomatoes, homemade hummus, and Lebanese bread. I get my Leb bread from Baalbek on Canterbury Road because they make a wholemeal variety which is not heavy and stodgy as this can sometimes be.

A note on the grating of ginger

Nothing beats a bamboo ginger grater. You lay it down flat, and scrub the peeled ginger back and forth over it. No barked knuckles, and no waste, as you just give the grater a couple of taps and the chopping board, and all the ginger comes out nicely from between the grooves.

Barbecue salad!

A beautiful summer morning. 20˚ now, 30˚ later. Fire up the barbecue for a late lunch.

This includes a moral dilemma. I reserve the grill for meat and the plate for veggies out of courtesy to my veggie friends - but this time I want to cook bacon on the plate. WHAT CAN I DO?

I take out a baking tray and give a good dose of olive oil. This will sit on one side of the BBQ plate, leaving the other side to crisp up the bread.

Recipe: Barbecue salad with crispy bread, bacon, and 2-minute egg

Ingredients

• Double handful English spinach
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1 rasher bacon
• 1 piece Lebanese bread
• 2 eggs
• 8 Calamata olives
• several sprigs basil and parsley

Method

Heat BBQ, placing oiled baking tray on the hot plate.

Place eggs in a saucepan of cold water. Bring to a steady boil, turn heat down to a gentle boil, and cook for 2 minutes. Place eggs in a bowl and refrigerate.

Using tongs, dip the piece of Lebanese bread into the oil, then place on the hot plate. About a minute each side. Remove to a plate.

Slice tomato in half, and place cut-side down on the tray. Lay out rasher of bacon on the tray. Cover with BBD hood. Turn each after 3–5 minutes.

Place tomato and bacon in the fridge with your eggs.

[Now it is time to get on with your morning. Go shopping, go for a cycle, take the kids to the pool, whatever]

Peel the eggs and slice them. They should be soft in the middle, but not runny.

Break off bits of the Lebanese bread and distribute evenly around a salad bowl. Toss in torn spinach leaves.

Cut tomato and bacon into small pieces, and add to bowl. Add olives. Garnish with basil and parsley.
I didn’t use a dressing on this, because I figured the tomato juices would do the job. And they did!

Missing, making, and bringing the bling

In the world of the contemporary bachelor father (ref not-so contemporary family sitcom of the same name), missing your children is inevitable.
For bachelor food, there are two main remedies. First is prepare something to set aside for their next stay (stock is a favourite). Second is to make something for yourself to give some bling to your interim meals.
On Sunday afternoon, out in the garden (such as it is), my eldest son remarked that the chilli and basil plants were getting a little heavy.
After saying goodbye to them (the children, not the chillies), I swung into action.

Recipe: Chilli paste

This is an extremely tasty and versatile bit of bling. It's based on one I used to do about 15 years ago when, above the cooktop, I used to hang a sign "put the rice on now" because meals whipped up using this little gem were ready so quickly.

It works very well with poached fish, and fried with coconut cream as the basis of a stir-fry. Or you can just add it to stuff.

Ingredients

15–20 bird’s eye or tabasco chilies
1 large red capsicum
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon palm sugar
5 basil leaves
3 curry leaves
2 teaspoons salt

Method

Roast lightly oiled capsicum (preferably over a barbecue). Turn when skin begins to blacken and bubble. Once blackened on all sides, remove to a plastic bag, seal and set aside until cool enough to handle.
Roughly chop remaining solid ingredients, and place in blender with the vinegar, oil, salt and sugar
Remove capsicum, peel off the skin and remove seeds. Roughly chop, then place in the blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.
Remove to a small saucepan, bring to boil and simmer until mixture is reduced by about 1/3.
Place in a sterilised jar, seal and refrigerate.

Recipe: Mixed herb pesto

Ingredients

3 big handfuls basil leaves
Several sprigs each: Sage, Parsley, Oregano
.25 cup almond slivers
1 clove garlic
Juice 1 lemon
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon grated parmesan

Method

In a dry frying pan on medium to high heat, fry almond slivers until they are golden. Careful, once they start to go, they blacken quickly if you let them.
Once done, remove to a bowl. Now pop the unpeeled garlic clove into the pan and brown in on each side, so that it is soft and starting to caramelise in the middle. Then let it cool, and peel.
Put all the ingredients a little at a time into a blender, using enough oil to keep the contents churning. The amount of oil you need will vary according to the moisture content of the basil leaves.
Spoon into a sterilised jar, seal and refrigerate.