Discount isle kid strikes again! This time a pack of 6 Sardines for 50p. I remember the conversation with Sue went something like “There are Sardines at 50p shall I or is that a fish too far?” We went for it and this was the result. It’s worth noting that we don’t often have fish as it’s usually over our self imposed £2 per meal per person budget and also Sue isn’t that keen. But we both really enjoyed this little creation.
Sue used half of one of her Gluten free buns ( Recipe here ) But any good sized bun cut in half and toasted will do the job.
Ingredients for the topping:-
Sardines
Tomatoes
Fresh herbs
Onion
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
Grated cheese / Italian style cheese
Oil
Garlic butter - Additional extra
Method:-
(1) If the Sardines have not been cleaned the easiest option is probably just to cut the fillets off with a sharp boning knife.
(2) Chop the Tomatoes and Onions.
(3) Fry the Onions in a little Oil until translucent.
(4) Add the Tomatoes, Herbs, Salt and Pepper and simmer to thicken. So that you end up with something similar to a Pizza sauce.
(5) Roast the additional vegetables in the oven with a little oil.
(6) Spread the Garlic Butter over the bun if you are using it and then spread the Tomato sauce oven this.
(7) Add a layer of roasted vegetables keeping half for another layer.
(8) Add your raw Sardine fillets.
(9) Spread another layer of roasted vegetables.
(10) Sprinkle with plenty of grated Cheese and Italian style Cheese if you wish.
(11) Place in the oven for about 10 minutes of 180C until the Cheese has melted and everything is heated well through.
We enjoyed ours with roast seasonal vegetables and fried cubed Potatoes sprinkles with a few bits of micro salad from our planter boxes.
We had some frozen Turkey Thigh curry in the freezer and about 150g of frozen minced Beef which was left from an 800g value pack. So we though we might have a go at Kofta and Sue's Onion Bhajis. Add a bit of rice and some shop bought poppadoms and you've got a pretty convincing fakeaway, as they call them!
The previous recipes are here:- (They open in a new window so you can flip back and forth)
(Yes we have hidden Sprouts – it's Christmas after all!)
For the Chicken marinade
Ingredients:-
6 tbsp Soy Sauce
4 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 tbsp grated Ginger
1 ½ Lemons juiced
175g soft brown Sugar
2 red Chillies finely chopped
Method:-
(1) Add all the ingredients to a saucepan.
(2) Heat gently stirring well to prevent the sugar burning.
(3) Simmer until you have a syrup.
(4) Set aside.
Roasting ingredients:-
1 small Chicken
6 dried Bullet Chillies
Cracked Black Pepper
A dash of Oil
½ Lemon
3 cloves of Garlic
Method:-
(1) Place the ½ lemon and Garlic cloves in the cavity of the Chicken.
(2) Pour a small amount of oil over the Chicken and season with the cracked Black Pepper.
(3) Pierce the skin of the Chicken three times through each breast and insert the dried Chillies. If you cut the stem end of the Chillies and squeeze gently the seeds will fall into the meat.
(4) Spread half of the marinade over the skin of the Chicken. Keeping the remainder on one side.
(5) Heat the oven to 180c and roast for about an hour or until the juices run clear if you spike the thickest part of the thigh. Don't over cook as you want the meat to hold together in the stir-fry.
(6) Set aside.
Stir-Fry:-
You can choose your own combination but as this was our Christmas meal we added de-constructed Sprouts for a bit of fun!
Ingredients:-
4 outer leaves of a Savoy Cabbage
8 Sprouts. Strip the leaves and break up the centres (Yes Sue is a little insane!)
3 small Carrots
2 medium Onions
Method:-
(1) Drain the cooking juices from the Chicken.
(2) Cut as much meat from the Chicken as you require into medium sized chunks. Not too small or it will break down when you fry it. You can remove the skin if you wish.
(3) Finely chop all the vegetable ingredients. Set aside 2 leaves of the Savoy. You are going to deep fry these.
(4) Heat a large frying pan or Wok.
(5) Depending on whether you are serving with rice or noodles add them to boiling salted water and boil until ready. Drain and cover.
(6) Heat your deep fat fryer.
(7) Add the vegetables to the Chicken cooking juices when the frying pan / Wok is smoking hot and fry until tender.
(8) Add the Chicken at the end and turn everything so the Chicken is heated and coated in the frying broth.
(9) Fry the 2 remaining sliced Savoy leaves until crispy and drain.
To serve place your noodles or rice on the plates. Add the stir-fry and dress with the deep fried Savoy leaves and a sprinkling of Coriander if you wish. We have also found by experiment that Glass Noodles behave like Prawn Crackers if you break them up and deep fry them. Warm the remainder of the syrup and put it in a bowl. This can be drizzled over the plated dish and also used as a dip.
There are quite a few far eastern student at the University of York campus just up the road from us. This is great news as a micro economy has developed with several Chinese supermarkets within walking distance. The Garlic Chilli Sauce was a bit of a novelty buy at £1.29 but it doesn't take any prisoners! It does however work really well as a marinade.
Ingredients:-
Pork loin steaks, cut into strips
1 tbs Chinese Garlic Chilli Sauce
Plain flour
Method:-
Marinade the Pork in the Garlic Chilli Sauce for half an hour, making sure it is evenly coated
Add the flour and stir so it sticks and coats all the outside
Fry in a deep fat fryer in batches at 180c until golden brown