bottarga(cured fish roe) & Alicci con pepperoncino sotto olio. Sardines with chilli under oil

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Our Fish marketing authority tried to get a uniform set of names for everything in this state,slightly complicated by the fact that we get fish from New Zealand as well. These are called pilchards by oldtimers ,they do cook up white. Same family as mackeral & what you guys call bluefish.

I often take 12 big fresh sardines ,clean them butterfly them dredge them in flour set aside. Then in a fry pan 3oz olive oil 1 large red onion finely sliced into rings,1 carrot finely chopped 2 bay leaves 2tablespoons raisans 1 teaspoon of pinenuts 1 chilli  fry gently until soft.Then add 5tablespons white wine vinegar 1 glass dry white wine 1 teaspoon sugar good squeeze fresh orange juice bring to boil then turn off immediately. Fry sardines in olive oil in seperate pan till just done ,then place in china dish pour liquid over  sardines put in fridge for couple of hours eat cold. Great dish for summer, its a Sicilian thing hence raisans ,orange juice ,pine nuts. I dont normally measure things but put it down as guide. Play with it on quantities,you can add orange zest,leave chilli & so on.
 
Bear I will drink beer while you eat Roe...
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Oh man live a little, didn't you see waterboy?  
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Bar snack version goes into smoker tomorrow,
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 heres hoping! Picked up 30 blue mackeral at $3 a kg today + 2 x bonito. Brined in prototype brine mix with oranges,bay leak peppercorns,spring garlic ,beer,brown sugar. On  racks now after a 6 hr soak,will get them into smoker first thing tomorrow. Will post photos then.
 
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Started smoking mackeral & these guys turned up,kookaburra 's ,largest members of kingfisher family. Shouldnt be fed people food once they get the taste they will steal it out your hand
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Fish roe after 3 days packed in citrus salt mix.
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The full press new Id find a use for those old weights. On a rack,baking paper plastic trays,about to go back in refrigerator. Will give it 24 hrs &turn it x4.
 
Those can't be Kookaburras.

Shouldn't they be sitting in an old Gum Tree, laughing???  
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Looking good Moikel !!

Bear
 
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Leatherjacket roe fresh out of smoker after 3 hrs.100 % success,
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consistency of say liverwurst sausage or some other type finely minced sausage. Very tasty,used hickory for 3hrs at 70 degrees c so 180 f ?? Brine mix worked you get a hint of citrus. Australia playing NewZealand in rugby in 4 hrs .I now have bar snacks,

Mackeral not best result,fillets a bit thin so those closest to heat source dry .Got 75% result put bonito in now I will run to markets to get a few more bonito now to experiment tomorrow.
 
5e427cb1_IMG_2152.jpg
Started smoking mackeral & these guys turned up,kookaburra 's ,largest members of kingfisher family. Shouldnt be fed people food once they get the taste they will steal it out your hand
eek.gif
b4cf2e8b_IMG_0365.jpg
Fish roe after 3 days packed in citrus salt mix.
14633630_IMG_0366.jpg
The full press new Id find a use for those old weights. On a rack,baking paper plastic trays,about to go back in refrigerator. Will give it 24 hrs &turn it x4.
The roe is looking great and those birds are just frickin cool. Thanks for sharing that ! 
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Pretty tasty
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,really looks like a wieswurst or a similiar. Delicate flavour little salty but next batch is in a lighter brine. Hard to compare taste,hickory a good choice of smoke. Dogs pretty pleased with mackeral that didnt make the cut. First batch of bonito nothing special,guessing brined for to long. At $6 a kg & free filletting I can afford a few screw ups. I wonder if leaving smaller fish whole hanging them up by tail Scottish style might give me a better result.
 
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That final Roe picture looks awesome to me!!!

Great Bar snacks for sure !!!

This has been a great thread!!!!

Thanks,

Bear
 
I  have 2 big batches of fish roe & a big batch of sardines to close out later this week. I will post the mackeral & bonito seperate  but they proved a challenge. Love my masterbuilt but I  have plenty to learn. Temperature variance & placement within unit gave me a bit to adjust to. Its not just set & forget for something like a fish fillet(s) you have to be on your game. Tolerance levels will be more flexible for things like pork ,beef etc but fish is tricky particularly because Im dealing with fish that is specific to "down under". New batch of what we call bonito tomorrow. My neighbour at Greenwell Point regularly LINE CATCHES 2 ton a day,only 4 crew on board so no shortage of raw material!
 
OMG i almost missed this one .

this is a great step by step how to do roe .it looks amazing .

how long the sardines will be in the cellar ? and what is the temp in your cellar?

thanks. grazie  .
 
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I  got on to this because I bought a house in a little fishing town 2-3 hours from Sydney. I found out that the local pro fisherman sold sardines off the back off the boat to locals,Italians ,Greeks, Portugese ,Maltese who preserved them the old village way. I then went out & learnt how to make them,with a bit of help from locals. Cellar is 15 c at best.I salt them pretty heavily like Sicilians make sardines/anchovies used to be in old wine barrels but I use crockery/terracotta,lined with baking paper. You can use plastic tubs. I dont refrigerate them at all. I leave them under heavy weights for 28 days,then wash them in 50-50 white vinegar/water then pat them dry & pack them in jars with garlic ,chilli,preserved lemon rind & rosemary,olive oil. They arent strictly a substitute for store bought anchovy but are a beautiful thing as a bar snack but will make you thirsty.Eat with crusty bread or make pasta sauce,onion ,cherry tomatoes ,garlic,capers,black olives they are a big robust flavour. I will post stage 2 in about 5 days when I pull them out of cellar.Fish roe is another thing altogether. People who know about it will push you out of the way to get it at fish market,those who dont get it just look at you & say do you eat that stuff mate! Its a great thing & varies depending on which fish,mullet,mirror dory,wahoo,mahi mahi,gemfish ,leather jacket. Im still working it out myself,mullet I  call traditional recipe but I  just adjust to whats seasonal. Mullets finished,mirror dory fading,mahi mahi finished but leather jacket just turned up out of the blue & its turned out just brilliant smoked.
 
Moikel, Morning.

The salted sardines packed in flavored oil sounds delicious.  Old country recipes are one of my weaknesses when it comes to food.

Those folks knew about  "down to earth" flavors. Keep up the great recipes.

Dave
 
Dave they know stuff that was driven by necessity! I  figure they had time to do it,& preserving stuff got them through the year. Big haul of sardines ,get on it because in a month there will be none. Going to throw that fish roe out
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,no way I  just love old school food,traditional,with integrity,authentic I dont go for trendy ,pretty ,yuppie ,pretentious food,I like stuff with grunt,stuff that really makes you think about the taste/provenance of it not how clever the chef was or how he "created" something.
 
 My mate Daryl attempting to talk  biggish goanna out of digging up his lawn looking for hibernating frogs
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. This way up north in the tropics,we have them down here as well real buggers for raiding your hen house. Favourite food of Aboriginals but protected now & a good thing.Also attracted to picnic grounds & BBQ SPOTS.
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Bonito in smoker hence goanna photo,hed be about 12pounds. Very nasty bite,recurved teeth,tree climbing toenails, monitor lizard family. No more nature shots Ill get back to food.
 
 My mate Daryl attempting to talk  biggish goanna out of digging up his lawn looking for hibernating frogs
biggrin.gif
. This way up north in the tropics,we have them down here as well real buggers for raiding your hen house. Favourite food of Aboriginals but protected now & a good thing.Also attracted to picnic grounds & BBQ SPOTS.
0a68f0f9_Animalsarounddadonger014.jpg
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Very cool, I used to raise snakes and import different reptiles years ago. I'm a  little rusty  but gonna say it's a Argus or a BlackSand monitor. Did I get close? 
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Pretty tasty
439.gif
,really looks like a wieswurst or a similiar. Delicate flavour little salty but next batch is in a lighter brine. Hard to compare taste,hickory a good choice of smoke. Dogs pretty pleased with mackeral that didnt make the cut. First batch of bonito nothing special,guessing brined for to long. At $6 a kg & free filletting I can afford a few screw ups. I wonder if leaving smaller fish whole hanging them up by tail Scottish style might give me a better result.
That looks great! This is such a great post. 
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