Jump to Recipe: Marinated Sardines with Shallots and Lemon Verbena
This week, The Nosher published an article I wrote about Jews and tinned fish. I had the idea for the pitch at the end of the night, hanging out in the basement with Seth (where so many of my best ideas are born). I actually said, “Jews have been eating tinned fish since before it was cool,“ and I scrambled to find a sticky note to write it down because I knew I would end up pitching it the next day.
I loved working on this one. I babied it, letting some other assignments pile up while I tore through Mark Russ Federman’s book, “Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House that Herring Built” and holding hour long phone interviews with Becca from Fishwife and Naftali from Rebbe’s Choice. (Side bar for musical theater nerds: I spent the rest of the day with “Jacob & Sons“ stuck in my head, and I wasn’t mad at it.)
Becca from Fishwife sent me some sardines after our interview, which was less of an interview and more of a fun, meandering conversation with a friend, though not hugely germane to the assignment but whatever! So, inspired by my ‘dines and a surplus of lemon verbena in my garden, I came up with THIS!
Marinated Sardines with Shallots and Lemon Verbena
Ingredients
1 can Fish Wife sardines (Remove the bones if you want, or not. Keep the oil.)
1 lemon, a few super thin slices and half juiced
1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 small shallot, super thinly sliced
salt and pepper, to taste
lemon verbena oil, to garnish
lemon verbena, basil, and chives, finely chopped
Directions
Add sardines and their oil, plus lemon slices, lemon juice, vinegar, and shallot to a bowl, and combine gently. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, as necessary. Allow to marinate in the fridge for at least 20 minutes or over night. (But use within 48 hours!)
To plate, remove sardines from marinade and arrange on a plate. Drizzle with a bit of the marinade and about a teaspoon or two of lemon verbena oil. Garnish with fresh herbs. Serve with crackers (I’m a Firehook girl myself) or bread.