It's starting to feel like summer in New England. Yesterday I skipped the gym after work to go to Lowe's so I could grab an adapter for my grill. Yep, an adapter. Z and I bought a grill for 25 bux off Craigslist, but sadly it wouldn't hook up to any modern, decent gas tanks. Our roommates were on the hook for the adapter, since we bought the grill and propane, but it didn't look like they were going to pick one up any time soon. Le sigh.
Summer conjures up other memories for me, besides grilling. Mostly dating this idiot jerk, who happend to be straigh-up from Lisbon. Long story short, he's a sociopath, but I did get one (ok maybe 2) decent things out of dating him. The possibly decent thing is a fairly OK understanding of written portuguese. (I studied it in case I'd ever meet his parents. I never did. His next girlfriend [lots of disgusting drama there] met them 2 weeks after they started dating. I wonder if he tried to pass her off as the same girl he'd been dating the whole time.)
OK but the really good thing about it all was going to stupid Portuguese street fairs around New England, mostly in Providence RI, but we went to a few in New Bedford, Provincetown, and maybe a few other places in MA. The thing that was good about these fairs (because he wouldn't dance with me to the live music, sigh) - and I mean the thing that was TOP NOTCH THE BEST was Sardinhas Assadas!
Giant grills outside with not hamburgers, not hot dogs - Sardines.
These are not my dad's canned sardines. Oh no. Don't even start looking for crackers and mustard.
These are big, and these are good. Crispy, grilled, not a bit fishy.
To accomplish something similar, don't even try broiling. They just won't come out right. You have to use open flame.
So set up your grill, and get your (decent, loving, sweet, perfect, Chinese, geeky) boyfriend to help you when the stupid gas won't freaking work. Then, go get the sardines outta the freezer. If you have fresh ones you're a lucky dork, but if not, the Stop and Shop in Bedford MA (oddly, quite far from New Bedford, MA) stocks them in the frozen fish section. No kidding.
So, they're all frozen. You're not going to grill them like that! Put them in a bowl, no wait - don't. Get a bowl and put some salt in it. I used Kosher, but you could do with sea salt too, I bet. Then, put some cold water in yon bowl. Add the fish. Pretend they're swiming along nicely in the ocean. This takes a good imagination, because those bad boys are frozen solid.
OK when they're in the bowl, go chop veggies or something to grill up with this because srlsy, you don't want just fish. OK maybe you do. Or you could go buy some portuguese bread. I didn't but it's how they serve it at the festas.
Sweet. Now you've waited 15 mins or so. Dump the water. If you want to try it out, brush them with some olive oil and sprinkle on more salt. I didn't do this, and they still ended up awesome. Throw those suckers on the grill. Leave them there for a bit. Go turn them over - the cooked side should be nice and crispy!
Grill them a bit more.
When they look done, take them off the grill and resist the urge to dig in right away - they're hot little buggers. When they're finally cool enough to touch, dig in -- with some reservations. You can flake the crispy skin off if it icks you out a little. I tend to do this. Also, and this is *really* crucial - DON'T bite right into the belly! Oh my god no! Do you like bitter disgusting fish innards? Because that's what you'll get a mouth full of. Eww. Even the flesh that touches it gets a bit of aftertaste. No, no no! ick. So yeah, be careful. Also, sardinhas are quite bony, but the bones are mostly edible and probably a decent source of calcium. They just suck if you get one stuck in your throat (yeah that happened to me).
Aww yeah. You ever going to buy them in a can again? That's what I thought! I'm having more of these tonight.
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