Sardines? We don' need no...

BlueSmoke

As a result of WooDoggie's & my conversation earlier, I went out and bought some frozen smelts this afternoon. When I got them home I put them in a bowl of water to defrost, then drained and tossed them with olive oil, dried tarragon and salt. Put them in a throw-away aluminum foil pan at 650° and turned them when the "down side" began to crisp. 25 minutes later I had the nicest mess o' smelts I've had in a long time. Thanks, John. This is a keeper.[p]Ken

WooDoggies

BlueSmoke,[p]Nice! Glad you had your smelt fix tonight..... I, however....[p]Called the local fishmonger today.... absolutely no sardines, fresh or frozen and had no idea when they would ever have them in again.
He didn't know if he had smelts "maybe somewhere" in the back freezer but assured me he'd have plenty in fresh sometime in August..... and tried to ply with me with some other stuff I didn't want to make the hour round trip for.... so, Ken, glad you enjoyed your smelts tonight. [p]Just leftovers for me......... and a Yuengling. :~)[p]John

BlueSmoke

WooDoggies,
Already planning a trip to my Japanese fishmonger - I think they have sardines year round. [p]Ken

Frozen Chosen

BlueSmoke,
Interesting post; up here we dipnet smelt (called candlefish or hooligan) from small streams. The daily limit, I think, is 60 or so. I did this a few times, and did not care much for the texture, although the taste was very mild. I might pick up the net and try this recipe. Did you cook them on the BGE or just in the oven?

BlueSmoke

Frozen Chosen,
These were little, headless & cleaned guys. Did 'em on the Egg. Took half a pound for a single serving.[p]Ken