Since all the research I have been doing Sardines are a supper food and I have been exploring methods on preparing them. I found a recipe that became the inspiration for my own variation, and that recipe was by Tanja from the website www.platesplanes.com, the photo above is from her website and the recipe that inspired mine - Enjoy
Marinated Sardines
Ingredients
1 baguette, thinly sliced and toasted
24 fresh sardines, deboned by the Fishmonger, heads left on or off your option
1/3 cup olive oil
Flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Marinade
1 1/4 cups of dry white wine
1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons chardonnay vinegar
2 medium red onions, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
5 bay leaves
3 sprigs of thyme
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, minced
1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
pinch of Saffron
Sea Salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Line two baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large sauce pan, over medium high heat place half the olive oil from the marinade section of the recipe, along with the onions. Saute until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes, now add saffron, stir, reduce heat to low medium and add the garlic, bay leaves thyme, peppercorns, and a pinch of salt. Saute for an additional 10 minutes. Stir in a cup of water and all the remain ingredients with the exception of the parsley, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in parsley and let cool.
Season and dust sardines with flour and place on one of the lined baking sheets.
In a deep skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat. In batches fry sardines a minute on each side and place on the other baking sheet. Once all done place in the oven and bake for about 5 to 10 minutes or until the sardines are about cooked through, remove and let cool.
In a deep glass dish, spoon in some of the marinade at the bottom of the dish and add a layer of sardines, spoon in more marinade and repeat, alternating the layers of sardines in different directions, repeat until done, pour any remain marinade into dish, cover and let stand at room temp for at least an hour.
To serve, place the toasted baguette slices on plate, place a sardine on top of each toast slice, spoon some of the onions and marinade over and serve.
Enjoy Cooking