Anchovies Out Of The Ocean

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Daphne duLibre

Washing Up
Joined
Jul 28, 2005
Messages
66
Local sea currents are pushing anchovies onshore. At the point where I surf it's possible to get gallons of live anchovies out of the ocean with a simple net.

I'm used to the 2 oz tin, flat filet, packed in olive oil.

How to prepare fresh anchovie from the ocean? I think about blanching -- then pack in oil, like sardines. I don't have problems with the whole fish -- like sushi or sardines, either raw or "whole fish" with head/tail, and all the organs.

I'd like to use them in salads, condiments/hors d'oeuvres, garnish like on pizza, stuffed mushrooms, bread.

Gallons and gallons available. How to prepare them?
 
Daphne, I remembered seeing Mario Batali cooking fresh anchovies, and looked up some of his recipes for you.

Marinated Fresh Anchovies: Alici Marinate

2 pounds fresh anchovies
2 cups white wine vinegar
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons red chile flakes
1 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped to yield 1/4 cup
4 cloves garlic, sliced paper thin
2 tablespoons sea salt

Using scissors, trim the fins off of all the anchovies. Using a sharp paring knife, gut the fish, and rinse well. Cut off the heads and carefully remove the spine and pin bones by pulling from the top with the index finger and thumbnail. Separate the 2 fillets and rinse again.
Lay 1 layer of the fillets in a deep oval quiche plate and sprinkle over with vinegar. Continue until all the fish fillets are in the plate and pour over the rest of the vinegar. Let sit to marinate for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.
Drain each anchovy from the vinegar, rinse, and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Wash out the oval quiche plate and dry well. Lay the cured anchovies into the quiche plate, one layer at a time, with 2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil, a pinch of oregano, a sprinkle of chile flakes, a sprinkle of parsley, a couple of garlic slices, and a sprinkle of salt. Layer until all of the anchovies are finished and allow to marinate at
least 2 hours, refrigerated.
To serve, bring anchovies to cellar temp, just about 58 degrees F, and place 8 or 9 on each plate drained of oil. The cured anchovies will last like this for 1 week in the refrigerator.
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Grilled Local Anchovies

1 pound fresh anchovies
2 lemons
4 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup pitted olives

Heat charcoal grill.
Under cold running water, scale and gut the anchovies, removing the gills, but leaving the head and tail intact. Remove the fins. Open the body cavity, and using your thumbnail, loosen the meat of the fish from the spine. Gently remove the spine by twisting or cutting it off at the
base of the anchovy's head and tail.
Grill the anchovies over a hot charcoal fire, skin side down for about 2 minutes, or until the flesh of the fish becomes white. Transfer to a large serving platter, arranging the anchovies skin side up on the platter. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the fish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle the parsley and olives over the anchovies and serve immediately.
 
I think you'd have to clean the fish. Organs in a dead critter can spoil the whole deal pretty quickly.Also, can you be sure they aren't contaminated in any way?
 
kitchenelf said:
You mean other than using them to catch bigger fish? :mrgreen: (sorry couldn't help it)

I'm not sure either - the best I can do is give you a link - http://www.google.com/search?q=canning+fresh+anchovies&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:eek:fficial

That's a lot of Caesar salad!!!!!!! :chef:

Ahhhhhhh, oui, mon cher confrere . . ..

Today's seafood plate is tomorrow's bait.

Sushi goes bad. One day it's food. Next day it's compost.
 
I have never done it but I beleive that you need to be very careful when home-canning fish.


Lots of home canners here who may be able to help you.


Or you could just send them to me!:ROFLMAO:
 
Lots of good ideas here. This surge has gone on now for about three weeks. There's a stupendous bird population that is eating them -- gulls, muirs, osprey, pelicans, cormorants, arctic terns.

Ultimately, preparing them sounds like a lot of highly detailed labor. I can't imagine trying to clean a fish this small. But, I'm seeing what the approaches are to preparation. That's what had me curious.
 
...à un autre cher collègue membre

I think no matter how you prepare them you're going to have to scale and clean them - quite tedious at best I would imagine!!!! But can you imagine the wonderful freshness versus tinned?????
 
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I am addicted to sushi - I can keep it fresh in a baggie on ice and eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 4 days (smelling the 4th day of course) - so far so good - but the smell is clean and fresh - otherwise I would not eat it - so, send your day-old sushi to me - - - - - pleeeeeaaaaaaaase - like via fax for freshness
 
Arrgh.... I don't remember if it was Mario Batalli or Tyler Florence - but one of them had a show on 3-4 months ago where they visited an anchovy processing plant in Italy and they showed how they do this ... both salt and olive oil cured. All I remember is that they were gutted, filleted, and then processed.

I have also run across something similar in an Asian market - they were gutted (heads and tails left on) and then cold smoke cured.

If I ever see that show again I'll try to pay attention to how they do it. Since I don't have anchovies in the lakes around here I didn't feel it necessary to store the process in my brain.
 
Michael in FtW said:
Arrgh.... I don't remember if it was Mario Batalli or Tyler Florence - but one of them had a show on 3-4 months ago where they visited an anchovy processing plant in Italy and they showed how they do this ... both salt and olive oil cured. All I remember is that they were gutted, filleted, and then processed.

I have also run across something similar in an Asian market - they were gutted (heads and tails left on) and then cold smoke cured.

If I ever see that show again I'll try to pay attention to how they do it. Since I don't have anchovies in the lakes around here I didn't feel it necessary to store the process in my brain.


I understand.

Miles and miles of anchovies. I can fill a 50 gallon barrel with anchovies in about 15 minutes. No exaggeration.

And so, when I spend a dollar or thereabouts on a two oz. can of flat filet -- which is an oz. of olive oil -- I wonder about these "free fish" out in the ocean.

No kidding. No exaggeration. I can get a bucket full just by standing in the surf with a scoop -- tight mesh net.

Gallons and gallons of these little fish. I love them. They're free.

Seems like I should figure out a way to prepare them.
 
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