Wednesday 20 November 2019

Sardine Butter

Confession time again: as much as I love Ruby and Nigella for their recipes and writing, I also adore Nigel - Slater, that is.  There is just something about his English earnestness (or is that earnest Englishness?) that so appeals to me.  I love his fabulous writing, and some darn good recipes.  Mmm, interesting how the food writers I love are all English!

I saw this recipe (if you can call it that) some years ago in his book Real Fast Food, and it lingered in the back of my mind.  So since my pantry had two tins of sardines lurking, I thought - yep, it's time!  Nigel's 'recipe' consists of mashing together a tin of sardines and an equal amount of butter, plus some lemon juice.  I thought I'd add a bit of extra oomph for the modern age.  So here it is, my version of Nigel's fishy spread.



ingredients gathered

Recipe inspired by Nigel Slater, and improved (tee hee) by me

Makes one (very) scant cup, about 200g.


ingredients:


90g.  (3 oz + 1 tsp) of salted butter, softened

110g. (4 oz) tin of sardines in springwater or olive oil, drained

12-15 chives - more if you like

a big!! handful of curly-leaf parsley - use flat-leaf if you must:-) 

one wedge of preserved lemon, flesh discarded, skin cut into strips

4-5 tsp lemon juice

½ -1 tsp sea salt flakes

lots of freshly-ground black pepper

extra herbs for serving if you wish

add baby capers and preserved lemon strips on top too, if you fancy


Method:


Let the butter soften on your kitchen bench

Tip it into your food processor, and give it a quick whizz

Now add the snipped or ripped chives, parsley and preserved lemon strips, and give it a whirl

Then add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and blitz away

Taste it - and add more lemon juice, seasoning and herbs if you wish - I did!

Scrape it out into a jar (or plastic container), cover tightly and keep in the fridge for up to a week

Serve on hot toast with more pepper etc, if you wish


Notes:


I used wild Scottish sardines in springwater, but you can use the ones in extra-virgin olive oil if you prefer - I ended up with about 70g. of drained sardines

I simply broke up the chives and parsley in my hands before adding to the processor

Can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months



everything goes in the processor


now add the little fishies :-)


and whizz till smooth


scoop into a pretty pot

ready for the fridge (for up to a week)


spread on hot toast

I know it looks like I've put on a major amount here, but it wasn't thaaaat much ... I love the beautiful speckled green colour, too!




artwork © Sherry's Pickings

32 comments:

  1. That's a classic combination -- one that should come up again in my cooking habits. I know I used to make it for picnic sandwiches, but I have no idea where I read the recipe. Mine was just butter, lemon juice, and the can of sardines -- your additions are very appealing.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mae. Hubby doesn’t eat sardines so it’s all up to me:-)

      Delete
  2. I too adore Nigel Slaters recipes, which usually are easy to follow and very delicious. Can't wait to try this delicious fishy butter :-) I am inspired!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yum. I'm definitely making this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Boy, I haven't had sardine butter in ages! It's great on toast. Agree with you -- it's rather pretty, too. Fun post -- thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks KR. yep who doesn't love a delicious green speckly fishy butter? :-)

      Delete
  5. I’ve never had sardine butter. It sounds delicious. I love both sardines and butter, so I’m going to try this soon. Thanks Sherry.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ooh I'd love this! Especially with all of that delicious herbage too :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh yes i think the greenery makes all the difference lorraine.

      Delete
  7. Oh yum! This looks delish. I love a good sardine situation :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sherry what a great recipe. We love sardines on toast at least once a week which are so very good for us, but I have never had this. Can't wait to make it for brekkie very soon. Love the addition of the lemon and herbs. Thanks as well Nigel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks pauline, and clever nigel. he is such a fab fella!

      Delete
  9. Believe it or not, I have still not conquered sardines! What is wrong with me?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you've never tried them, Abbe? they are very fishy, so you need to be a fishy sort of person:-)

      Delete
  10. What an interesting recipe, Sherry! I'm a huge fan of making compound butters, but I must admit that sardine butter is new to me. I'm not a huge fishy flavors kinda guy, but I'd still be willing to try this butter out! Plus, the herbs in there look so good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi david
      yes i think you need to be a fishy person to love this butter! the more herbs the merrier i say!

      Delete
  11. Wow! Just wow, Sherry! I really can’t wait to make this, and I love your additions. It’s so funny, because I noted the other day that I have one wedge of preserved lemon left from last year and was wondering what I would do with it. Now I know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi david
      yes if you like fish, this is a great little butter to have in the fridge. can go on toast or on pasta or chicken maybe??

      Delete
  12. Replies
    1. Me too tandy! Who can resist the little fishies?:-)

      Delete
  13. Sherry, we are big fish eater up this way and I think your sardine butter would set well on a Swedish table. I just put sardines on my weekly shopping list so I cn give this a go.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What wonderful flavor this must have! Loving the herbs and preserved lemon that you've used in it. A real treat to spread on toast!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks kelly. yes i think they added a nice flavour boost!

      Delete
  15. Thank you, Sherry, for this great idea! I actually like the taste of sardines. My biggest problem with eating them has been their appearance, which tends to turn me off. I have been able to eat them in nori wraps blanketed in avocado. This might be a good chance for another application.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi michael
      thanks for your comments. i see your page is mainly ads!? mm okay I'll let this comment stand. thanks for your time...

      Delete

I would love to hear from you. Please leave your comment and I will reply as soon as I can. If you have problems commenting, please try without your WordPress profile. You can try Anonymous (add your name in the text) or your Google account if you have one.