By Brendan Jones, co-owner and chef at Carmel Valley’s Lokal
Brendan Jones is also a chef at the Cachagua General Store, the Carmel Valley restaurant where he originated this recipe.
Serves 3 to 4
I’d say 80% of people are terrified of sardines and the other 20% love them—it’s a fear-factor type of thing. Once we get people to have them, they like them—most love them. People think they’re fishy, but fresh sardines aren’t fishy at all. It’s a great fish—it’s small, it’s low in mercury…the best part is they’re cheap as hell. —Brendan Jones
10 fresh or frozen whole sardines
1 sourdough baguette
1 lime, juiced
1 cup fresh mint leaves
4 egg yolks
12 ounces canola or neutral-flavored oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 ounces olive oil
Tools: Sharp knife, 1-quart round container, griddle, immersion blender with whisk and chopping attachments
For the sardines: Put sardines in a container of cold water. De-scale sardines in water, pat dry with paper towel, cut down either side of spine to fillet.
Put fillets aside, keep cool.
For baguettes: Cut bread into angled slices as thin as possible at the average length of fillets. Prepare twice as many pieces as you have sardines, so 20 slices for 10 sardines.
For mojito aioli: Put mint, yolks, lime juice and salt in 1-quart round container. With immersion blender and chopping attachment, blend until mint has been chopped into small pieces. Next, attach whisk and whisk mixture at an angle, drizzling in the canola oil very slowly until all canola has been emulsified into mixture. (It helps to have a second person hold the container for you.) Taste. Add more salt or lime juice as needed. If mix is too hard, you can mix in a couple tablespoons of warm water. Keep cool.
Make sandwiches from the bread and fillets, and place on flat cool plate or tray. Brush both top and bottom of each sandwich with olive oil. Do not be shy with olive oil. Once griddle is at 375° F, place a couple sandwiches on griddle. Cook each side of sandwich until golden brown. Make sure you press down on sandwiches while cooking, so the protein binds to the bread, causing the sandwiches to stick together.
Put on plate and serve aioli as a dipping sauce.
About the author
At Edible Monterey Bay, our mission is to celebrate the local food culture of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties, season by season. We believe in sustainability, and we believe everyone has a right to healthful, clean and affordable food. We think knowing where our food comes from is powerful, and we hope our magazine, website and newsletters inspire readers to get to know and support our local growers, fishers, chefs, vintners and food artisans.
