Pan Seared Sardines with Sesame Lime Dressing (and some thoughts on salad dressing)

I recently saw this recipe for some pan seared smelts (tiny fish) on the beautiful cooking blog Tartelette (which is written by a French woman living in the states).  I decided to try it with some canned sardines and it turned out wonderfully.  And I know there is sort of mass hysteria about fish with all the mercury etc, but you are pretty safe with small fish.  I think. I’m pretty sure.  And of course use fresh fish if you at all can.  But also, if you are very hungry and you just happen to have a can of sardines in the pantry and want to see what happens if you lightly bread and then pan sear them, by all means, use some canned sardines.

I followed Tartelette’s recipe except that other than salt, pepper, and thyme I used completely different ingredients.  But the method is the same: I dipped sardines (rather than smelts) in lime juice instead of lemon (because that’s what I had on hand) and made bread crumbs from the bread in the fridge, rather than panko. But the basic method is: dredge the tiny fish in citrus juice, dip in a mixture of bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and herbs, and sear in the pan for a minute or two. (Oh, use sardines packed in olive oil if you can, and then add the oil from the can to your salad dressing.  You can also add any extra lime juice from dredging, as long as you’re not using raw fish.)  Serve with a salad, put them on top of pasta or buttered toast, etc.

I decided to serve them atop a small salad.  And guys, at the risk of sounding really snobby, can we just talk about salad dressing for a minute? Or la sauce, as they call it in France?

I had the privilege of babysitting for the most amazing family when I was in college, the mother of which was from France.  And they took me with them two separate summers.  To France.  And I don’t want to be that person who’s all like “Going to France changed my life forever,” but it did.  Especially getting to live with French people in normal settings.

And watching them make la sauce before dinner for the salad.  They would never dream of buying salad dressing in the store.  That would be ridiculous.  They just whisk together some oil, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper, maybe some garlic, etc. And they drizzle that over their salad.

So ever since then, on the rare occasions I make a salad, I just whisk together a little sauce– usually some (raw) apple cider vinegar, olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper.  Maybe a tiny pinch of sugar to really get the flavors to work. Maybe some garlic.

Anyway, lately I’ve been making la sauce with tahini, the beautiful paste of sesame seeds.  It makes for a nice, rich, creamy sauce that you can dress up in so many ways.  Add some ginger and soy sauce.  Or some lime juice. So yesterday I decided to measure the ingredients (because I typically don’t) so I can share this beautiful treat with you.  Make just enough for dinner, and then make it again the next day.  Fiddle around with the ingredients and try variations.

Sesame Lime Dressing (makes about 3/4 c.)

1/4 c. tahini (you could also use an equal amount of pureed avocado to make an avocado-lime dressing…)

1/8 c. extra virgin olive oil

2 T apple cider vinegar (or another kind, but not balsamic)

2 T water

juice of 1 lime

1 T sesame oil (optional)

1 T garlic powder (or minced garlic if you are really an overachiever)

1/2 t. sea salt

fresh ground pepper, maybe a dash of cayenne pepper

Whisk together.  Serve with greens, thin slices of grapefruit, and pan cooked fish. Or as a sauce over lightly sauteed winter vegetables. And try not to be broken hearted that you don’t live in France.