The Simple Life

I ran out of gas.
I... I had a flat tire.
I didn't have enough money for cab fare.
My tux didn't come back from the cleaners.
An old friend came in from out of town.
Someone stole my car.
There was an earthquake.
A terrible flood.
Locusts!
IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!

Whatever.

What would You have me plate?

This box from places unknown?

Something from the Shelving Unit?

These few tins from deep inside the Shoulder of Canada?

I brought these back myself and was amazed that they traveled in my carry on. I had completely forgot Guideline #33 which clearly states that when traveling across boarders with contraband tins always check them through.

I will not delight you with wondrous tins from faraway places tonight. I shall keep it simple. Take it back down a notch and taste it old school. There was a time, back before the yelptastic cable tv driven foodie revolution that it was just food.

Columbus Calabrese, Carr's Poppy & Sesame, and some Wisconsin Sharp I had to clean the mold off of, plated on a cheap cutting board. Shut it.

The tin is a simple Angelo Parodi. OK. It is actually a tin smuggled back from Italy by my great friend Andre but You can get these here and we have tried them before. It's PROBABLY just the same as U.S. Tins (maybe).

And of course a Heretic Shallow Grave Porter is in order.

These are two big monsters in a clean oil with a fine texture.
These are the 3 Tin standard when it comes to big fish.
These are a refresher course.
These are something You should try so as to acclimate your palate.

Whatever.

I've got a box of tins sourced within our great United, and I shall enlighten Ye of little faith. Given time and beer all shall be revealed.

Latas de Contrabando

Rebecca Jane has returned from traipsing through Southern Europe and she brought back a small load of Spanish Tins. My Sardine Shelf is quite full at the moment, in part from Smugglers bringing back tins from around the world. I have been hoarding precious tins and even have one or two of the newest shipment already.

So rather than stack these in with the fifty eight (58) tins I'm going to pop them all tonight. I can hardly remember where the 58 came from. Some are domestically sourced and maybe a third are smuggled in from places like Spain, France, and Turkey.

Sardinas Cuca en aceite d oliva
Albo Sardinas picantonas
El Porrón Sardinas en escabeche
Paco Lafuente Sardinas en escabeche
Paco Lafuente Sardinillas en aceite de oliva

Interesting packaging notes:
The Cuca has an interesting basic design and mentions "Sin Gluten"
Albo can be found around the States but not in Spanish. We've talked about them before once or twice.
The El Porrón is bright and eye catching with the long spouted wine flask it's named for on the box.
And the Paco Lafuentes have an interesting number system showing how many fish will be in each tin. The sardinas says 3/5 piezas and the sardinillas - 20/22 piezas.

Cuca has a strong website and blog. Check out this article. Paco Lafuente's website has beautiful tinned seafood. The others don't have a real web presence that I can find.

So Spain means another trip to the Spanish Table (such a great place) and a quick stop at the Bowl.

Serrano ham, Cabra al Pimenton goat's milk cheese, morcilla de arroz (blood sausage) a little can of little olives, white anchovies, Valencianos artisanal crackers, a sixer of Estrella Galicia and a bottle of Muga Rioja rose. I'm also making up some patatas bravas.

While those cook Let's talk about escabèche

[es-keh-BEHSH]

Escabeche is a typical Mediterranean cuisine which refers to both a dish of poached or fried fish (escabeche of chicken, rabbit or pork is common in Spain) that is marinated in an acidic mixture before serving, and to the marinade itself. The dish is common in Spanish, Salvadoran, Panamanian, Peruvian, Philippine, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican and Guatemalan cuisine, and popular in Catalonia, Portugal and Provence. Influences of the dish appear as far as Asia-Pacific with adjustments to local food staples. It is usually served cold after marinating in a refrigerator overnight or longer. The acid in the marinade is usually vinegar but can also include citrus juice. Escabeche is a popular presentation of canned or potted preserved fish, such as tuna, bonito or sardines. wiki

Not a common tin around these parts. I haven't had one that I remember.

All Right
Let's get to it.

So, the same order, top to bottom, as in the pic and descriptions above.

We started with the babies. The Paco Lafuente Sardinillas. At the bottom of the platter. These have a really good texture, not mushy. The oil is a bit thin and not the extra virgin We've come to expect, but a fine everyday tin if you like the little guys. Three and a half tins.

We followed this with the Cuca (top of the stack), staying with the olive oil before we ventured into flavors unknown. Three giants. Skin, bones, and slimy internal organs?

These didn't get any better from there. They were mushy and had a bad funk that demanded immediate removal from the table. The lack of evisceration might have fouled this tin. The Spanish Crackers cleansed the palate and the blood sausage made it happy again. Zero Out Of Five Tins





We then jumped on the Albo and were brought back to what makes us happy. Mild, mild heat, great texture, clean tasting oil, two years ago I gave them a bonus tin for bits and packaging, now that I've been spoiled to the glory that is (gasp) the Royal Tins of France, I don't warrant a bonus tin for such veils. It's a Three out of Five Tin tin. $3.99 here in the States. Eat it everyday!

The serrano ham tastes like it's plastic packaging.

We finally get to the escabèche.

These are interesting and different and delightful.
The fish are smoked, and then tinned with the vinegary herbal oil. The oil seems a bit thinner than usual and that's a good thing. Both tins had good texture and Screamed for rye bread, a bit of yogurt and a pinch of dill.

I'm glad We had two tins to taste and compare. The first (El Porrón - middle) , being our first escabèche lifetin, was intriguing. It gave Us a new way to think about sardines. A new flavor. How have I not found these before now?

And then We tried the Paco Lafuente.

And it was even better. Zesty, delicious.

El Porrón set the standard. Three out of Five Tins.

Paco Lafuente passed it. Four out of Five Tins.

These were not the Euro Crème de la Crème. But a fine dinner and discussion they did make.

Thanks to Rebecca Jane for risking detention and interrogation and Thanks to the 100+ Society Members for Appreciating.

Hot Sardine!

Oh. Hello. I didn't see you there. Have you been there long? The Clubhouses have been quite quiet lately. Just a couple of crusty old men over in the corner of Oregon, drinking beers and talking about how they used to have the Premier Tinned Sardine Website in the Blahgoshpere. Lying to each other about the cross races they never finished.

Here in Northern California tins have been consumed and forgotten but not anything You haven't seen before. And I've been drinking beer and lying about cross races I never started.

The Wife is in class and I'm home alone with a variety of St. Peter's and the latest issue of Eating Well.

And wouldn't You know it; there's an article with four Canned Tuna recipes.

As I've said before, "Any Tuna Recipe, Anywhere, Anytime."

The first recipe I've kind of riffed on before.

The second recipe looks good but not for tonight.

The fourth recipe must be tried.

Tonight I will execute the third recipe:

Tuna Sardine-&-Tomato Mac & Cheese

Tuna Sardine mac & cheese takes a trip to the Southwest with spicy tomato and festive blue tortilla chips on top. Canned tomatoes with green chiles and ancho chile powder add a peppery kick, but if you like, you can keep it mellow by using a 14-ounce can of drained petite diced tomatoes and mild chili powder.

8 ounces (about 3 cups) whole-wheat rotini pasta
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup nonfat milk, divided
1/2 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated pepper Jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground ancho chile powder (see Notes)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat cottage cheese, preferably low-sodium
1 5- to 6-ounce tin chunk light tuna Sardines, drained and flaked
1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
1/4 cup crumbled tortilla chips, preferably blue corn

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water according to package directions. Drain and rinse.
Meanwhile, whisk flour and 2 tablespoons milk in a small bowl. Heat the remaining milk in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat until steaming.
Gradually whisk a few tablespoons of the hot milk into the milk-flour mixture, then whisk this mixture back into the skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce is smooth and slightly thickened, 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in Cheddar, pepper Jack, chile powder, salt and pepper.
Puree cottage cheese in a food processor or blender until very smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. Stir into the sauce in the skillet. Add tuna Sardines and the pasta; stir well to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle drained tomatoes evenly over the top.
Bake until hot and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Top with crumbled tortilla chips.

I don't want to spring a new tin on You without the Wife (I have one or two) so I'm reaching into my case of Wild Planets. I'm choosing the In Water as the tuna product recommended is. Also I don't have much taste for Tinned in Water. Cooking with them seems appropriate.

I shopped at the Bowl for all the ingredients, as local and organic as possible, and kept to the recipe as best as I could. I'm popping two tins, one doesn't seem enough, two's too many.

Four big fish, skin no bones. I put 6 in the recipe, ate one (so very tuna like) and gave one to the dags.
You like dags?

That was just fine. Nice spice, a bit crunchy from the chips. Don't crunch the chips so fine and add more for that wonderful trashy crunch.
It wasn't over cheesy. I might have cut back a bit on the cheese.
I over cooked the pasta just a little; the whole wheat is nice.
The sardines are subtle and delicious, kinda wanted more, two tins instead of 1 1/2.
This has possibilities. Three out of Five Tins.

The Pantry Runneth Over

Such a loser. I rolled up to Portland and had many beers with A23, I mean Old Nevermore, AND Oldschooly. Guess I'm the only one not getting old. But I am a loser due to the fact I had planned to take a dozen tins with me and in the excitement of the Wife's Moms moving in to housesit and getting on the road and blah blah blah. Forgot the tins and was later disgruntled about it.

So to the Pantry I go.

I received two shipments smuggled out of Turkey. The first, ahh the first with it's Giant Round Tins... they shall wait for another day. The second was brought back by Friends of Becky's. Thank you Friends of Becky's.

Two tins from Dardanel, but as it turns out one is Hamasi Sosyete (Anchovy Society, I kid you not, that's how it translates). The Sardalya tin is in Sunflower Oil with a bit o' salt.

The Kizli (girl, daughter, blonde, woman) is from the Gelibolu region, produced by Alaeddin..

Let's start with the anchovies. They are not the anchovies Your used to. These are not for Your césar salad. Actually, these would be quite nice with a césar. They are prepared just like sardines. I don't taste any smoke but they have tiny vertebrae and a nice sweetness. Maybe sixteen fun and yummy fish in a clean oil. We had already eaten four or five by the time the above picture was taken. Four out of Five Tins.

I know these are unobtainium and if they were delicioso I would tell you more. The Dardanel Sardalya are not pretty, have light smoke, tasty vertebrae and are just OK. The Kizli are tiny tots and nothing directly good or bad about them. Light smoke, verts, fairly firm, clean finish. But not wowzers. They both are calling up Three out of Five Tins.

I rushed through that, no really I did, so I could tell You about the aram style sandwich.

Lavash
hummus
feta
tabouli
couple of olives, dolmas, and greens on the side
piri piri

Spread it thin. Roll it up. We didn't take the time to plastic wrap and refrigerate them (as recommended). We just got to them.

Come On!

I looked around for Turkish Beer and brought home the Pinkus Trilogy (USDA Certified Organic).

Turkish Tins, a nice change up after all the fast balls. If you know someone going to a Sardayla Sosyete meeting, get a few.

Funny. You Like Samurai Swords, I Like Baseball.

Oldschooly is Living The Dream in Paris. Philippe is off controlling the Mediterranean Riviera and Educating the Masses. A23 is the busiest man in Portland. And The Wife is basking in Barbados.

Me? I'm in the middle of a homestand with the night off. This is what dinner looks like.

A trip to the Tokyo Fish Market, a new rice cooker, and Kill Bill 1 and 2. I have a selection of Japanese craft beer, some more of that Tazukuri, and for some reason I felt like Kimchee. I bought one larger tin that I'm going to save in hopes that it is Sushi Appropriate. Four tins for tonight.

I've got a load of Euro Sardines, and I'm thankful. But we've got Euro Members for that. I'll get to them soon. I have a plan.

I am going to Kill Bill. And Japanese Tins with Rice. My rice cooking skills are shite. I bought a cooker. See how that goes.

I can't read a thing on these Locally Sourced tins. Two producers. One each of In Soybean Paste and one each of In Soy Sauce. One set is from Mahura Nichiro.

Kokuho Rose Heirloom Varietal Rice. California's oldest family-owned and operated rice farm and mill, established 1928.

Just sayin.

Oh and first up is the Coedo beers; Ruri (Czech Pils) and Kyara (Vienna Lager). I like beer.

The Japanese tins are soy soy soy. Sauce. Bean Paste. Soy.

These are all Gigantor. Poured the sauce over the rice. Starting with the Soy Sauces. Two very big fish. Firm, bit of vertebrae. Reminds me of those Latvians. I like 'em. They aren't epic, but tasty. I do have a sweet tooth.

I have had better kimchee. It's a bit mild, but it's working.

The soybean paste are different. Three big meaty fish in each tin. They're all right, but not exciting or interesting. The fish themselves are fine, but the flavor just isn't quite for me. Meh.

These tins (from two different companies) could easily have been tinned at the same, uhm, tinnery (ha!). They are very similar.

I would recommend soy sauce tins for a nice change up, in a Three Tin kinda way.

The soybean paste tins are edible and some folks might dig them. For me, it's Two out of Five Tins. They might make a fine base fish for another recipe, but on there own, well, there are better meals out there.

The rice cooker works.