Skip to main content

Baked Fish Fritters + Wild Sauvignon #EattheWorld


It's hard to believe that 2018 is more than halfway over. Here we are in July for another installment of our #EattheWorld project, being spearheaded by Evelyne of CulturEatz. Here's her challenge.


In February we kicked off the project with Cuba; in March we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a tabletop trip to IrelandThailand was our April destination. May had us headed to Kenya. And last month, Evelyne asked us to create a dish from Sweden. This month she said, "We're exploring New Zealand." Before I get to my failure and success, take a look at the offerings...

The #EattheWorld New Zealand Dishes

Baked Fish Fritters

These are less traditional and more 'inspired by' a New Zealand recipe. And the first recipe that I tried was a complete flop - as in inedible-straight-to-the-garbage-can flop. Oh, well. It happens. I'll try that again another time, but for this event, I am sticking with the one that I actually served to my family.

Traditionally these are made with whitebait and they are fried. I adapted it to use small, local-to-me fish - anchovies - and I baked ours. The verdict was, "These are really, really fishy, Mom. You've made more appealing fish dishes than this. But, it's okay."


Ingredients

  • 1 C flour
  • 1/2 t baking powder
  • freshly ground salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 C milk (I used whole milk)
  • butter or oil for greasing pan
  • 12 anchovy fillets
  • also needed: baking dish (I used an 8" pie pan)

Procedure 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the eggs and half the milk. Keep adding milk until the batter is smooth. Grease baking pan and pour batter in, smoothing the top to even it out.

Place in the oven to bake for 10 minutes. I wanted to top set enough that when I place the anchovies on it, they wouldn't sink in.

After 10 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and arrange the anchovies on the top. I placed them around like hands on a clock. Return the pan to the oven and bake until golden brown and puffed, approximately 10 to 15 more minutes.


The fritter will deflate as it cools. Slice and serve immediately. These also work well chilled, so it can be made ahead of time for a lovely picnic.

Wild Sauvignon

As I often pair wines and food for different events, I stumbled across this one - Greywacke's 2015 Wild Sauvignon from Marlborough, New Zealand - and knew I would pour it for this month's #EattheWorld. 

Grapes for this wine were sourced from vineyards across the Southern Valleys and from the central Wairau Plains, specifically in Woodbourne, Renwick and Rapaura. The grapes were pressed lightly and cold-settled before racking and allowed to undergo spontaneous indigenous yeast fermentation which, I suspect, lent itself to the 'wild' moniker.

What struck me immediately was how aromatic it was. Heady and decadent, I got floral notes of jasmine and honeysuckle. On the palate, it was less floral and more fruity with layers of summer stone fruits with herbaceous hints of tarragon and thyme. Simultaneously rich and fresh, this was a great match to the fish fritters.

In a couple of days, Evelyne will reveal our next destination. I hope you'll stick around and see where we're headed next. I love this group.

Comments

  1. I'm always fascinated by dishes that highlight anchovies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have another dish tonight in which I'm using anchovies!

      Delete
  2. I want to try the reaL whitebait PATTIES BUT VERY CREATIVE TO USE ANCHOVIES. Ooops caps. It does sound quite the fishy dish but I am up for trying it. Love the wine pairing very much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's hard not to be too fishy with anchovies. Great creativity though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oddly though, when we eat them pickled, they don't taste too fishy. Maybe that makes sense with all the vinegar.

      Delete
  4. I have really come to love the salty umami flavour of anchovies as an adult (as a kid I was totally turned off by the mere idea of them). Love your use of them in this fritter dish!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce