I’ve wanted to join a CSF ever since an Outstanding in the Field dinner we attended several years ago. The event was beautiful and truly inspiring – in part because of the gorgeous farm, amazing food prepared by Chef Sean Brock and his team, and the good friends with whom we shared the experience, but largely as a result of the people who grew, raised, and caught our food who spoke about their role in a sustainable food system.

Between each course, someone would stand and provide some background on what we were eating, and no one’s speech was more moving than the man who caught the fish prepared that night. I can’t do his words justice by paraphrasing them here, but suffice it to say he left most of the room teary-eyed and with renewed motivation to take ownership of the world around us, including the land we cultivate and creatures we raise or catch for food.

Honestly, we don’t prepare much seafood at home. Sometimes I think this is because it’s out of my comfort zone – both preparing and shopping for it. On occasion I buy frozen salmon at the food co-op and we’ve eaten monkfish from the farmer’s market a handful of times. (We used this Jamie Oliver roasted monkfish recipe, and it’s killer good.) I’ve had fleeting thoughts about doing more to support local fisheries over the past three years, but we finally made the leap when another couple in our neighborhood asked if we’d like to split a Mermaid’s Garden share.

I plan to write more about our experience with the CSF when I get some time (haha) or maybe just stop in here to share any particularly amazing dishes that come out of it, but in the meantime I just want to post this simple preparation. A couple weeks ago there was an option to add-on a couple pounds of fresh sardines, and I was giddy with excitement because I LOVE fresh sardines but have only eaten them in restaurants. I was also looking forward to giving Zane the opportunity to eat them, as he seems to be pretty fond of the canned ones.

There’s nothing fancy about this recipe, but I wanted to take advantage of the fresh sardines and for everyone to be able to really taste them, and it  works well as a warm weather meal because they are ready in about five minutes. Let me know if you try it out or if you have any recipe recommendations for the next time we get our hands on some.

Pan-fried Sardines with Lemon & Thyme

olive oil
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
10 or so fresh sardines, gutted, cleaned, and patted dry
salt
lemon wedges, for serving

1. Coat the bottom of a large pan over low heat with olive oil and add the thyme and garlic. Let steep for 10 minutes, then remove the garlic.
2. Crank the heat up to high. Once hot, add the sardines (just a few at a time – don’t overcrowd the pan) and fry until golden on one side (just a minute or two), flip, sprinkle with salt, and after another couple minutes transfer to a plate. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over just before eating.