[Koalamom]

I went somewhere are had the most delicious salad, and I asked what the dressing was. It was an anchovie dressing. It was so yummy!!!!!!! So I was in the store the other day, and saw a 2 oz can or anchovies for sale. Why did I buy it? I am afraid of what to do next (and afarid to open the can and seee eyes looking at me.)
So how do I get it from the can to a salad? I am beginning to think that the salad I was served was a mix, or they used avchovie paste.
Help!!
(ps- are anchovies actually healthy?)

 

[fek&fuzz]

I love anchovies! And there are no eyes, they are just the fillets. Just open the jar, mash them up and mix into a dressing or chop and add to the salad. And if you can find the white anchovies in lemon and oil (usually in the fridge, sometimes at Whole Foods) those are divine to add to the salad whole, or just eat as an appetizer.

 

[Metasequoia]

I eat them on salads. Some people like them on toast too. They're high in omega 3s & very low in toxins.

 

[cristeen]

I don't care for fish, and I enjoy anchovies in things.

I keep anchovy paste in the house, and I also keep jars of anchovies - so I can just use one or two fillets and pop the rest back into the fridge.

For salad dressings, you want to mash it up (usually with garlic and salt), and then add the vinegar, oil, or whatever else. Classic Caesar dressing has anchovies in it - I have a really good recipe around here somewhere if you'd like me to dig it up.

I've even taken to ordering anchovies on pizza (when we indulge).

I've also started adding it to pasta sauce (butter based, not tomato based). With capers, lemon and some white wine, it's lovely.

 

[425lisamarie]

They go good in cooked sauces, they practically melt. I used to eat anchovie mayo and olive sandwiches

 

[*J*]

Anchovies are the secret (not anymore!) ingredient to my much-loved homemade pizza! I mash a fillet into some olive oil & add some crushed garlic, then use this mixture as the first layer on the dough before any other toppings go on. This gets rave reviews, often from friends who wouldn't dream of letting an anchovy pass their lips.
As pp's mentioned, anchovies add great flavor when kindof mashed into things & pretty much melt away when mashed into something warm. Anchovies on toast or crackers are wonderful (but a bit stinky).

 

[La Sombra]

Mmm, anchovies. I love them on salads, too--though you don't encounter them at many restaurants these days. In fact, caesar dressing is traditionally made with anchovies, though I don't know, I doubt that the store-bought stuff has any actually anchovy in it (could be wrong, though).

So anchovies, yes, are a very healthy fish with good healthy fats, but they are also a good for the environment--not overfished and not farmed. In her book Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood, Taras Grescoe highly recommends anchovies and other small oily fish as alternatives (not flavor-wise, but just in terms of seafood that is safe, healthy and environmentally-friendly to eat) to, say, farmed salmon or swordfish (etc.)

Yum, enjoy!

 

[sisteeesmama]

I have always been a little wierd about anchovies, but I have to admit, in a dressing they are fabulous. I just made homemade caesar dressing for Easter day and it was so garlicky and yummy. I do use anchovy paste, though.

Now here is another good idea that surprised me. Using anchovy filets on meatballs. I had them at a restaurant and then made them at home to rave reviews several times. You just make meatballs and then you put a slice of tomato a slice of fresh moz. and then crisscross two anchovies over the whole thing and bake them like that and it sounds wierd but it really is good!

I guess I like anchovies!

PS I'm trying that pizza tip!

 

[Koalamom]

Thanks everyone for the posts. I did it last night. I opened the can, and there were no eyes. It was not even fishy. And I am pregnant, I would really know fishy.

I threw the 2 oz can fillets in the blender with
a large bulb of garlic
1/4-1/2 cup parmasean cheese
olive oil
raw apple cider vinegar
1 tblsp Dulse flakes (for added minerals- did not effect the taste)

I blended it up, and put it over fresh local baby greens, and it was so good. My 2 yr old who never eats greens raw, ate a ton, and my DH who is a meat and potatoes kind of guy and never eats any salad I make, ate a huge bowl too!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:

:

:

The recipe made a lot, so I have it stored in the fridge for more salads. I am so excited!!

 

[tanyalynn]

Threads like this are so inspiring.

 

[Etoile]

I went and got some anchovies today to make salad dressing... mmm.

 

[mbravebird]

Bluebird mama, I'm pregnant too and have been craving caesar salad dressing. Here's my current recipe, which looks really similar to yours, except that it adds mustard and worcestechire:

In the food processor:
4 anchovies
2TBS dijon mustard
2TBS raw ACV
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 teaspoons worcestechire sauce (Annie's makes it without HFCS)
A bit of salt and generous fresh ground pepper

Process until smooth. Then add while processing:
1/2 c Olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 c parmesan cheese

Mmmmm, mmmm.....

: Yay little fish!! Thank you!

 

[covertlycrunchy]

Anybody have any egg + anchovy recipie that is good (I have a craving, and not pg either)?
All I could come up with was fried egg w/ anchovy on top. Which isn't very inspiring.

 

[mbravebird]

I had a dream last night about anchovies. There was a big chart about all the different benefits of anchovies, and someone was discussing how it was important to eat the ears.

 

[*J*]

Everyone knows the ears are the most nutritious part of any fish!

 

[Koalamom]

If the fillets in the can had ears on them, I would have been too scared to eat them.

 

[MrsGraffy]

So anchovies aren't supposed to taste fishy? My first experience with them was a couple months ago in a local Italian restaurant. I ordered cappellini with puttanesca (I think) sauce, which had 5 or 6 anchovy filets on top. I didn't mind the salty flavor, but there was also an undercurrent of fishy stagnant pond flavor. I ate maybe 3, but that was all my taste buds (and my sense of smell) could manage.

It was a nice restaurant, so I assumed they would use high-quality ingredients, but they were definitely fishy. Did I just get some bad anchovies?

 

[Village Mama]

I have been making my ceasar dressing a bit differently lately. I hardboil two eggs and let them cool. I use half of a can of anchovy, a tablespoon or so of dijon, two cloves of garlic, juice of one lemon(a couple of nasturtium seed capers if i have any left... regular capers are yummy too).I buzz this all up in the mini chopper until it is smooth and add olive oil to make it the right consistancy. Then I taste it and change the flavour if I need to. The family loves this dressing on romaine plain, but if i make gluten free croutons, bacon slivers, and maybe toasted pine nuts for guests it is always a hit. We are gluten and casien free and this is a nice way to make the dressing creamy without the parm!

Oh yes... my littlest guy polishes off the rest of the anchovies right out of the can.

 

[cristeen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsGraffy It was a nice restaurant, so I assumed they would use high-quality ingredients, but they were definitely fishy. Did I just get some bad anchovies?

I think it's a matter of taste. I do find them fishy, but not offensively so (and I don't like fish). And when you are not eating the fillets whole (like when you've dissolved them into a sauce), then the fishiness becomes gentle and lends a saltiness to the dish that is very difficult to describe. I can't eat them whole though, they are much too fishy for that. I put them whole onto a pizza once and that was tough enough.

Anchovies are the secret ingredient in worcestershire sauce - which is why vegetarian worcestershire never tastes right. And they're the main ingredient in Nam Pla, asian fish sauce, which is often used in place of salt/soy.

As for a recipe involving anchovies and eggs... if you find the recent post on 100 ways to crack an egg, I seem to recall seeing one involving eggs and anchovies.

 

[hummingmom]

As a child, I had a bunch of those British schoolgirl novels by Enid Blyton. It seemed as if the characters were always eating anchovy toast as a snack in their dorm rooms. Not something I grew up with myself, but it sounds tasty!

I'm guessing that they probably just spread the paste on buttered toast, but if you search the web for "anchovy toast," you'll find a wide variety of recipes ranging from simple to fancy. There's even one from Fannie Farmer, so this dish was evidently eaten in the US in years gone by.