Sunshine And Sardines with Tomato, Chilli & Garlic

Fresh sardines sing with the flavours of tomato, chilli and garlic making them the perfect meal on long summer evenings. Serve these with fresh bread and wine and you've got a meal in less than 30 minutes to prepare.

This recipe was created before my seafood allergy. Once a week I go to the markets. I have grown to love buying fruit and vegetables from different stalls depending on what is good and seasonal and then making up recipes based on what I buy.

Sardines are so very good for you and are high in Omega 3's which is why they don't last very long and you have to cook them on the day you buy them or the day after. I paired these simply with a tomato, chilli and garlic sauce. This is a dish that really is the best of warm weather in all of its ingredients.

Speaking of things in the kitchen, I've got a few new things from my travels to Peru to share in this month's In My Kitchen hosted by Sherry. Chocolate mostly really...

The first thing is a fridge magnet and some chocolates from El Taller, a gorgeous patisserie in Lima that fuses French technique with Peruvian ingredients. The chocolates came in flavours like camu camu, lucuma (both types of fruit) as well as flavours like praline and Arabica coffee. These were a gift from Carlos from Mr Papa food truck in Canberra who happened to be there at the same time that I was and he kindly and generously showed me around his home city. If you're in Canberra, you have to try his Mr Papa Peruvian street food. It's SO delicious!

I mentioned that there was a lot of chocolate but that also includes chocolate flavoured things. There's a chocolate shop called Choco Museo and they sell chocolate flavoured shampoo and conditioner. I bought some hoping that it would make me wildly attractive. Well it smelled like chocolate yogo more than anything else so I guess that would mean that I am very popular among 5 year olds.

The next thing is not chocolate based but they are little bags of snacks of broad beans and corn. They're crunchy and moreish and really good to keep in your bag as an alternative to chips!

The next thing was a lovely gift from a Dear Reader and a tour guest called Suzie. She gave me some Iranian nougat and some Whittaker's Doris Plum dark chocolate which I would snack on every night. Thanks Suzie!

The next item is something I bought Mr NQN. I usually get him a t shirt from where I visit and something to eat. These chocolates are right up his alley with a range of tangy liquid fruit centres including gooseberry, guava and passionfruit. He loves these (although he doesn't love it when I steal a couple).

The last thing is actually mostly from New Zealand with one item from Peru. The Latam flight stopped for a while in Auckland so I spent my time shopping (because I felt like I didn't have enough chocolate ;)). They're mostly for gifts though although I did try the coca leaf and white chocolate at Choco Museo and really liked it. Coca leaf is what cocaine is derived from (but it's a very different process). It is still a stimulant though and has a herby, slightly bitter sort of flavour that is good in the sweet white chocolate. I'm not sure who I'll give that to!

So tell me Dear Reader, is there anything exciting or new in your kitchen with the change of seasons? How many types of chocolate do you keep in your house at any one time?

Sardines with Tomato, Chilli & Garlic

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

• 1 large or 2 small golden eschallots, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• Olive oil for cooking
• 250g/0.5lb cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1-2 large red chillies (depending on how hot you want it), sliced diagonally
• 500g/1 lb fresh sardines, filleted (see how to fillet sardines here)
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup white wine
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
• 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Step 1 - Place the cornstarch in a shallow bowl. Give the filleted sardines a final rinse under cold water, drain and dredge the fillets lightly in the cornstarch. Heat a large frypan on medium to high heat and add olive oil. Fry the sardine fillets until cooked through (it doesn't take long). Remove from the pan and place on a plate.

Step 2 - Add more olive oil and fry the eschallots and garlic until fragrant and translucent. Add the tomatoes and chillies and saute for 8-10 minutes until the tomatoes become soft. Add the wine when almost finished and then return the sardines to the pan gently coating them in the sauce. Taste for seasoning (salt, pepper and sugar) and add. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with crusty bread.