I had purchased some fresh sardines for a photo shoot and didn’t want to waste them so I made some chile-spiced sardines for a Latin brunch featuring huevos rancheros.  Guess what  – nobody at the table liked sardines , except for one poor guy who got stuck with all 6 of them set in front of him.  I thought I was being tricky in spicing the fish up to mask their oiliness, but I guess my ploy didn’t work.  But, in case you like sardines  this is what I did.
I placed them over a bed of parsley in an oval frying pan along with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, sliced lemons and jalapeños and salt and pepper.  I covered the pan and cooked the fish over medium heat for about 7 minutes.  I removed the pan from the heat and set it aside for about 30 minutes leaving it covered so the fish would be fully-cooked and well-flavored.  I served the spiced fish with the cooked lemon slices, plus more fresh lemon, but still they languished at the table.  I – don’t much love sardines, but know they are so good for you – did eat some of the left-over on toast for lunch.  A nice glass of rosé made the medicine go down.