Sardine Fail

They look good, right? They weren't, and it wasn't the fishmonger's fault. Beautifully fresh Portuguese sardines. I should have just pan fried them. Instead, I tried an escabeche.

Look at this great recipe. That's what I did. Looked at it. Then deviated. A lot. My main problems, I think, were not having the oil for the marinade hot enough before pouring it on the par cooked fish, and using blood orange juice instead of lemon juice or vinegar. Also, for some stupid reason I thought it'd be a good idea to heat the whole thing up before serving, so in went the crock with the fish, marinade, oil and all to a hot oven until it sizzled.

It wasn't inedible. It just wasn't good, and definitely wasn't what I was going for. Luckily it was just a side for an otherwise nice dinner.