Anchovy, 2 ways.

Anyone eating anchovies?  How are you preparing them?

I ended up with a batch a couple of weeks ago when they started schooling in Santa Cruz. These were the huge size. 

I prepped them boquerones style.  Chopped off heads and gutted, removed most of the spine, let sit in a thin layer of salt for 2 hours to draw out water, overnight in vinegar.  They're basically pickled anchovies.  I stored them in a jar of olive oil on the countertop - they lasted 4-5 days before I ate them all.  Chovies on toast was a good breakfast.

I ended up with a couple more smaller anchovies over the weekend.  Beheaded, gutted, and butterflied.  Dusted in potato starch and deep fried.  Added salt/MSG at the end.  That was pretty good, too.  The boquerones were easier to keep so I'd probably do them that way in the future.

Dusted and fried is the only way I've tried them, but they are very good that way.  Caught and put on ice, heads cut off with scissors and a rinse for the guts then dredged and fried.  I meant to do it this year on the wharf and serve them but have been too busy.

I like them fried whole (heads and guts and all) as what we call "fries with eyes."  I like them even more as boquerones and I will do some fish sauce with some next year.

I did boquerones earlier but in lemon instead of vinegar - pretty much the same prep. To serve I did this: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/boquerones-with-green-olives-and-orange-recipe

Everyone loved it -- spoon the mixture onto some bread and it was fantastic.

Cheers,
Brad

My favorite is salted.

These will cure for 6 months to over 2 years. I prefer at least 1 year.

Scale/head/gut then pack in salt in fridge.  I use a weight for the first few days until they get covered in brine.  Then wait.

30min soak in water, remove spine, soak in oil. Can also add seasonings.

Great for bread dips, adding to pizzas, etc.

Small ones gutted, scaled, and then dredged in flour. Fried with head on are fantastic. Since Tedski mentioned just frying whole I will give that a shot next time.

At Bodega Bay last year they were so thick that my FF was showing a depth of 3-5 feet. I was wondering if instead of a cast net, I could drop down a net that I could pull up through the school?

I either fry or do boquerones.  Tried the Anchovy Bar method as described in the Eater episode. Those were amazing! Just finished that batch and will probably head back to the wharf tomorrow to get more.