We are fans of calamari in this household and try and get it as an appie when we go out. Especially the tentacles...yum..So, this seemed a good Nigella recipe to knock off my list in the Express book. Happy Hour at Squirrel Head Manor :-)
Grab your ingredients......
Tip roughly one cup of oil (Nigella calls for peanut oil, I used vegetable oil) into a saucepan. If your squid is not sliced up as mine wasn't, cut the tubes into rings.
Put 1/4 cup corn meal, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning into a freezer bag. Add calamari rings and tentacles. Toss to coat.
Drop calamari gently into oil after oil is fiercely hot. This will provide a good crunch. Fry up in batches. About 4 minutes each...according to your preference.
 |
| From Calamari |
Lift the calamari out of oil with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
Serve with garlic mayonnaise.
For the garlic mayo: grate three cloves garlic (Nigella calls for 1 clove..phhhww...can't get too much garlic in my opinion) and stir this into 1/2 cup mayo.
Nigella Express, Everyday Easy Section, page 16. Another one I can cross off.
I love love love calamari but it's one of those things I only ever get when I go out to eat. I'm a happy camper at the local greek place with a plate of calamari and some saganaki to share. Good job - looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteI love calamari too, but unfortunately I'm the only one in my house who does. I bet the cornmeal makes them nice and crunchy.
ReplyDeleteMan, you are getting spammed quite a a bit, aren't you?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE calamari! In fact, I had it for lunch today and it was pretty good! I've had better, I make better, but I have also had way worse. Squid are not easily come by here, though, which is unfortunate.
Cathy, what is saganaki? Sushi? This was great but you may be better to get it out - I made WAY too much!
ReplyDeleteJanel - thank you, it was really good and the corn meal did in fact make it just crunchy enough.
Wandering Coyote, Yeah! I am getting spam and so I will be forced to use word verification. Oh well.....I'm getting tired of deleting the crap that ends up in comments.
I had to buy frozen squid from our local seafood market - but it was good.
That looks lovely T add a good squeeze of lemon and I'd be happy to polish off the lot!
ReplyDeletePierce - Saganaki is greek cheese, pan fried and then they light (yep, fire and cheese) ouzo on top....yum!
ReplyDeleteLaquet - it would make a good appetizer for us before pub crawling. Does Simon like calamari?
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy. That sounds amazingly good! I looked for you on Facebook...no luck.
Really? Odd - should be able to search me under my name. Maybe just try my last name?
ReplyDeleteI agree - you can never have too much garlic!
ReplyDeleteGreat choice - and so brave! I really need to get more experience cooking seafood this year.
I love calamari, any style...
ReplyDeletebut this is really great for fried calamari because I can't eat wheat, so a cornmeal recipe is wonderful...
I actually almost always have calamari in the freezer so I'll be shaking it up next time...
I always do the same thing with it...it's my quick and delicious lunch food...
yours is a bit more complex
Truth be told, I've never tried calamari before. I would probably try it if someone else cooked it, but I don't know about doing it all by myself. Either way, it looks like you did a fabulous job frying it up!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete