little chefs calamari

The best calamari recipe I've ever had.

Calamari Marinade

1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1.5 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
zest of one lemon
3 smashed and chopped garlic cloves
1 handful chopped basil
1 handful chopped parsley
1 handful chopped Cuban oregano
1/4 cup olive oil (enough to have a wet marinade)
squid tubes and tentacles

Calamari Dressing

5 olives
1 handful parsley
juice of 1-2 lemons
zest of half a lemon
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons crisp white wine

Combine all ingredients in the marinade and then marinate the squid for 20 minutes. Add as much olive oil as necessary to make it saucy.

Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more wine if needed to loosen the dressing.

Grill calamari until cooked and plate with arugula and dress both the calamari and the arugula with the dressing.

calamari cavalcade

Angelo the fish guy provides some of the best seafood I've ever prepared. But you really get it like it's right out of the ocean, so when I asked for a box of small calamari I had no idea what I was in for. It took two hours to clean and prepare, until I was left with close to 3 pounds of calamari rings. Now what to do with it.

Fried Calamari

I wanted to start with fried battered calamari, as it's one of my favorite things. I tried the following recipe, but it probably needed to be cooked a little longer and needed more salt for sure.

1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 heaping tablespoons potato starch
3 large yolks, beaten
3 cups vegetable oil
1 pound fresh squid tubes, cleaned and sliced into rings

Pour the oil into a wok and warm to 350 degrees F over high heat. Dip the calamari rings into the batter using a slotted spoon and stir until well coated. Shake off the excess batter and carefully lower into the hot oil. Fry, stirring frequently with a strainer, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer the calamari to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with salt and pepper while hot.

Adapted from Cooking Channel

Roasted Calamari

For the roasted calamari I combined a recipe for a calamari salad with the vegetables that sounded delicious at the grocery store. I was really surprised at how sweet and delicious the calamari turned out and think they would work well in a lot of dishes.

1 pound cleaned small calamari, cut into 1/2-inch rings
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 poblano or jalapeno pepper (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Halve the grape tomatoes and cut the poblano into medium sized pieces. Toss in olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes.

On a separate, large, rimmed baking sheet, toss the garlic with olive oil. Roast the garlic on the top shelf of the oven for about 4 minutes, or until lightly golden. Toss the calamari with the garlic, add salt and pepper, and roast for about 3 minutes, until opaque and firm.

Plate asparagus, top with tomatoes and poblano and then top with calamari and garlic. Squeeze lemon on everything to taste.

Adapted from Food and Wine