Posts Tagged Calamari
Vanju’s Deep Fried, Perfectly Seasoned Calamari
Posted by Van Santos in Seafood on April 20th, 2010
A few days back Monica, over at Cucina Naturale, made a Baked Calamari with cornbread crumbs. That got me all excited to go out and make my own Calamari. So, why is this called Vanju’s Calamari? Well, my sous-chef demanded credit for her efforts in the venture. Credit where credit it due.
For the Calamari:
1. 1/2 cup white flour
2. 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
3. 1 tsp Garlic Powder
4. 1 tsp Ground Tumeric
5. 1 tsp Onion Powder
6. 2 tsp Paprika
7. 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
8. 1/4 tsp Chili Powder
9. 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
10. 1 nice sized Calamari tube, cut into rings
For the deep frying:
1. 2 eggs, whisked
2. 32 oz of peanut oil
This is very, very easy… really…
1. Heat up your oil in a nice sized pan, deep enough to fully submerge the cut Calamari
2. Mix your spices, flour and breadcrumbs until ingredients are fully blended
3. Take your calamari, place them into the whisked eggs
4. Take calamari, one by one, out of the eggs and place into the spice/breadcrumb mixture and fully cover.
5. Place into peanut oil for two minutes, then make sure you turn the calamari and continue frying for another two minutes.
Drain, remove grease and enjoy!
I was worried that the batter would have too much kick, but no, it had a nice kick, but not overpowering. In many ways it almost would taste like popcorn shrimp… and it was the perfect start for the Fettuccine with Shrimp.
Thanks for the inspiration, Monica!
Very simple and delicious calamari
Posted by Van Santos in Main Course, Recipes on April 13th, 2009
The raw ingredients:
Simple ingredients: calamari, butter, garlic and parsley
The finished product:
I must confess, I am dealing with a sharp learning curve here. I’ve never photographed food and it’s not as easy as one might think and I am also dealing with the handicap of not having particularly presentable bowls and what not.
Presentation has, in general, not been my specialty. Taste and high quality ingredients are where I’ve mostly excelled. So this blog is challenging me because I do, in fact, have a strong aesthetic sense but have not invested in the sorts of bowls and dishes to make presentation really great. And my photographic skills are lacking. So hopefully all this will improve over time.
In any case the food!
I made a simple calamari dish which is comprised of butter, garlic, and parsley. Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste as well. You cook it about 5 minutes max. It’s really easy!!
This dish consisted of:
1 1/2 lbs of Calamari — bodies sliced in thirds and tentacles whole
2 tbls butter (you can go with more—even a lot more especially if you put this over pasta)
Parsley—the whole big mass of parsley in the picture chopped up (I go for lots of parsley–it’s an incredibly healthy herb that is very high in nutrients–but some may want to use about half the amount of parsley I used. I personally try to maximize nutritional value in my food)
Garlic—again I go very heavy on garlic, you do as you like!
Salt and pepper to taste.
Directions:
Melt butter in pan. Add chopped or pressed garlic and saute until very just shy of being browned.
Throw in the parsley and the calamari, salt and pepper at a high temperature and cover.
Cook at medium high for about 5 minutes. Stirring after about 3 minutes and covering again.
Do not overcook! Overcooked calamari can become unpleasantly rubbery!
Should make a nice, tasty broth which you can put over rice or pasta or eat it by itself in it’s soupy delight.
