Skip the fryer — enjoy this savory squid on toasty bread
Food@DominionPost.com
In The Dominion Post’s ongoing Wednesday feature, Quarantine Kitchen, we highlight dishes prepared by readers, staffers and chefs at our local restaurants in an effort to keep us connected through food.
This week, regular contributor and kitchen queen Penny Pugh was kind enough to share with us a dish she serves as part of her particular take on the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes served on Christmas Eve.
The feast usually features seven courses of fish and seafood, followed by dessert.
Pugh switches it up a bit to make it a bit more manageable and tailored to her family’s tastes while still honoring tradition.
Today, she offers up the recipe for one course that never gets left off her menu.
“Our Christmas Eve table always contains what we laughingly call the Feast of Some Fishes,” Pugh explained. “We have crab cakes, white anchovies and more, essentially lots of seafood appetizers. Most years, the centerpiece is a huge platter of fresh oysters that we order from Island Creek Oysters in Massachusetts. That is out of the picture this year because my daughter, the expert shucker, is stuck in San Francisco. But one thing that I will be making — and make annually without fail — is marinated calamari to serve on toasted baguette slices.”
Pugh said while most people are probably more familiar with the fried version of a squid appetizer, that’s far from the only — or even best — way to eat this protein.
“I learned to enjoy it in other ways when I began visiting the central California coast, where squid are local and plentiful,” she said. “It isn’t always easy to find it here. Most years (again) Giant Eagle sells it fresh for a few days during the holidays, already cut into rings and tentacles, and I prefer to get it then. This year, I’ve been forced to buy frozen from Thailand. I’ve used it before, and it will do.”
If you are lucky enough to find some fresh in town, that’s obviously best. But frozen will do the trick, so if you catch it in the freezer aisle at your favorite grocery or specialty store, grab it.
Then head to the kitchen to prepare yourself something to savor pre-Christmas (or anytime, really).
As with any preparation, be sure not to overcook the squid to avoid it becoming tough and rubbery.
MARINATED CALAMARI
- 5 ounces of cleaned squid
- 1 large lemon, zest and juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup of dry vermouth
- 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons of finely chopped shallots
- 1/4 cup of fennel, thinly sliced or better yet, shaved if you have a mandolin
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 nice baguette, sliced on the diagonal, brushed with olive oil, and toasted, for serving
Add calamari to boiling salted water and cook very briefly — only until tentacles curl and tube looks opaque. Overcooking will make it tough.
Strain and cut tube into rings about 1/4 inch wide. Leave small tentacles whole and cut larger into two pieces.
Toss together with all the other ingredients — except the lemon zest and fennel.
Refrigerate for 2 hours and then add fennel and lemon zest, and toss everything together.
Serve on toasted baguette slices.
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