First time fried calamari

In dealing with another quick and bulldozing craving, yesterday I had to make fried calamari. P2's sister Lisa and her partner Kelly were visiting for the day, and when planning what we would do with the day, my only stipulation was that I needed fried calamari and I wanted to make it at home!
When I told them this was something I needed to get out of my system everyone seemed cool with it, and were interested in how I do mine.....
Wait... what? Oh yeah... I have never done this before. How do i do mine???
I thought back to a Christmas Eve many years ago when I spent the first half of the night at my friend Sarah's. Me and her mom tried to figure out how to make fried calamari and we ended up with a pot full of 2 things; bits of squid, and bits of fired batter. Not attached.
I have to admit I got a little nervous. Lisa and Kelly own a cafe out on Port Jefferson Long Island called Tiger Lily, so clearly they know a thing or 2 about cooking. Lisa is a full on chef, and I am little more than a hungry Italian!
But I had a little faith in me and a little faith in Nigella Lawson!
A little while back I saw her do a bit about really fast dinners, and crispy calamari was one of the recipes she shared. If you have The Cooking Channel you may have seen it. (they tend to play the same stuff over and over and over... I am however quite addicted).
So I quickly checked her recipe and got the needed supplies. Luckily neither Lisa or Kelly had a recipe so we were all learning together... I felt a lot less pressure, but still wanted it to be good. I mean it is a craving right?? What is worse than when you are craving something, you get it to the table, and it sucks!!?
Here is Nigella's recipe;


   About 9 ounces frozen squid (tubes and tentacles) to give about 7 ounces unfrozen

Heat the oil in a smallish saucepan and while it's left to heat up cut the thawed squid into 1/2-inch rings.
Put the cornstarch, semolina and seasoning into a plastic freezer bag. Add the squid rings and tentacles and then toss to coat.
When the oil is hot enough, which is when it sizzles up fiercely when you drop in a small cube of bread, fry the squid in batches to get the most golden crunchiness. A couple of minutes per batch is all you should need.

It really is that simple. I used regular all purpose flour instead of semolina. I think it was fine,  but would love to try it with the semolina, and see what that adds flavor wise.

Lisa and kelly liked it, P2 liked it, and I liked it too!

Thanks Nigella for helping me get through the craving :)
This is so easy everyone should try it at home. Almost no clean up, no prep, and lots of reward. Almost seemed healthy.... My only suggestion is to let them cook for a few minutes rather than the couple she suggests. You don't want to over cook them which is very easy, but you also don't want a soggy undercooked version either!
She calls for a bit of Aioli wit it, but P2 made a marinara that was perfect!


Let me know if you try it.
We loved it and will do it again.. soon!
xoxo
-P




Comments

I don't see tentacles, those little feetie things . . . did you make them too? My favorite part of El Squido!
No feet! :(
I didn't know until I started to prepare that it was just the bodies.
Next time!!!
(maybe tonight!)

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