Yes, I'm cooking squid this week, after liver at the weekend. I think I was inhibited in early lockdown, though neither of those are hard to get hold of in my local supermarket. I do cook quite a bit of squid in summer because it's so quick - 2-3 minutes tops, and not a lot of prep. Plus, frozen, so it's a good end-of-week dish.
Though it does help if you notice it needs marinading the night before. This dish NEEDS MARINADING THE NIGHT BEFORE OMG, notice this before you schedule defrosting it.
It's fine. I was nearly late for a 10am meeting because I had to fit in quickly wanging the marinade together. But it's fine. And that seemed like plenty of time in the juice before a 6.30 dinner (early in honour of the Last NT At Home, which I'm watching live. I shall miss them so much),
The marinade is a few bashed garlic cloves, a slosh of olive oil, some crushed chili, plenty of dried oregano, and a slosh of ouzo (or Pernod, in this case. I have only time and space for one anise liquor). These are easy peasy squid tubes, just cut down one side with scissors, open it out and slice it into a few flat pieces. Technically you're supposed to score them in a crisscross pattern but not if you're late for a meeting, and it doesn't make much difference. They always curl up when you cook them, regardless.
Leave as long as you can in the marinade. Then just heat a sturdy pan (or griddle, even better) till it's properly hot. Then fry a few at a time, holding them flat with tongs if possible. Some will escape, eh, it doesn't really matter. Barely a minute a side is fine.
Leave seasoning till the end, and serve with lemon wedges. Is lovely. One of those meals that feels much fancier than it is, even allowing for that splash of Pernod.
Oh yum, I love squid.
ReplyDeleteThe marinading the night before always trips me up. I always feel it should be in caps at the top of the recipe. It's nearly as irritating as finding a line like "now add the cold mashed potato you cooked earlier" or some other thing of that nature half way through the recipe - grr :)
This one's really nice, and very quick indeed really. I don't think the long marinading was that crucial though I put it all in yesterday morning and cooked the remainder tonight when it seemed very tender. I guess that's the booze doing its work!
DeleteI love squids too. I’ve never marinated them. I should try.
ReplyDeleteI can see courgettes in the plate: in my dad’s garden it’s exploted courgettes season. It means some kilos per day. We’ll need a lot of fantasy.
The marinade worked really well - very quick to mix but worth doing.
DeleteI have enough courgettes, but not too many. I've made turkey and courgette meatballs this week, and these were leftovers!