Sorry about a second consecutive recipe post but they are a little less thought consuming than other posts. That, and this recipe is fantastically delicious, quick, and relatively cheap. It was first shown to me by Matty B in my 7th Ave days and is one that has given me solid browny points with Storm when sprung on her as a surprise – her quote, ‘it rocks my jocks’…
All the cooking steps are logical to the point that having just typed them out, it almost seems foolish to describe them in detail; but maybe, just maybe, it’ll encourage some people to give it a go and impress unsuspecting dinner guests. After all, how often does someone cook calamari for you outside the fish and chippery scene?
You will need, for 3 or 4 -
* 2 tubes of squid (easily acquired from the deli section of supermarkets for about $8-10 a kilo)
* 1/2 a cup of milk
* 1/2 a cup of flour
* chilli (fresh or paste) and garlic to taste
* canola or olive oil for frying.
* Salad makings of your own choosing (a spinach based salad with cooked potatoes goes very well I believe)
How to -
1) Slice the squid tubes once lengthways and unfold with the skin face down.
2) Score the soft side (the side that is facing up) of the squid with a sharp knife in diagonals, being careful not to cut too deep.
3) Slice the squid into horizontal strips.
4) Dip the squid strips into the milk (in a shallow bowl or the like) and then coat with the flour. When stacking them, be careful not to get them all stuck together.
5) On a high heat, get the oil warmed and add the chilli and garlic (according to taste/heat preference). I use about the amount of oil that it takes to thinly cover the bottom of the pan.
6) In batches if necessary, add the calamari and quickly stir it through the chilli, garlic and oil. Once stirred through, let it sit and cook for a 1-2mins on that side.
7) Flip the calamari, stir and cook for another 1-2 mins. The appearance of the calamari should go from translucence to an opaque white (similar to fish and chicken).
Ideally your calamari should be well coated in the Chilli Garlic deliciousness, have golden brown crumbs and not be too tough (on account of overcooking)…
As already alluded to, I generally serve it with a nice, fresh green salad – as an example, a spinach base with cherry tomatoes, capsicum and small potatoes (cut in half and microwaved for 5-6 mins in a bowl with glad-wrap and 1cm of water) with a squeeze of lemon on top.
Voila! – http://www.jameses.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/img_7739.jpg
Also, apologies to those that received 3 blog posts in one email… The program that sends them out seems to have had a fit – I would never knowingly bombard anybody with that much drivel in one hit 
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