I hate to deep fry food. The spattering oil, the lingering smell of hot oil, the messy clean up. I really, really hate it. Yet… the results taste so amazing. It’s probably a very good thing that I hate to do the work because it usually keeps me from cooking that way. If it were neat and easy, I’d eat too much of that fried junk! Every so often though I just gotta give in.
I found some beautiful looking frozen calamari rings at the store, and I couldn’t resist. I bought them and brought them home, thereby committing myself to a fried dinner. The only way, as far as I am concerned, to enjoy these treats is breaded and fried… and sitting next to a pretty steak. Ok, maybe the steak isn’t mandatory, but I do recommend it.
I made a nice beer batter. Two eggs, about a cup or so of flour. Ground pepper, a bit of parsley, and coarse sea salt. Then I poured in about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Guiness beer to make a thick batter… it was the only beer that I happened to have on hand, and it added a nice bit of flavor. I stirred the thawed (and rinsed) calamari rings into the batter, let them sit until the oil was hot, and deep fried them in small batches in a deep frying pan. The batter was so tasty – you know that I sampled the first rings out of the pan – that instead of baked potatoes as a side, I grabbed a couple of handfuls of frozen french fries (which I usually bake, but what the heck…), dredged them through the leftover batter and fried those too. Served up with marinara sauce from a jar – they didn’t stand a chance with my family!
The steak was good too, although we had a lot of leftover for some reason!… No leftover broccoli though. Yea… all that red meat and grease… I had to put something obnoxiously healthy on the table too. That’s ok though, broccoli is a favorite green thing in our house and it was gobbled up as enthusiastically as the squid.
5 comments:
Oh, wow! That all sounds soooooo yummy!
ooohh!!! baby!!!! I love calamari... I love steak... and I love brocoli! I am for sure trying out the batter rescipe... probably tomorrow... as thats when I get paid loL!
Isnt it great that your kids eat things like calamari and brocoli!?!? I know that, at least around here, all kids want to eat is burgers and hotdogs (and their parents let them :-O. you throw something green or at all seafood ish in front of them and they go into fits of terror!
When my brother and sister were young I used to make the most crazy things (like escargo and roasted eggplants...)and make them eat it so they wouldnt grow up to be picky eaters! It worked!!!
We've always tried to present food as 'food' not 'adult food' and 'kid food'. I do make sure that I keep the spices down when I cook - my husband appreciates that too! - but the kids eat what we eat. They know that they do not have to like everything, but they have to try it. Usually they find that they do like it. We follow the same example... always sampling each others' dishes when we go out, just to see, because some foods that you hate one way, might taste good another. Do as I do, not as I say! We do not deny them 'kids' food' - like hot dogs or tater tots - in moderation, why not? We don't want it to be forbidden fruit! The only problem with kids who like calamari... is it means we have to share! :D
I LOVE CALAMARI!!!
For a long while it was a special payday Friday lunch at my local workplace Italian trattoria (come back and cook for me Dominic pplllease!) for my husband and I. Noone can cook it as well.
I will now crave it for days!
Sorry! I am actually surprised that ours turned out so well... it's been ages since I cooked it (I really do despise frying, no matter how much I like the food!), and quite some time too, since I last threw together a beer batter. Fates were smiling on me :)
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