Fried Calamari
For 4 servings, or more if served as an appetizer
2½ pounds whole squid OR 2 pounds cleaned squid, sliced into rings
Vegetable oil for frying
1 cup flour, spread on a plate
A spatter screen
Salt
1. If cleaning the squid yourself, follow these directions. Slice the sac into rings a little less than ½ inch wide, and separate the cluster of tentacles into two parts. Whether cleaning it yourself or using it already cleaned, wash all parts in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Pour enough oil into a frying pan to come 1½ inches up the sides, and turn on the heat to high.
3. When the oil is very hot—test it with 1 calamari ring, if it sizzles it’s ready—put the rings and tentacles into a large strainer, pour flour over them, shake off the excess flour, grab a handful of squid at a time, and slip it into the pan. Do not crowd the pan; fry the calamari in two or more batches, depending on the size of the pan. Squid may burst while frying, spraying hot oil. Hold the spatter screen over the pan to protect yourself.
4. The moment the calamari is done to a tawny gold on one side, turn it and do the other side. When done, use a slotted spoon or spatula to transfer it to a cooling rack to drain or spread on a platter lined with paper towels. When all the calamari is cooked and out of the pan, sprinkle with salt and serve at once while still piping hot.
Note If the squid rings are rather small, they are fully cooked the moment they become colored a light gold. If they are medium to large in size, they will take just a few seconds longer.
Squid with Tomatoes and Peas, Tuscan Style
For 4 to 6 servings
2½ pounds small to medium whole squid OR 2 pounds cleaned squid, sliced into rings
1½ tablespoons onion chopped very fine
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ teaspoons garlic chopped fine
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
¾ cup fresh, ripe tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped, OR canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with their juice
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
2 pounds unshelled fresh peas OR 1 ten-ounce package frozen peas, thawed
1. If cleaning the squid yourself, follow these directions. Slice the sac into rings a little less than ½ inch wide, and separate the cluster of tentacles into two parts. Whether cleaning it yourself or using it already cleaned, wash all parts in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Put the onion and olive oil in a large saucepan, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add the garlic. When the garlic becomes lightly colored, add the parsley, stir once or twice, then add the tomatoes. Stir thoroughly to coat well and cook at a steady simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add the squid to the pot, cover, and adjust heat to cook at a slow simmer for 35 to 40 minutes. Add a few pinches of salt, some grindings of pepper, and stir thoroughly.
4. If using fresh peas: Shell them, add them to the pot, stir thoroughly, cover, and continue to cook at a slow simmer until the squid feels tender when prodded with a fork. It may take another 20 minutes depending on the squid’s size. Taste a ring to be sure it is fully cooked.
If using frozen peas: Add the thawed peas when the squid is tender, stir thoroughly, and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes.
5. Taste and correct for salt and pepper, transfer to a warm, deep serving platter, and serve promptly.
Ahead-of-time note You can stop the cooking at the end of Step 3 and resume it several hours or even a day later. Bring to a simmer before adding the peas. You may even complete the dish a day or two in advance, reheating it very gently before serving. It tastes sweetest, however, when prepared and eaten the same day.
Alternative Uses for Squid and Tomatoes
Omit the peas from the above recipe, and when the squid is done, chop it coarsely in the food processor. You can then use it as a sauce for such pasta shapes as spaghettini or rigatoni, or as the flavor base of a risotto made following the general procedure described in Risotto with Clams.
Squid and Potatoes, Genoa Style
For 6 servings
3 pounds small to medium whole squid OR 2½ pounds cleaned squid, sliced into rings
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1½ tablespoons chopped parsley
⅓ cup dry white wine
1 cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
½ teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram or oregano OR ¼ teaspoon dried
1¼ pounds boiling potatoes
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. If cleaning the squid yourself, follow these directions. Slice the sac into rings a little less than ½ inch wide, and separate the cluster of tentacles into two parts. Whether cleaning it yourself or using it already cleaned, wash all parts in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Put the oil, garlic, and parsley in a saute pan, turn the heat on to high, and cook the garlic until it becomes colored a light nut brown. Put in all the squid. Use a long-handled fork to turn the squid, looking out for any that may pop, spraying drops of hot oil; do not hunch over the pan.
3. When the squid turns a dull, flat white, add the wine, and let it bubble away for about 2 minutes. Add the cut-up tomatoes with their juice, the marjoram or oregano, and stir thoroughly. Cover the pan and adjust the heat to cook at a slow simmer.
4. While the squid is cooking, peel the potatoes and cut them up into irregular pieces about 1½ inches thick. When the squid has cooked for about 45 minutes and is tender, add salt, the potatoes, and several grindings of pepper, stir thoroughly to coat well, and cover the pan again. Cook, always at a slow simmer, until the potatoes are tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and correct for salt and pepper and serve promptly.
Note Marjoram is what a Genoese cook would use and it should be your first choice if you prefer a lighter fragrance. With oregano, the dish assumes an emphatically accented style that can be rather enjoyable.
Ahead-of-time note The dish may be prepared entirely in advance, and kept for a day or two. Reheat gently before serving. If possible, eat it the same day it is cooked, when its flavor has not been impaired by refrigeration.
Stuffed Whole Squid Braised with Tomatoes and White Wine
For 6 servings
6 whole squid with sacs measuring 4½ to 5 inches in length, not including the tentacles
FOR THE STUFFING
1 egg
Approximately 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons parsley chopped fine
½ teaspoon chopped garlic
2½ tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
¼ cup fine, dry unflavored bread crumbs
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Darning needle and cotton thread OR strong, round toothpicks
THE BRAISING INGREDIENTS
Extra virgin olive oil for cooking
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
½ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, chopped, with their juice
½ teaspoon garlic chopped fine
¼ cup dry white wine
1. When stuffing squid it is preferable to clean it yourself, both to make sure the sac is thoroughly clean and that it is not cut or torn, which might cause it to come apart in cooking. Pull off the tentacles as described and proceed to clean the squid following the directions given there. If it has been cleaned for you, look the sac over, wash out the inside thoroughly, and remove any of the skin that might have been left on. Wash in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Chop the tentacles very fine either with a knife or in the processor, and put them in a bowl.
3. To ma
ke the stuffing: In a saucer beat the egg lightly with a fork, and add it to the bowl with the tentacles. Into the same bowl put all the ingredients that go into the stuffing and mix with a fork until they are uniformly blended. There should be just enough olive oil in the mixture to make it slightly glossy. If it doesn’t have this gloss on the surface, add a little more oil.
4. Divide the stuffing into 6 equal parts and spoon it into the squid sacs. Stuff the sacs only two-thirds full, because as they cook they shrink and if they are packed tightly they may burst. Sew up the opening with a darning needle and cotton thread, making absolutely certain that when you are finished with the needle you take it out of the kitchen lest it disappear into the sauce. Sewing them up is the best way to close squid sacs, but if you are not comfortable with it, you can stitch the edges of the opening together with a strong, round, sharply pointed toothpick.
5. Choose a sauté pan that can later contain all the sacs in a single layer. Pour in enough olive oil to come ¼ inch up the sides, turn on the heat to medium high, and put in the whole peeled garlic cloves. Cook, stirring, until the garlic becomes colored a golden nut brown, remove it from the pan, and put in all the stuffed squid. Brown the squid sacs all over, then add the chopped tomatoes with their juice, the chopped garlic, and the wine. Cover the pan and adjust the heat to cook at a slow simmer. Cook for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the squid feels tender when prodded with a fork.
6. When done, transfer the squid to a cutting board using a slotted spoon or spatula. Let it settle a few minutes. If you have sewn up the sacs, slice away just enough squid from that end to dispose of the thread. If you have used toothpicks, remove them. Cut the sacs into slices about ½ inch thick. Arrange the slices on a warm serving platter. Bring the sauce in the pan to a simmer, then pour it over the sliced squid, and serve immediately.
Ahead-of-time note If necessary, the dish can be finished 3 or 4 days in advance. Reheat it as follows: Preheat oven to 300°. Transfer the squid slices and their sauce to a bake-and-serve dish, add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water, and place on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Turn and baste the slices as they warm up, handling them gently to keep them from breaking apart. Serve when warmed all the way through.
Squid with Porcini Mushroom Stuffing
For 4 servings
A small packet OR 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted as described
The filtered water from the mushroom soak, see instructions
4 whole squid with sacs measuring 4½ to 5 inches in length, not including the tentacles
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Salt
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
⅓ cup fine, dry unflavored bread crumbs
Extra virgin olive oil: 1 tablespoon for the stuffing plus 3 tablespoons for cooking
Darning needle and cotton thread OR strong, round toothpicks
½ cup dry white wine
1. Thoroughly rinse the reconstituted dried porcini in several changes of cold water, then chop them very fine. Put them in a small saucepan together with the filtered liquid from their soak, turn on the heat to medium high, and cook until all the liquid has boiled away.
2. Prepare the squid for cooking as described in the preceding recipe for Stuffed Whole Squid Braised with Tomatoes and White Wine. Chop the tentacles very fine.
3. Put the chopped tentacles into a bowl together with the mushrooms, several grindings of pepper, salt, the chopped garlic, parsley, bread crumbs, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix thoroughly with a fork until all the ingredients are uniformly blended.
4. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the mixture, and divide the rest into 4 equal parts, spooning it into the squid sacs. Stuff the sacs and close them with needle and thread or with toothpicks, as described in Step 4 of the preceding recipe. If any stuffing is left over, add it to the tablespoon you had set aside.
5. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate all the stuffed squid in a single layer. You can squeeze them in quite snugly because they will shrink in cooking. Put 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan and turn on the heat to high. When the oil is very hot, put in the squid. Brown them all over, add a pinch of salt, a grinding of pepper, the white wine, and the stuffing mixture that you had set aside. Quickly turn the squid sacs once or twice, turn the heat down to cook at a very slow, intermittent simmer, and cover the pan.
6. Cook for 45 minutes or more, depending on the size and thickness of the squid, turning the sacs from time to time. The squid is done if it feels tender when gently prodded with a fork.
7. Transfer to a cutting board, let settle a few minutes, then slice and arrange on a platter as in Step 6 of the preceding recipe.
8. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to the pan, and boil it away while scraping loose all the cooking residues from the bottom of the pan. Spoon the contents of the pan over the squid, together with any juices left on the cutting board, and serve at once.
CHICKEN, SQUAB, DUCK, AND RABBIT
Roast Chicken with Lemons
IF THIS WERE a still life its title could be “Chicken with Two Lemons.” That is all that there is in it. No fat to cook with, no basting to do, no stuffing to prepare, no condiments except for salt and pepper. After you put the chicken in the oven you turn it just once. The bird, its two lemons, and the oven do all the rest. Again and again, through the years, I meet people who come up to me to say, “I have made your chicken with two lemons and it is the most amazingly simple recipe, the juiciest, best-tasting chicken I have ever had.” And you know, it is perfectly true.
For 4 servings
A 3- to 4-pound chicken
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
2 rather small lemons
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Wash the chicken thoroughly in cold water, both inside and out. Remove all the bits of fat hanging loose. Let the bird sit for about 10 minutes on a slightly tilted plate to let all the water drain out of it. Pat it thoroughly dry all over with cloth or paper towels.
3. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt and black pepper on the chicken, rubbing it with your fingers over all its body and into its cavity.
4. Wash the lemons in cold water and dry them with a towel. Soften each lemon by placing it on a counter and rolling it back and forth as you put firm downward pressure on it with the palm of your hand. Puncture the lemons in at least 20 places each, using a sturdy round toothpick, a trussing needle, a sharp-pointed fork, or similar implement.
5. Place both lemons in the bird’s cavity. Close up the opening with toothpicks or with trussing needle and string. Close it well, but don’t make an absolutely airtight job of it because the chicken may burst. Run kitchen string from one leg to the other, tying it at both knuckle ends. Leave the legs in their natural position without pulling them tight. If the skin is unbroken, the chicken will puff up as it cooks, and the string serves only to keep the thighs from spreading apart and splitting the skin.
6. Put the chicken into a roasting pan, breast facing down. Do not add cooking fat of any kind. This bird is self-basting, so you need not fear it will stick to the pan. Place it in the upper third of the preheated oven. After 30 minutes, turn the chicken over to have the breast face up. When turning it, try not to puncture the skin. If kept intact, the chicken will swell like a balloon, which makes for an arresting presentation at the table later. Do not worry too much about it, however, because even if it fails to swell, the flavor will not be affected.
7. Cook for another 30 to 35 minutes, then turn the oven thermostat up to 400°, and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Calculate between 20 and 25 minutes’ total cooking time for each pound. There is no need to turn the chicken again.
8. Whether your bird has puffed up or not, bring it to the table whole and leave the lemons inside until it is carved and opened. The juices that run out are perfectly delicious. Be sure to spoon them over the chicken slices. The lemons will have sh
riveled up, but they still contain some juice; do not squeeze them, they may squirt.
Ahead-of-time note If you want to eat it while it is warm, plan to have it the moment it comes out of the oven. If there are leftovers, they will be very tasty cold, kept moist with some of the cooking juices and eaten not straight out of the refrigerator, but at room temperature.
Oven-Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Rosemary
For 4 servings
A 3½-pound chicken
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary OR 1 heaping teaspoon dried leaves
3 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Wash the chicken inside and out with cold water, and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
3. Put one of the fresh rosemary sprigs, or half the dried leaves, inside the bird’s cavity together with all the garlic, salt, and pepper.
4. Rub 1 tablespoon of the oil over the chicken’s skin, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Strip the leaves from the remaining sprig of rosemary, and sprinkle them over the bird, or sprinkle the remaining dried leaves. Put the chicken together with the remaining tablespoon of oil in a roasting pan, and place it on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Every 15 minutes, turn and baste it with the fat and cooking juices that collect in the pan. Cook until the thigh feels very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone, about 1 hour or more.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Page 36