fried is the only way to eat them
Let me just begin by saying that we won’t make this appetizer again. The recipe was easy to follow, and it tasted fine, but it was SO not worth it to make calamari at home.
Somebody and I both enjoy calamari as an appetizer at restaurants and have ordered it many times. Our favorites are California Pizza Kitchen (Well, this is one of my favorite places to have it—mostly due to their dipping sauce. But when I went to look for recipes to make at home I tried to find calamari on their online menu and it wasn’t listed anymore. Anyone know anything about that?) and that one restaurant in Boston that we went to with Melissa and James. That was amazing. And yet it is always one of those things where we would say, “I can’t believe we are paying $7.95 for this. We could totally make this at home.” And so we did.
We started with the breading recipe that The Pioneer Woman uses for her Onion Strings (which, by the way, we have made more than once and are just divine). And then I found a for real calamari recipe that was basically the same but had oregano instead of cayenne pepper. We stuck with the cayenne pepper.
Reason number one why we won’t make this again: You start with this:
Reason number two why we won’t make this again: The breading needed more kick to it. Using just a half teaspoon of cayenne worked with the Onion Strings, but the calamari definitely needed more.
Reason number three why we won’t make this again: In the end, our stovetop looked like this:
That’s enough reasons, right? They were fine. We ate some. And then we threw the rest away. It is absolutely worth paying $7.95 to have someone else prep and clean up after this appetizer.
7 comments:
Ummm....reason #1...ya that did it for me. I wouldn't have even brought that home!! You brave girl you....stick to the appetizer at a restaurant? I don't know if I could do that now that I've handled the poor little squidlet!
I too would have completely lost it at #1. I like my squid to be completely unrecognizable as such.
Hmmm...I think this is one of those meals that I would prefer not to see the "before" stage. I like the unrecognizable lumps of fried goodness. And I like to be blissfully unaware of what the creature I am eating looked liked before it became a lump of fried goodness.
Er, where did you even have the guts to buy the squid at? Oh wait, I just said "guts" and "squid" in the same sentence...auuuughhh!
I am a firm believer in all seafood only being eaten at a restaurant where they deal with ALL prep, ALL clean up, and they can guarantee the freshness of said fish. For example "we had this here fishy frozen in the back" realllly doesn't fly with me.
I too am wondering where you buy squid...in Kansas...
So did it cost less to make it at home? I need to get out more; I have never even heard of calamari.
Thisis so good to know!
I'm so happy you made them, if for no other reason than to read all the comments!
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