Brick Grilled Baby Squid With Tamarind Mint Dressing Food

CORN AND SCALLION SALAD WITH CILANTRO-MINT DRESSING

Steps:

• Make the dressing: Combine the mint, cilantro, vinegar, 1 teaspoon of the honey, and salt and pepper to taste in a blender. Blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until emulsified. Taste and add more honey, salt and pepper as desired. Set aside.
• Heat a grill to medium high.
• Brush the corn with some canola oil, then season with salt and pepper. Grill, covered, until lightly charred on all sides and tender, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Let cool slightly, then cut the corn kernels from the cobs and place them in a large bowl.
• Add the scallions to the bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add some of the dressing and toss to coat. Transfer to a platter; top with the cheese, mint and another drizzle of the dressing. Serve immediately.

STUFFED SQUID: KALAMARAKIA YEMISTA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the rice and stir to coat with the mixture; cook for 1 minute. Add 3 cups water, tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook until the rice is tender and the water is completely absorbed, about 14 to 16 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and stir in the mint and parsley. Let cool.
• Stuff the squid with the rice mixture. Drizzle half of the remaining oil in a medium baking dish. Add the squid and drizzle with remaining oil and the tomato juice and season with salt and pepper. Bake until the squid is tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

BRICK GRILLED BABY SQUID WITH TAMARIND-MINT DRESSING

Steps:

• Heat grill to high heat. Brush squid with oil on both sides and season with salt and white pepper. Place the squid on the grill close together and lay the bricks over the squid. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes on 1 side, remove bricks, turn the squid over and place the bricks back on the squid and continue grilling for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the squid from the grill, place on a platter and immediately drizzle with the Tamarind-Mint Dressing. Garnish with chopped mint.
• Tamarind-Mint Dressing:
• Combine tamarind, vinegar, orange juice, mint, mustard and salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning.

SQUID SALAD WITH TAMARIND SAUCE

Steps:

• Make sauce:
• In a bowl stir together tamarind and warm water, mashing tamarind gently, about 4 minutes and strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids. Add remaining sauce ingredients, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Flower-cut squid (procedure follows) or cut squid sacs crosswise into 1/2-inch ring and halve flaps crosswise. Halve large tentacles. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water cook squid 45 seconds, or just until opaque, and drain in a colander. Rinse squid under cold water to stop cooking and drain well. Add squid to sauce, tossing well. Salad may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring salad to room temperature before proceeding with recipe.
• Add herbs and onion to salad and toss well. Serve salad drizzled with sriracha sauce.
• To Flower-Cut Squid:
• Remove flaps from body sacs and reserve. Cut each body sac lengthwise along seam to form a flat piece and rinse squid well. Spread squid inner side up on a work surface. Holding a sharp knife at a 45-degree angle to work surface, score squid diagonally every 1/8 to 1/4 inch in a cross-hatch pattern. Score flaps in same manner. Cut squid into 1-inch pieces.

GRILLED CHICKEN UNDER A BRICK

Steps:

• Place the chicken, breast side down, on a cutting board. Remove the backbone and 1 inch of the breast bone with kitchen shears. Remove the wing tips and any large pockets of fat near the tail. Flip the bird over and use the heal of your hand to flatten the chicken. Rub the skin with oil and lightly season with salt and pepper.
• Cut 2 pieces of heavy duty aluminum to roughly 20 inches long each. Wrap each brick with foil, shiny-side out. Lightly oil the grill and add the bricks.
• Lightly oil the grate of the grill and add the bricks. Preheat the grill to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and maintain the temperature until bricks are hot.
• Turn off the middle burner and place the chicken over that area, flesh side down, on indirect heat. Place the bricks on the chicken and close the lid of the grill.
• Grill for 40 minutes. Remove the bricks, turn the chicken, and continue grilling until the skin is crispy, 5 to 10 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove and let rest for 10 minutes.

GRILLED BABY SQUID

Steps:

• Start a charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill; the fire should be quite hot (on a gas grill, as hot as you can get it) and the rack no more than 4 inches from the heat source and preferably less. Or preheat a heavy pan over high heat (and turn on an exhaust fan if you have one) for about 5 minutes.
• If you need to clean the squid, pull off the head and tentacles and separate them by cutting just behind the head; save the tentacles and discard the head. Rinse out the inside of the bodies and dry well.
• Sprinkle the squid with coarse salt and toss them lightly with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. If you are grilling, skewer the squid. Grill or pan-grill the squid quickly, about 1 minute per side; they should brown nicely but remain moist inside.
• Put the squid on a plate. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and sprinkle with lemon juice or vinegar and a bit more salt. Serve immediately.
• Grilled Baby Squid, Japanese Style
• Here the grill is requisite, because the soy sauce coating would burn on a griddle: After cleaning the squid, marinate them briefly in a mixture of 1/4 cup soy sauce and 2 tablespoons mirin (or 1 tablespoon honey mixed with 1 tablespoon white wine). Grill and garnish with toasted sesame seeds (page 596). (Black sesame seeds are more commonly used here, and they look nice against the white squid, so if you can find them, by all means use them. Look in Japanese, Chinese, or Indian stores.)