Calamares A La Romana Food

CALAMARES A LA ROMANA

Steps:

• Wherever and however you buy the squid, they need to be cleaned before cooking. The spines, ink sacks, and heads should be discarded. If you are cleaning the squid yourself, don't throw away the tentacles because those are good to eat, too.
• Once the squid are cleaned, dry them thoroughly. Cut the squid bodies into rings.
• Pour 1/2 inch of olive oil into a large open frying pan and put on high heat for frying, but be careful that the oil does not smoke.
• Put the flour and a bit of salt into a large plastic bag. Place a few pieces of squid into the bag and shake to cover with flour. Remove the rings one at a time with your hands and carefully place in the hot oil.
• Continue to cover pieces in flour and add to the frying pan. Do not crowd the pan, leaving enough room in the pan to turn over squid rings if necessary.
• Fry until the rings turn golden. When done, remove the squid rings from pan and allow to drain on a paper towel. Serve hot with lemon.

CALAMARES A LA ROMANA FRIED SQUID WITH AIOLI

Steps:

• Fill a deep pot halfway with the oil and heat to 350 degrees F.
• Dredge squid in Flour Mix and deep fry until golden color. Add salt, to taste. Serve with Aioli.
• Mix all the ingredients.
• Put garlic, water, lemon juice and 1/2 cup olive oil in mixing bowl. Add the remaining olive oil slowly until emulsifies. If too thick, add more water.

CALAMARES A LA PLANCHA

Steps:

• Clean the squid, removing the outer purplish skin by rubbing under cold water. Reserve tentacles.
• Combine 3 tablespoons oil, the parsley and garlic with salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.
• Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil over high heat in frying pan. Cook squid in batches, 2-3 minutes each, then cook tentacles, about 1 minute.
• Serve squid very hot, drizzled with the parsley-garlic mixture.

CALAMARI

Steps:

• Cut the squid into rings or strips and separate the tentacles. Place in a bowl with the milk and garlic for a couple of hours.
• Mix all the dry elements of the batter together in a bowl. When ready to cook, take a suitable pan and fill it 1/3 with oil. Heat but do not let the oil smoke. If you have a thermometer heat to 200 degrees C. If you do not have a thermometer place a small cube of white bread in the pan. If it browns in 5 to 10 seconds the oil is at the correct temperature.
• When ready, mix the icy lemonade with the egg and then into the dry batter ingredients. It should resemble melted ice cream.
• Dust each piece of the squid in flour, then into the batter, shaking off the excess. Carefully drop into the oil and cook for approx 2 minutes until golden. Cook as much as you can cope with at a time, but do not overfill the pan. When golden remove onto kitchen towel to drain.
• Serve with lemon, salt and pepper.

CALAMARES A LA VINAGRETA (CALAMARI IN VINAIGRETTE)

Steps:

• Finely dice onion, tomato and peppers.
• Make the vinaigrette: Whisk olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper until combined.
• Toss all ingredients in a bowl and chill for an hour before serving.
• For a prettier salad, arrange lettuce leaves on a serving platter, top with salad and garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon wedges.
• Note: You may substitute any seafood for the calamari--octopus sliced on the diagonal are really good, shrimp, scallops, mussels, or even a mixture of seafood.