Crispy Fried Calamari Aïoli Food

LIGHT AND CRISPY CALAMARI WITH FRIED LEMONS

Steps:

• To make the calamari, clean the squid. To clean a whole squid, separate the head and tentacles from the body. With a paring knife, cut between the eyes and the tentacles, discarding the eye portion. In the center of the tentacles, push out a little round bead with the hard beak and discard it; reserve the tentacles. For the body section, peel off the flaps and the dark-colored membrane. Remove the quill, the plastic-like bone. Squeeze out the innards like squeezing out toothpaste. Rinse the tentacles and body sections and dry well. Cut the body sections into nice rings. Leave the legs intact.
• Whisk the heavy cream and eggs together in a medium-size bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the squid, onion and lemon and refrigerate for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• To make the dredge mix, combine the flour, cornstarch, cornmeal, paprika, salt and pepper in a separate bowl.
• Pour the oil into a heavy 5-quart (4.5 L) Dutch oven or any heavy-bottomed pot at least twice as deep as the oil and heat to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C) on a frying thermometer. Keep the lid nearby in case of emergency.
• Drain the squid, onion and lemon, leaving some cream stuck to them, then immediately place in the bowl of flour. Roll everything around so the flour mix sticks to the cream like a heavy dredge. Knock off any excess. Fry in small batches until crispy and golden brown, about 1 minutes. Drain well on paper towels or a rack and season again with a little salt and pepper.
• Garnish with the chopped parsley and lemon zest, and serve with the marinara.

FRIED CALAMARI WITH FRIED LEMONS AND LEMON AIOLI

Steps:

• For calamari: Soak the calamari pieces in the buttermilk in a bowl for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours in the refrigerator.
• For the lemon aioli: Add the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper to a medium bowl. Stir to combine and adjust the seasoning as needed. Set aside until ready to serve.
• Preheat a deep-fryer or several inches of oil in a Dutch oven to 375 degrees F.
• For the flour seasoning: Add the flour, paprika, salt and pepper to a large bowl. Drain the calamari and put into the flour mixture, making sure each piece gets coated with the flour. Dump all the contents into a colander and shake off any excess flour. Line a dish with paper towels and set aside.
• In batches, add the lemon slices and calamari to the preheated oil and fry, mixing with a slotted spoon to prevent the calamari from clumping together, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Right before you take the calamari and lemon out of the fryer, toss in the parsley leaves carefully; this will cook very fast and can splatter, so stand back. Take all the contents out of the fryer to the lined dish and season with salt.
• Serve with the aioli, garnished with the zest and chopped parsley.

FRIED CALAMARI

Steps:

• Pour enough oil into a heavy large saucepan to reach the depth of 3 inches. Heat over medium heat to 350 degrees F. Mix the flour, parsley, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Working in small batches, toss the squid into the flour mixture to coat. Carefully add the squid to the oil and fry until crisp and very pale golden, about 1 minute per batch. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the fried calamari to a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
• Place the fried calamari and lemon wedges on a clean plate. Sprinkle with salt. Serve with the marinara sauce.
• In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.
• Add 1/2 the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.
• If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

CRISPY FRIED CALAMARI & AïOLI

Steps:

• Cut the tentacles off the squid and put in a bowl. Slice the squid tubes into roughly 1cm thick rings and add to the bowl. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan over a low heat, ensuring it is no more than two-thirds full.
• For the aïoli, mix the mayonnaise, garlic, saffron and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Toss the squid with the flour, cornflour, baking powder, cayenne and ½ tsp salt. When the oil has reached 170C on a thermometer, or when a cube of bread is dropped in and turns golden brown in 30 seconds, deep-fry the squid in batches for 2 mins, or until lightly golden and crisp. Set aside on a tray lined with kitchen paper. Serve the fried squid with the aïoli on the side for dipping.