Mr. AE is an avid fisherman, and since we live on a little island it's easy access for him. He's been fishing for stripers/sea bass, got one nice one last month, but says the water is still too warm for them around here.
So the other night he looks down into the water, and sees a huge school of squid/calamari. He's got this doohickey that he calls a sabiki, it's a long thingy that has a lot of small hooks on it, he uses it to catch bait. Well he decided to drop it into the water and realized it was ideal for the squid. Within a very short time, he had two buckets full, and there were still hundreds more in the water. He gave up and came home. My first reaction was kind of horror, what was I going to do with all of these????? I mean, how many fried calamari rings can one eat, and we avoid fried foods? Out came the giant pot, and in they went. Drained and put into the fridge till morning.
Gave me time to think. In the morning, we agreed to clean the squid and run them all through the electric meat grinder we have, on the large setting, more chopped than ground. Took forever. I packed them into ziplock sandwich bags, about 2 pounds each, then put all the little bags into a 2 gallon ziplock freezer bag. Took one out today, and made it Dominican style, using the recipe I use for lambi guisado. OMG it was sooooo good.
Recipe I use:
2 pounds chopped calamari
One large red pepper, diced/minced
One large onion, diced/minced
4-5 cloves of garlic, diced/minced
Good bunch of cilantro, chopped
Oregano
Crushed red pepper flakes
1 small can tomato paste - [I use tomato paste instead of sauce because seafood makes a watery sauce, and this way I can control how much liquid I add to the pan]
EVOO
In a large frypan, pour olive oil and heat it on low medium heat. I put the pepper in first, followed in a minute or so by the onion. The garlic goes in when the onion is just about done. Add the calamari, and mix well, raise the heat up to medium. Mix in the cilantro. Make a clear area in the center of the pan by pushing the mixture to the sides, and add the tomato paste, smashing it down with a wooden spoon, allowing it to cook about a minute before mixing it in [adds another layer of flavor]. Add a bit of water [I added one cup, you may need more or less]. Add oregano [about 1/2 teaspoon], and crushed red pepper flakes to taste [optional, but a few make a big difference in the end result],
Simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve with white rice.
OMG it was out of this world. And I have about 10 more packages to use before we leave.
I use the same recipe for lambi.
So the other night he looks down into the water, and sees a huge school of squid/calamari. He's got this doohickey that he calls a sabiki, it's a long thingy that has a lot of small hooks on it, he uses it to catch bait. Well he decided to drop it into the water and realized it was ideal for the squid. Within a very short time, he had two buckets full, and there were still hundreds more in the water. He gave up and came home. My first reaction was kind of horror, what was I going to do with all of these????? I mean, how many fried calamari rings can one eat, and we avoid fried foods? Out came the giant pot, and in they went. Drained and put into the fridge till morning.
Gave me time to think. In the morning, we agreed to clean the squid and run them all through the electric meat grinder we have, on the large setting, more chopped than ground. Took forever. I packed them into ziplock sandwich bags, about 2 pounds each, then put all the little bags into a 2 gallon ziplock freezer bag. Took one out today, and made it Dominican style, using the recipe I use for lambi guisado. OMG it was sooooo good.
Recipe I use:
2 pounds chopped calamari
One large red pepper, diced/minced
One large onion, diced/minced
4-5 cloves of garlic, diced/minced
Good bunch of cilantro, chopped
Oregano
Crushed red pepper flakes
1 small can tomato paste - [I use tomato paste instead of sauce because seafood makes a watery sauce, and this way I can control how much liquid I add to the pan]
EVOO
In a large frypan, pour olive oil and heat it on low medium heat. I put the pepper in first, followed in a minute or so by the onion. The garlic goes in when the onion is just about done. Add the calamari, and mix well, raise the heat up to medium. Mix in the cilantro. Make a clear area in the center of the pan by pushing the mixture to the sides, and add the tomato paste, smashing it down with a wooden spoon, allowing it to cook about a minute before mixing it in [adds another layer of flavor]. Add a bit of water [I added one cup, you may need more or less]. Add oregano [about 1/2 teaspoon], and crushed red pepper flakes to taste [optional, but a few make a big difference in the end result],
Simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve with white rice.
OMG it was out of this world. And I have about 10 more packages to use before we leave.
I use the same recipe for lambi.
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