Concertina Squid
main fish
This is a really cool way of prepping squid.
It makes the squid look great and allows it to take on flavours and seasoning in a really interesting way.
You can see from the picture why I've called it 'concertina squid' as it reminds me of a concertina,
or accordion, when it opens out.
It can be served hot or cold as a main dish or a salad.
Simple but totally scrumptious.
Ingredients
1kg/2lb 3oz new potatoes, scrubbed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a handful of fresh mint leaves, picked, stalks tied together
2 knobs of butter
extra virgin olive oil
1 kg/2lb 3oz medium-sized squid, skinned and gutted
1-2 fresh red chillies, de seeded and finely sliced
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
a large handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped
1 tablespoons finely ground white pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely grated or chopped
juice of 2 lemons
Method
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a handful of fresh mint leaves, picked, stalks tied together
2 knobs of butter
extra virgin olive oil
1 kg/2lb 3oz medium-sized squid, skinned and gutted
1-2 fresh red chillies, de seeded and finely sliced
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
a large handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped
1 tablespoons finely ground white pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely grated or chopped
juice of 2 lemons
First of all, boil your new potatoes in salted, boiling water with the bundle of mint stalks for 20-25 minutes until slightly overcooked.
When done, drain and allow to steam dry while you heat up a large frying pan.
Put a knob of butter and a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into the pan, add the potatoes and then,
using a pair of tongs or a spoon, lightly crush them and toss around for about 5 minutes until lightly golden.
While these are cooking, you are going to prepare your squid - here the book has some step-by-step photographs to help you out.
Take a squid and place a large cook's knife, palette knife or wooden spatula into its tube. Using another cook's knife, slice the squid along its length at 1cm/½ inch intervals. As the second knife cuts down on to the first knife, a fantastic effect is achieved whereby the squid retains its overall shape but also opens up a bit like a concertina. Do the same to the remaining squid.
When the potatoes have taken a little colour, add the sliced onion and parsley stalks and give the pan a good shake.
Take a squid and place a large cook's knife, palette knife or wooden spatula into its tube. Using another cook's knife, slice the squid along its length at 1cm/½ inch intervals. As the second knife cuts down on to the first knife, a fantastic effect is achieved whereby the squid retains its overall shape but also opens up a bit like a concertina. Do the same to the remaining squid.
When the potatoes have taken a little colour, add the sliced onion and parsley stalks and give the pan a good shake.
Keep the heat reasonably high and don't over-fry the potatoes to the point at which they turn mushy
or the whole pan will end up a soggy mass.
Toss the scored squid in a bowl with the white pepper and a tiny pinch of salt.
When the onions are golden, turn them and the potatoes out on to a plate, put the pan back on the heat,
add a little olive oil and fry the squid for about 2 minutes on each side.
When nicely golden, add the remaining butter, the grated garlic, the chilli and the parsley leaves.
Give the squid a really good shake to on all these beautiful flavours and then put the potatoes and onions back into the pan.
Toss together, have a little taste and correct the seasoning.
Squeeze over the lemon juice - this will give it all a nice twang - and divide on to 4 plates, sprinkled with the mint leaves.
Since I couldn't find squid, I tried this basic recipe out with scallops instead.
I removed the coral (orange-coloured beaky part), lightly scored one side of each scallop in a criss-cross pattern,
then quickly fried them on each side (about 30 seconds). The scoring makes the scallops open out like scallop flowers.
Add the corals to the pan when the scallops are turned since they cook much more quickly.
I cooked this for one of my best friends Sara and it really worked well, we ate it with Potato & Juniper Gratin (made with Celeriac and Parsnip)
Jamie Oliver's still a mockney git though.
I cooked this for one of my best friends Sara and it really worked well, we ate it with Potato & Juniper Gratin (made with Celeriac and Parsnip)
Jamie Oliver's still a mockney git though.
Finally got around to making it with squid. It's still quite nice, but I thought the scallops were better!
Try not to use too large a squid - they can be a bit leathery.
It went down well with Samphire and Spinach.
It went down well with Samphire and Spinach.
