I love squid. My usual approach is to stuff their little bodies with sausage and simmer in tomato sauce for an hour or so until tender and luscious. Yum! This is a new one for me, flash grilling them until just cooked. The recipe had one problem. It is intended to feed "about a dozen". I had hoped to save it for a party or gathering, but it had basically come down to now-or-never as it's in the Summertime Grilling section and I want to avoid standing over the BBQ in the dark and rain.
And today was the day... no plans after work and it's a hot, sunny afternoon. I did my best to cut all the ingredients by about 1/3, giving us each a healthy portion. Luckily our neighborhood New Seasons cleans their squid so I didn't have to "Pull off the head, squeezing it just above the eyes... Cut off the eyes and discard. Squeeze out the beak... just like you pop the head off a dandelion." Blech!
Cooking them happens in a flash, so I made sure to have my mise en place before I headed to the grill. First, toss the squid with garlic and olive oil. Then throw on a smoking hot grill and sear 60 - 90 seconds until they start to "flail, flop or wiggle". I felt like I had to be in such a rush that I dumped the whole bowl of squid on the hot grill, thinking I would simply arrange them at that point. But, instead I had to fight a fireball of burning oil to get those squidies laid out nicely, so I would recommend not using that approach.
They quickly plumped, flailed and wiggled, so I pulled them off after about 90 seconds and started to slice the bodies into rings as directed.
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| cute little squidies ready to eat! |
While working on the first one, I couldn't resist tossing a slice into my mouth. Uh-oh... these are definitely not cooked. Way too chewy and the inner part of the body is a little icky.
Okay, back on the grill for a few more minutes, turning constantly, until they are very plump and have totally stopped wiggling. Another taste... now they're perfect! All bodies are sliced and and the whole shebang is tossed with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil. Let's eat!
These are fabulous. Smokey, lightly chewy with a nice lemon tang. A quick poll says this one's a keeper! Next time I will definitely throw a squid party.
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| grilled squid. yum! |
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