Celebrating Squid aka Calamari!

I love this picture: it’s Squid stew, and you can see some of the tentacles wrapping around a collection of delicious ingredients.

I love Squid – also known as Calamari – in fact, they are the same thing, but we mostly see them prepared deep fried and served as Calamari – which is Squid in Spanish and Italian!

I tell you that because throughout this recipe I will interchange the words – in much the same way I will say “stew” and “Soup” which are also interchangable to me…want some Squid / Calamari Soup / Stew?

Let’s go!

Here are my ingredients:

Olive oil

2 tsp. butter or butter substitute

One pound Squid / Calamari, including tentacles

One onion – diced

5+ cloves of garlic – diced

2 small cans Chicken stock

2 celery stalks- keep celery leaves as well – diced

frozen fire-roasted corn

2 small Yukon gold potatoes – diced

salt and pepper

dried thyme

Half ‘n’ Half

Diced tomatoes are optional if you want a red-based stew!

I begin by putting a few tablespoons of olive oil and “healthy butter” in a pan and add the garlic and onions…I sauté them on medium heat for about ten minutes, stirring constantly…

Next, I add the diced potato and celery and stir it in, cooking for about five more minutes…

I love fire-roasted corn, so after I add my chicken stock, I pour in an ample amount of the frozen corn – usually a half cup at least…your choice!

Now, time for the star of the show:

Remember when I cooked with giant Squid tentacles? Well, this time they were smaller but still an important part of the recipe – here’s some video to show you the next step in the cooking process:

So, as you sa win the video, I cut the Squid into round tubes and slid it into the pot…after adding some thyme, salt and pepper I covered and let the stew simmer for two hours…

“Two Minutes…Or Two Hours!”

To achieve a tender texture, you have to remember that it does not take squid to cook every long. You must cook the squid either for a very short time (2 minutes or even less over high heat) or for a very long time (at least 30 minutes for the squid to re-tenderize). Anything in between will make the squid rubbery.

I love the mix of colors in this stew – and as the squid cooks, it becomes more colorful and plump as well:

I Call It “Squid Food Art!”

I love the look of this soup at this point.

After letting it simmer for two hours, it was time to serve:

You can decide how much half ‘n’ half to use in the soup…in fct, you don’t need it at all – and this is also when you can add some tomatoes as well and let them coook in for a few minutes…this versatile stew can handle it all!

I like adding chopped celery leaves at the end as well – gives a pop of color and they taste great as well!

As part of my “52 In 22” cooking challenge last year, I used Squid as part of a meal of Japanese Pub food:

Along with giant Squid tentacles, I made skewers and more – click here to see my feast:

During that same year-long challenge, I also experimneted by cooking Malaysian food:

This Macau Meatloaf was deliciious and if you want the recipe, here you go:

I also cooked vegan – and with my dreaded nemesis eggplant as well!

It was part of my effort to cook “tiffin!”

Click here to see this unique and flavorful effort!

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Categories: 52 In 22!, Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Food, Recipes, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food

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