Having been given a copy of Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets for my birthday last week, I felt almost duty bound to try something over the Easter weekend. I wanted something I’d not cooked before, but with the weather as good as it was needed to be light, summery and not take too long to cook!
With all that in mind I headed off to the shops to buy my first squid for “Squid with provcal vegetable salad”. Not having prepared squid before, I was pleasantly surprised how easy – if a little messy – it was. Simply chop off the tentacles just below the eyes, and then gently pull out the intestines. Wash it out, and then for this recipe slide a knife up inside the squid to cut it open. Clean everything out, and cut into the size pieces you want for the meal, scoring the inside of the flesh to make it curl up and caramelise nicely when cooked. Once prepared, the rest of the dish will only take you about 20 minutes (plus a bit of marinating time).
For the marinade, place the squid pieces in a bowl with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, a finely chopped chili, 2 tsp muscovado sugar and a good pinch of salt. Marinade for about 30 minutes (or in my case it was an hour whilst I watched the first episode of Dr Who).
Once Dr Who has finished marinated, you’re ready to go. Prepare the vegetables first. Really you can go with any summer vegetables you want. Raymond lists oven dried tomatoes (cut tomatoes into 8 wedges each, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 100 degrees C for 90 minutes), courgette (take thin slices with a peeler and griddle for 30 seconds each side), and fennel. I’m not a big fennel fan though, so I swapped that for some baby asparagus, likewise griddled for a few minutes and set aside.
Now griddle the squid, making sure the griddle is searingly hot, it will only take about 30 seconds a side – no more or it will overcook – and should curl up if you’ve scored the flesh.
Finally, dress some rocket with 2 tbsp olive oil mixed with 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and a pinch of pepper, and you’re ready to plate up.
A great success, learnt a new skill in preparing the squid, and ended up with a lovely summery salad that was simple and quick to cook. Cooking everything so quickly means the flavours are still there, and the veg has that nice fresh crunch to it. Give it a try, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.