In this blog we aim to experiment with recipes from various sources: cookbooks, websites, hearsay etc. and review them right here for you all to see. Not only this but we hope to do side-by-side showdowns of ingredients and accompaniments. We're sure other things will crop up every now and again but we'll have to wait and see. As will you.
Back in March I treated Annie to a birthday dinner at the River Cafe. It was our first time visiting (and so far our only, though we have high hopes) and we had obviously heard huge amounts about it. It was fabulous. My highlight was my 'secondi', Piccione al Forno (Anjou Pigeon wood-roasted in Poggerino Chianti Classico with chicken liver crostino and Castelluccio lentils cooked in red wine and stock with pancetta) deep, delicious and moreish, the excellent sommelier did me proud with that one too. Annie's favourite of the evening, Calamari ai Ferri, is what we shall be attempting tonight. We were pleased upon returning home to find the recipe in the River Cafe Cookbook, which ashamedly had only been used for the delicious zucchini soup until that point (safe to say it is used far more frequently nowadays).
The preparation for this dish is remarkably simple. All we would point out is don't be scared by the number of chillies recommended in the recipe! Their time spent in the oil is seems to draw away some of the heat giving a beautiful bright burn and flavour. We also, foolishly neglected to remember we ran out of EVOO yesterday evening and so substituted in extra virgin rape seed oil, this added a wonderful nuttiness though of course we suggest you do as directed.
The recommended use of a serrated knife is definitely worth heeding. I did try with the first knife that came to hand and slipped straight through the squid. The pan does indeed need to be very hot, especially if you want the charred markings. We found it best to hold the squid down with a spatula before turning it over as it tended to lift and curl slightly before we wanted it to. It is lovely that once turned they seem to jump and curl up to let you know they're cooked, though the tentacles were pretty creepy jiggling around.
Squid amazes us in that no matter how you treat it, you can't weigh it down. It is consistently so light. Here it floats around with the light tingly chillies and lemon accompanied by the herbal, pepper of the rocket so perfectly, it seems as though this combination must have been around forever. Perfect for nights when it is still light way past dinner time. Such an easy dish to prepare and it really packs a bit of wow factor. Its amazingly reasonable too, our over sized portions came out at probably £2 each total.
Though I (Phil) will usually be suggesting a beer to have with the recipe we have chosen it is wine all the way here. This is purely because I have nothing particularly suitable to hand. I would definitely liked to have sampled the delicious Schneider Hopfen-Weisse we managed to get our hands on at The Rake up at London Bridge yesterday. The hops would have stood up to the chilli kick while the lemon and breadiness should have embraced the peppery rocket and citric dressing wholeheartedly. But no... instead we have a Kentish Rose selected by Annie at the Real Food festival last month. Meopham Pinot Gris Rose 2007 is a dense and fruity 10%. The wine is quite intense and contains loads of almost sour citrus lifted a little by a peach. In all honesty I feel it doesn't have much of a bite, a little unsatisfying.
Hope this hasn't been too much of a drag for you. We definitely recommend you give the squid a go. Sure to be seeing you soon.
P & A
(Phil wrote this one.)
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