Wednesday, September 21, 2011

squid sausage

good morning! forgive my little sabbatical - i started feeling pretty sick thursday afternoon and have basically spent the last few days sleeping, working, and not much else-ing. i started to feel better this monday, but i still can't get past this super sleepy feeling that's been preventing me from waking up early enough to take any outfit photos.

despite my sleepiness, i've had a pretty good week so far; monday night sam and i finally got to see tune-yards, after a couple of failed attempts, and last night a good friend came over for some hang time (sam is off fishing & foraging with a buddy for a couple of days) and i made us a super delicious dinner, inspired by this post i saw on the tasting table. i read over the recipe, thought about what i had in my fridge, and made a few adjustments; here's how it turned out.

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chorizo & yellow onion-stuffed squid

6 squid, tentacles removed & cleaned
2 links of chorizo
1 t olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
about 1 t thyme leaves
1/3 cup panko
12 or so cherry tomatoes
8 stalks of asparagus
salt & pepper
olive oil or bacon fat for cooking

heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium sized pan; once hot, add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until transparent. while cooking onion, start a small saucepan of water boiling; drop in cherry tomatoes, cooking for a minute or so, until skins start to burst. rescue them out with a slotted spoon and plop them in an ice bath for a minute or so; set aside.

next tackle the asparagus; with a very sharp peeler, carefully slice it into thin shreds of asparagus. drop this into the still-hot water from the blanched tomatoes for 30 seconds or so, then strain out and set aside.

at this point your onions should be ready. take the chorizo out of its casing and add it to the pan, using a wooden spoon or spatula to stir and break up the meat as much as possible; cook until it's thoroughly browned. at this point add the tentacles of the squid and cook just until they're opaque; take the pan of the burner and dump its contents into a bowl. add the panko & thyme.

now take your squid bodies; make sure anything that feels like cartilage has been removed and they are well-cleaned, them simply use your fingers to stuff them full of the chorizo mixture like they are little sausage casings. fill them about 3/4 of the way full, then use a toothpick to seal them up.

using the same pan you used for the onions & chorizo, add your bacon fat (or olive oil, if you're using that) at medium heat; once hot, place the squid in the pan and let them cook for about 3 minutes on each side, until the skins are totally opaqued and a bit crispy in parts. you don't want to overcook at this point or they'll get really rubbery.

and that's it! to plate, i carefully peeled back the skins of the blanched tomatoes but left them attached at the stem, then plated the asparagus, topped with a touch of olive oil, a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, and a liberal shake of salt & pepper, then topped off with the squid. the asparagus provided a nice background to the greasy meatiness of the chorizo, and the texture of the squid makes a perfect container for this filling. this looks a lot tricker than it is, and i think it's a good dish to impress a somewhat adventurous eater.

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how was your weekend? cooked anything delicious lately? i'm always on the hunt for new recipes!

xo audrey

9 comments:

  1. My gosh. These look delicious! Sam is so lucky to be able to reap the benefits of your creativity in the kitchen! This is a bit daunting for me to take on, but I love looking at the photos and dreaming of eating it!

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  2. Such a pretty dish! I've been obsessed with pickling lately.....red onions, carrots, daikon, radishes.....and then eating them with just about anything else I cook. It's easy, and it makes me feel like my grandma in the kitchen. :)

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  3. I don't eat sausage (giggle required) but this looks effin amazing girl. if only i wasnt such a lazy ass. then again, im usually cooking for one. cooking AND cleaning... no thanks.

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  4. i'm not a big fan of squid, but the plating is gorgeous!

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  5. I haven't had squid since I was at a camp on Catalina Island in 8th grade and had to dissect and then fry them in batter and eat them, but this looks amazing! I love chorizo, and I can see how it would be very tasty stuffed in a squid.

    You're right about that black skirt I was wearing looking like Viktor's skirt! I didn't even think about that, but I had just watched that episode, so that's probably why I chose it. Of course I liked his design because it was a blouse and a skirt.

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  6. Tell me you just had squid laying around in the fridge?!?!
    You are such an amazing talent in the kitchen.
    I swoon in envy over your mad skills.

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  7. My friend made baby squid stuffed with chorizo recently but I just couldn't get on board with the tentacles. That looks awesome though.

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  8. My sister and I made your tomato galette this weekend, and it's become one of our new favorite things! (The leftovers are perfect for breakfast, either warm or cold.) I don't have a lot of experience working with chard, but I've found it to be a little bitter sometimes. Sauteing it in wine with the onions made it much more palatable. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. thanks for commenting on our blog a lil while ago! Hope you don't mind I linked to this recipe of yours because it looked so amazing. and the photos are really great- i love the new muted tones. why is squid so dang good??!

    -amanda @ stylerelish.blogspot.com

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