Squid is hard to undercook. Throw it on a hot grill or a skillet and remove it after a minute or two and it is done! But don't stop there! Push yourself. Go a step further and serve the grilled squid with a garlic butter sauce for dipping.
When buying squid, aim for the whole fresh ones. Smell it. It should smell sweet. Look at it. It should be purple and white.
Squid at the fish market are normally cleaned before sale but there are still a few necessary steps before cooking: one, give it a nice rinse to remove all the sand; two, pat the squid dry; and three, cut off the parts that I've indicated with an arrow in the picture below. The arrow at the top is pointing to the beak. It's a soft bone. Cut that off. The arrow at the bottom is pointing to the two long tentacle. Cut those off. And the arrows on the right are pointing to the wings on the body. Cut those off as well.
I save all those cut off pieces for a seafood stock -- it gives my stock a wonderful ocean flavor.
Squid at the fish market are normally cleaned before sale but there are still a few necessary steps before cooking: one, give it a nice rinse to remove all the sand; two, pat the squid dry; and three, cut off the parts that I've indicated with an arrow in the picture below. The arrow at the top is pointing to the beak. It's a soft bone. Cut that off. The arrow at the bottom is pointing to the two long tentacle. Cut those off. And the arrows on the right are pointing to the wings on the body. Cut those off as well.
I save all those cut off pieces for a seafood stock -- it gives my stock a wonderful ocean flavor.
Ingredients:
For garlic butter sauce:
1/3 cup diced shallots
1/2 cut water
2 sprigs thyme
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 garlic cloves, grated
Salt
For grilled squid:
1 pound squid, cleaned and patted dry
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and white pepper
To make the garlic butter sauce, put the shallots, water, thyme, and garlic in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook at a low boil for 7 minutes.
Remove the thyme and turn the heat off. Use an immersion blender to puree the sauce (or puree in a blender). Add the butter piece by piece while pureeing.
Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pushing down on any solids that remain with a spoon. Season with salt.
To make the grilled squid, heat a grill pan.
Cut the tips from the squid bodies (discard the tips or save them for seafood stock). Season the quid with salt and white pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat the squid.
Start by grilled the tentacles (which will take the longest) and then add the bodies. Grill two minutes for tentacles and a minute and a half for bodies.
Remove squid from heat. Squeeze a wedge of lemon over the squid and serve with garlic butter sauce for dipping.
For garlic butter sauce:
1/3 cup diced shallots
1/2 cut water
2 sprigs thyme
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 garlic cloves, grated
Salt
For grilled squid:
1 pound squid, cleaned and patted dry
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and white pepper
To make the garlic butter sauce, put the shallots, water, thyme, and garlic in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook at a low boil for 7 minutes.
Remove the thyme and turn the heat off. Use an immersion blender to puree the sauce (or puree in a blender). Add the butter piece by piece while pureeing.
Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pushing down on any solids that remain with a spoon. Season with salt.
To make the grilled squid, heat a grill pan.
Cut the tips from the squid bodies (discard the tips or save them for seafood stock). Season the quid with salt and white pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat the squid.
Start by grilled the tentacles (which will take the longest) and then add the bodies. Grill two minutes for tentacles and a minute and a half for bodies.
Remove squid from heat. Squeeze a wedge of lemon over the squid and serve with garlic butter sauce for dipping.
