Here Fishy!!!

Calamari Crunch

As most of you know, I grew up in California near the beach where I grew up eating fish.  Clam chowder, trout, salmon, but almost everyone I know starts off with calamari.  My great grandfather came from Sicily to fish in Monterey years ago, so maybe thats why I like fish, but it is always something scary to make.  Now that I live in Arizona, there is a major lack of fish.... well at least fresh fish here.  So of course I had to wait until our trip to California to make this recipe.  Just to remind you, we are still in the "Frying" applications and surprisingly I have not gained a pound.  :)  To start this application I needed 1/2 lb of calamari.  I went to a couple of grocery stores in Salinas but nobody had calamari.   I was very surprised.  Off the to fish market.  When I got home I found two calamari "steaks" in my package.  I was so grateful.  I was not ready to to remove a head and ink sac in order to cook this fish.  As you can see there are little "bumps" on the fish.  After discussing this with mom and dad, my sou chefs, (and hearing stories about Aunt Rosie and the pounding of the calamari) we determined that it had already been pounded.  The pounding is suppose to tenderize the fish.  I also want to point out that nowhere in the recipe does it discuss pounding so I did not do as such. Here are my fish "steaks".

I cut them into strips and placed them in some buttermilk and water.
BTW.... It stunk like fish!!!  I ended up having to leave it in the buttermilk for about 45 minutes because I was called to help my dad for a quick thing.  (If you know my dad, that means about 1 hour)  :)

 After the buttermilk (and helping my dad get the boat ready for the next day) I placed it into the dry ingredients which was cornstarch, flour, Rice Krispies (finely ground up), salt, and pepper.

 Here is my frying station.  The oil is at 350 degrees of canola oil.

 As you can see, one of the reasons we were in California was to see baby Jax.  Since Jax hadn't arrived yet, we were Skyping with Jason at the time.  (I'm also preparing for my food network career)  Just kidding.

Into the hot oil.  Still love that sizzle.  I only put 3-5 pieces at a time so they would not stick together.

 Here is the finished product.  A little bit of salt and lemon juice.  Yummy!  I have to be honest, they never even made it to the plate.  Between my mom, my dad, and I we ate them all.

I thought they were really good.  I loved the breading because the breading was so light and fresh tasting.  Some pieces were better than others.  I did not think they were chewy but my dad thought some of them were.  They didn't even need a dipping sauce.  I will say that Alton Brown states they only needed to be in the oil for 30-45 seconds.  I have to disagree.  I probably left them in for 2-3 minutes.  Overall, I wish I lived closer to the ocean just so I could make them more.  Next up... Chips!!!