Bottega - Michael Chiarello [30]
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1½ teaspoons Calabrian chile paste (see Resources), or ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more for top of aioli (optional)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons room temperature water, if needed
Peanut, corn, or canola oil for deep-frying
1 pound calamari
¾ cup buttermilk
1½ cups Fritti Flour
Lemon halves for squeezing
FOR THE AIOLI: In a small saucepan, combine the wine, shallot, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the squid ink and heat just until it begins to simmer, to take the astringent edge off. Remove from the heat and strain the liquid. Set aside and let cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, chile paste, and garlic. Once it emulsifies, you can whisk in the oil in a slow, steady stream. If it gets too oily or separates, stop adding oil and whisk while adding the water just a few drops at a time until it comes back together. Whisk in the squid ink mixture until smooth and even in color. Spoon the aioli into small ramekins and top with a spoonful of Calabrian chile paste, if you like. Refrigerate until the calamari is cooked.
Rinse the calamari under cold running water and lightly pat dry with paper towels. With your fingers, locate the beak and make an incision behind it. Pull out the beak and discard. Use a knife to remove the backbone. Remove the flipper and scrape both sides of the squid inside and out with your knife blade. Cut the calamari in half, removing the head with one slice while leaving the tentacles still attached together at one end. Slice the tentacles into rings. Slice into the body but don’t cut it all the way through; you just want to open, fold it back, and scrape both sides. Cut in half, then rinse in cool running water and pat dry again.
In a large, heavy pot, heat 3 inches of oil to 375°F on a deep-fat thermometer. While the oil is heating, combine the calamari and buttermilk in a large bowl. Put the calamari in a sieve and shake off the excess buttermilk. Sprinkle with the fritti flour to cover and shake off the excess. Resprinkle and shake two more times.
Add a dozen pieces or so of calamari to the hot oil and cook for 45 seconds, or until light brown but still quite tender and soft. Using a slotted spoon or wire skimmer, transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve at once, with lemon halves for squeezing.
CHEF’S NOTE: When I’m making a mayonnaise, I roll up a dish towel and place my bowl in the center; this helps keep the bowl in place and makes whisking easier. You can also use a hand-held mixer or immersion blender to blend while you slowly add the oil.
Fritti Flour
MAKES 5 CUPS
Because this coating stays so crisp, it allows you to fry a little ahead of time and keep your food warm in a low oven. Buttermilk is my pre-dip of choice, because it gives some body without double dipping and adds a little tanginess that I like.
Don’t halve this recipe. We’ve found it takes at least 1 cup of Arborio rice for the blender to grind the rice properly. Make the full recipe and store any leftovers in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks.
1 cup Arborio rice
1 cup semolina
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons table salt (yes, you read that right: table salt here, sea salt is too heavy for this blend)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a blender, grind the rice until very fine, about the consistency of powdered gelatin. Shake the ground rice into a large bowl and add the semolina, all-purpose flour, table salt, and pepper. Toss until well mixed.
Fritto Misto Flour—The Story of One Man’s Coating
One slow January at Tra Vigne, we took to grinding every single thing in our storeroom to see which ingredients might make the best coating. We ground corn and beans, white rice, brown rice, and black rice. The clear-on favorite was Arborio rice. Its sugar content gives a caramelization that can’t be beat by any other coating