Je Goûterai - I will taste

Lemonade Calamari

No. 62: Lemonade Calamari – 23.8.12

Again, I have been having a browse of the ‘Sorted’ website again for recipes because all of them seem to be quite simple. I came across this recipe and watched their video on Lemonade Calamari! I was intrigued by the lemonade aspect of this! They mention about how cheap squid is which is always a plus for students and the lemonade comes into the tempura batter side! You usually use sparkling water to make the batter but lemonade would obviously add a slight lemon flavour which lemon always works with fish or sea food!

http://sortedfood.com/#!/lemonadesquid/

Serves 2, PREHEAT a fryer to 180oC or a pan with oil to create a make shift fryer

100g Self Raising Flour
200ml Fizzy Lemonade, ice cold
1 large Squid, cleaned (I used 3 small ones just for me which cost 90p from Waitrose!)
a few tbsp of mayonnaise
1 lemon, zested
a hand full of Rocket (optional)

• Zest the lemon and stir into the mayonnaise, season with black pepper and there you have your dip!

• Clean the squid under cold water and slice into rings

• Sieve the flour into a bowl and make a well into to centre. Pour the lemonade into the well and whisk until it forms a smooth batter.

• Dip the squid into the bater to thoroughly coat it and fry for about 2-3minutes until the batter is crispy and the squid is cooked.

• Drain the calamari on some kitchen paper towel to remove excess oil and season well with salt and pepper.

• Serve on a bed of rocket and a little bowl of the lemon mayo dip.

This was delicious! I love love love lemon!!! The batter was slightly sweet from the lemonade but then was complemented well with the sharp citrus of the lemon zest in the mayonnaise. The textures worked well together as well, from the creamy dip, the lovely crunch from the batter and the chewy squid. This is a gorgeous simple recipe which I advise everyone to try!!

Basil Couscous with Lemon Green Beans, Broccoli and Pine Nuts

Home Made Beans on Toast

No. 23: Beans on Toast – 26.2.12

As a student I have to keep an eye on my spending…. I have a student loan and seem to waste it all on new foods or expensive brands or kitchen ware! I have a book made by Good Housekeeping called ‘Family Meals For A Fiver’ so decided I should try more of these recipes to stop me spending so much money! I know baked beans aren’t expensive, they’re about 40p for a can but as I said the other day, home made is best!

Serves 4

1 tbsp of oil
2 garlic cloves, finley sliced
1 x 400g can of Cannellini or Borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
1 x 400g can of chickpeas
1 x 400g can of chopped tomatoes
Leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs
4 thick slices of Bread, which ever you prefer
25g Parmesan (or any hard cheese you have)
Chopped Parsley to Serve

• Heat the oil in a saucepan on a low heat and add the garlic, cooking for 1 minute and stirring gently.

• Add the beans, chickpeas and tomatoes into the pan and bring to the boil.

• Add the Rosemary, reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

• Toast the bread, grate the Parmesen into the bean mixture, stir once and serve with parsley.

I used a micro plane grater for my cheese which I regretted because the cheese was lost in the sauce! So use a normal grater when doing this but either way it was still really nice! There were lots of different textures and was quite filling so would be a good thing to eat if you didn’t want to be snacking all afternoon!
The only thing I would say, which I would think would put people off of this, is the fact it is not as sweet as baked beans you get in a tin. If you would like it sweeter I would just suggest to add a teaspoon of sugar into your mixture whilst it cooked , you could also use different kinds of beans to play around with the recipe. I feel this recipe is a nice change from just the tinned stuff and is very cheap, so I would defiantly suggest giving it a go!