Fried Calamari

Or as Whole Foods rings them up, squid tubes...lol. I bought them in the seafood freezer section - there were options to buy either tubes and tenticles or just the tubes.

I've eaten calamari a ton, but never actually made it from scratch before. It's pretty weird to see it in it's fishy form and not going to lie, kindof gross...and smelly. If you're using frozen squid, make sure to give yourself some time to let them thaw. I ended up soaking the container in hot water to speed up the process.

Ingredients:

• Around 10 "tubes" of calamari, should equal around 2 cup's worth once they are sliced (I used one packet of Rhode Island Calamari - tubes only)

Marinade

• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• A pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Breading

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt or creole seasoning
• 2 teaspoons black pepper

Instructions:

1. Thaw the squid and rince with lukewarm water. Slice each "tube" into rings about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Combine the milk, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper. Soak the calamari rings in the mixture for 1-3 hours in the fridge.
3. Fill a pot with at least two inches of vegetable oil and turn the heat to medium. You want to make sure that the calamari will be completely submursed in the oil while it cooks.
4. Combine the breading ingredients in a large and shallow bowl. 
5. Take the calamari straight out of its marinade and coat each ring with the breading. Make sure you get the insides.
6. Cook 8-10 rings at a time in the hot oil until golden brown. (About 6-8 minutes.)
7. Transfer the cooked calamari rings onto a plate with a few layers of paper towels on it to absorb the grease.
8. EAT UP.  You can dip these into pretty much anything - I prefer some sort of spicy aioli.