Archives for “seafood”

Fried Calamari with Pico and Avocado Dressing Plus Pina Coladas

February 28, 2010 · Filed Under GAHIGF, appetizer, beverage, bread, dairy free, easy, entree, gluten free, recipe, salad, seafood, vegetarian ·21 Comments

When Bean over at Without Adornment announced her theme for this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! carnival, I was completely on board. Tropical Vacation meal … oh, yeah. We had plenty of snow at the time and our Key West vacation seemed long ago. One of our favorite appetizers that often turns into a meal is Fried Calamari. We’ve eaten calamari all over in our travels from our favorite waterside restaurant “down the road”—Dockside—to much more exotic, tropical spots. Going gluten free meant giving that pleasure up. Oh, sure, I’ve heard of some restaurants that serve gluten-free calamari, but we just haven’t had the good fortune to find and visit one. So making calamari has been in the back of my mind for some time.

My goal has been to make calamari as good as what is served as that favorite local restaurant. And, it’s not just calamari. It’s delicious calamari served on a bed of shredded lettuce topped with a sweet pico de gallo and a special dressing. Here’s a photo of Dockside’s calamari.

I’ve mentioned that our grocery store is pretty basic. While I was happily surprised to find squid in the freezer case recently, I was less pleased to find out that it was a package of whole squid. Opening the package, the squid didn’t look too intimidating, but once I thawed them out, many soulful eyes stared back at me. Maybe I was having flashbacks to images of the giant squid in The Beast, starring William Petersen (before his rise to fame as Gil Grissom on C.S.I.). (Mr. GFE and Son had watched and recorded that movie and we’d watched it more than once.) In the end, I just couldn’t deal with those squid. They plain ”weirded” me out. However, I still wanted to make calamari.

So we made a trip into town to the upscale Wegmans and headed to their seafood counter. And, there they were … beautiful, headless squid bodies and tentacles. Not an eye in sight—thank goodness. The folks at the seafood counter were happy to slice the squid into rings for me while we chatted. The staff member who assisted me shared that her mom had been recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance. She added that she was also trying to eat gluten free, but she expressed frustration over the high cost of gluten free products. Of course, I shared my gfe approach. Seems like I was meant to go to that seafood counter.

Once home, it was easy to prepare the squid. I used the breading mix that I used recently for the chicken tenders and fried oysters. Sometimes if you find something that works with one application, it makes sense to try it with others. There is no need to reinvent the wheel all the time. I breaded the squid exactly the same way I had done the chicken tenders … with no egg wash. The result was very lightly breaded, melt-in-your-mouth calamari. I served them over romaine leaves cut into smaller pieces topped with pico de gallo (pico is easy to make; here’s one recipe I use) and a thick, creamy, and slightly tangy avocado dressing. It’s a great dish. But, truthfully, it’s different than our favorite calamari from Dockside. Not bad different—this calamari dish is really very good—but it is different. I will make the remaining calamari in two batches. For one I’ll use this breading, but also do the egg wash like I did for the fried oysters. I’ll also do a batch to test some gluten-free breading that I purchased a while ago. I’ll keep you updated on both.

Fried Calamari
(Click here for a printable version of this and the following recipes.)

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup gluten-free flour*
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
cooking oil (I used a mixture of grapeseed and olive oil)
2 lbs fresh, raw squid—rings and tentacles

Mix cornmeal, gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl (or paper/ziploc bag for shaking).

Dredge squid through cornmeal breading (or shake in bag). Fry in hot oil (about an inch deep on medium-high, about 375 degrees if using an electric skillet). The calamari will only take a minute or two, at most. Flip pieces when brown on one side. Remove once browned on both sides. To prevent tough calamari, do not overcook.

*I can’t tolerate many of the healthier, gluten-free flours; e.g., sorghum, buckwheat. Therefore, my gluten-free flour mix is 3 parts Asian white rice flour and 2 parts cornstarch. I gently mix three one-lb bags of the Asian white rice flour and two one-lb boxes of cornstarch in a very large bowl and then store the mix in several airtight containers (like large glass jars). It’s a very economical mix that works well in most recipes. No refrigeration is needed. If you’re interested in a complete tutorial on gluten-free flours, please read Amy’s (Simpy Sugar & Gluten-Free) post here. As always, if you are not gluten free, you can substitute all-purpose (wheat) flour instead of gluten-free flour.

Thick and Creamy Avocado Dressing

one half of an avocado, mashed
2 – 3 tbsp of Greek yogurt (to taste)
one garlic clove (I used ½ tsp minced garlic)
2 – 3 tbsp olive oil (to taste and/or consistency)
1 tsp honey

Add all to blender and blend on high a minute or two until well blended. Dollop over salad mixture and calamari as desired.

Shirley’s Notes: This dressing has more of the thickness of mayonnaise or a spread versus a true dressing. If you want a true dressing consistency, you’ll want to add more liquid: olive oil, milk, lemon juice, water, etc.—your preference.

As Bean shared on her Tropical Pork Pineapple Kabobs post, a tropical vacation meal requires a tropical drink. My faves are margaritas and pina coladas. This time I went with a pina colada. This one is gluten free and dairy free, and uses no processed mixes either. I basically took the idea of a Southern Living recipe that I’d enjoyed years ago and just revised it to use whole food ingredients, including coconut milk. Easy and luscious!

Luscious Pina Coladas

1 cup coconut milk
1 cup pineapple juice
½ cup rum
4 tbsp sugar (or other sweetener)
1 banana
1/4 cup shredded coconut
8 or more ice cubes
additional shredded coconut, if desired

Blend coconut milk, pineapple juice, rum, sugar, banana, 1/4 cup shredded coconut, and ice cubes to desired consistency. Top with additional shredded coconut, if desired.

Inspired by Southern Living

Shirley’s Notes: I like to use a frozen banana (I always have frozen baking bananas on hand), which provides a nice, thick consistency—the luscious factor in this pina colada.

If you want to stay in the tropical vacation mindset a little longer, be sure to check back at Without Adornment for the complete roundup of recipes. Thinking sunshine, turquoise blue water, warm breezes, bare legs, and wonderful tropical fare … so nice. Special thanks to Bean for hosting this month as well as ongoing thanks to Naomi (Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried) for originating the always fun and helpful Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! carnival.

By the way, be sure to visit my Out and About page to find out who won the recent giveaway. And, we’re now into the final week before the Academy Awards presentation, more fondly known as the Oscars. Be sure to check out the complete roundup–either recipes inspired by Oscar nominees or others just right for throwing your own viewing celebration. They are definitely all award-winning caliber! My own contributions were Veronica’s Pumpkin Soup and the already mentioned Southern Fried Oysters. You can the listing of all the Gluten-Free Progressive Dinner Party recipes at our gracious hostess, Diane’s, blog events page at The. W.H.O.L.E. Gang.

Enjoy!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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Tags: bananas, beverage, bread, calamari, coconut, dairy free, easy, GFE, gluten free, recipe, seafood

Crab Ball for Holiday Food Fest

December 3, 2009 · Filed Under Holiday Food Fest, Tempt My Tummy, What can I eat ..., appetizer, easy, flourless, gluten free, recipe, seafood ·30 Comments

Crab Ball 054 This post is also linked to What can I eat that’s gluten free? at The Gluten-Free Homemaker, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed with Grace, and Friday Foodie Fix–Super Bowl Party Foods at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang.

Today is the fourth week of the fabulous Holiday Food Fest. Lovely Amy of Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free is hosting the overall event and also hosting this week. Her theme is Cocktails, Mocktails, and Appetizers. You can see Amy’s delightful mocktail recipe, Chocolate Coffee “Martinis” and all the entries here. (I’ll be hosting next week … Holiday Dishes—sides, mains, soups … anything goes.) Let’s first focus on an appetizer. Two words—Crab Ball. Two ingredients—crabmeat and cream cheese. Could it get any simpler than that? This appetizer will have your guests thinking you are a culinary genius. They’ll spread some of your crab ball on a cracker, wax poetic about how delicious it is, and then quiz you on the ingredients. They’ll expect a long list and when you tell them honestly that it’s just equal parts crabmeat and cream cheese, they will think you are holding out on them. Seriously. No matter. Make a crab ball and serve it with complementary crackers and you’ll be the star host. Now for the cocktail part, hand your guest a glass of Reindeer Antlers “spiked” holiday punch to enjoy with the crab ball and suddenly you’re not just the star host, but a rock star caliber host—no kidding. Yes, you’re welcome. Don’t bother with mailing my invitation for your holiday open house … just shoot me an email with the time and the date. I’ll be there to witness and share in your elevation to greatness!

Crab Ball 070

Crab Ball

8 ounces crabmeat

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

paprika or Old Bay seasoning, optional

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Mix crabmeat and cream cheese with clean hands (and even plastic-gloved, if you prefer) hands. You’ll want to mix with your hands so you can feel and then remove any bits of cartilage left in the crabmeat. As I’ve shared before (regarding the Crab Casserole), I never buy the most expensive crabmeat from the local seafood dealer. So, there’s always a small amount of shell and cartilage to be removed. It’s no big deal and well worth the savings to me.

Crab Ball 030-1

Shape mixture into a ball and serve immediately or place in container in refrigerator until serving time. Serve the crab ball with crackers that are complimentary in flavor. (The cracker flavor should not be so strong that it competes with the flavors of the crab ball.)

Crab Ball 084

Shirley’s Notes: If you want to add some color and a bit of spiciness, you can sprinkle a bit of paprika or Old Bay seasoning on the crab ball or even add a dash in the crab ball when mixing.

While any serving dish will work, I often serve my crab ball in a special crab dish, so that guests are instantly aware that crab is involved. We have had guests who are allergic to shellfish, so it’s nice to keep these folks safe with that visual cue.

Before going gluten free, my favorite cracker to serve with crab ball was Keebler Townhouse crackers. Elves made them so they seemed especially appropriate for the holidays. Unfortunately these elves have not expanded their Townhouse line of crackers to include a gluten-free version. (I’ll keep waiting on that.) My current favorite gluten-free crackers to eat with crab ball are Blue Diamond hazelnut or pecan crackers. These don’t have a buttery texture like Townhouse crackers (quite the opposite actually), but their flavors do complement the crab ball texture.

holiday-food-fest For large parties, I mix together one pound of crabmeat and one pound of cream cheese (two blocks), and then divide into two crab balls, one of which I keep in the refrigerator. I stay vigilant for that moment when the first crab ball is fast disappearing and guests are getting that panicky look on their faces … anxious that the person standing next to them might get the last bite (a stampede for that last bite seems to be a real possibility). Not to worry. With my hostess finesse, I slip through the mass of guests around the last dollop of crab ball and quietly place the second crab ball onto the serving dish. Ah, love and peace reign once again.