Sunday, June 5, 2016

71. Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

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Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli Collage

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I got the idea for this recipe from my husband.  I've found that the further I get with this project, the more grateful I am for anyone who gives me an idea or says something that ends up inspiring my next recipe!  My last recipe would not have happened if it were not for my youngest sister.  As soon as she said, "Big Mac Tacos!", I had some direction.  (They were surprisingly good, by the way.)

Anyway, Steve suggested fried calamari tacos.  Yes.  Of course!  We reminisced about some really great fried calamari with a spicy-sweet sauce that we ordered a few years ago at a short-lived Ah-So Sushi and Steak restaurant here in Casa Grande.  (It was good; that was truly a bummer when it closed!)  That gave me the idea for this recipe.

I didn't really want to use Sriracha, which may have been the magic ingredient of the sauce that we remembered.  I thought that might be too close to my Crispy Shrimp Tacos with Sriracha Sauce (#28), and I am trying to be original with each new recipe!  I decided to flavor the sauce with chipotle, and I used one of my favorite ingredients to have on hand at all times:  chipotle puree!  All you need is a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

Canned Chipotles in Adobo Sauce for Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

I would recommend a small can, because a little goes a long way.  Basically, all you need to do is blend up the entire contents of the can (I use a hand blender) until it is a smooth(ish) paste, and then put it in any container you wish.  I use a small 1/2 cup Rubbermaid container that is now stained red for all eternity!  Ha ha.

Every once in a while, I throw out the rest and blend up a fresh can.  Seriously, though - this stuff keeps for a long time.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but I've kept mine for months!  Many months.  The high amount of chile and vinegar seems to prevent anything bad from growing in there!  It's kind of like mustard or Tabasco!  Since I live in Arizona, a can of this is available at any of our local grocery stores, but you can get it from Amazon if it's hard for you to find.  The Goya brand seems to be the best deal in the small size.  I think they're all pretty similar:



I first heard about this useful ingredient in a cookbook by Annie Somerville, the chef of Greens restaurant in San Francisco, though I've since run across the suggestion in a few other places as well.  I would highly recommend the cookbook, by the way.  It's a great one!  :)



What was I talking about?  Oh, yes.  Calamari tacos.  I can go off on a fun tangent rather quickly.  My students would attest to that.  Ha ha.

Without further ado, here's the recipe!  :)

Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli


Serves 3-4 (about 8 tacos)

Ingredients:


For the chipotle-honey aioli:


3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. chipotle puree
1 small clove garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1 and 1/2 tbsp. honey
Juice of half a lime
1/4 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

For the jicama-cabbage slaw:


2 cups shredded cabbage  (I used the shredder blade on my food processor for the cabbage, jicama, and carrot.)
1 cup peeled and shredded jicama
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
1 Fresno chile pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the buttermilk-marinated calamari:


1 lb. calamari, tubes cut into 1/2 inch strips and tentacles left whole

Frozen Calamari for Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Canola oil for frying

8 to 16 corn tortillas, depending on whether you want to double them up

Lime slices, for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1.  Marinate the calamari:  Place the calamari pieces in a shallow bowl and add the buttermilk.  Stir to combine, cover, and place in the refrigerator.  Allow to marinate for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours.

Calamari Marinating for Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

2.  Make the aioli:  Stir all the aioli ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth.  Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.  Cover and set aside.

Chipotle-Honey Aioli for Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

3.  Make the slaw:  Combine all of the slaw ingredients in a medium bowl.  Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.  Cover and set aside.

Jicama-Cabbage Slaw for Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

4.  Prepare the calamari:  Pour the calamari and buttermilk in a colander and allow to drain.  (Mine took several minutes.  Drain as well as possible.)

Calamari Draining for Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

In a shallow dish, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and pepper.

Cornmeal and Flour Mixture for Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

5.  While the calamari are draining, prepare the tortillas:  Heat the tortillas in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, one by one, until browned but still soft, about 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side.  

Corn Tortilla in Cast Iron Skillet for Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

As the tortillas are done, stack them on a sheet of foil.  When they are all finished, wrap them in the foil.  Place them in the oven to keep warm.

6.  Fry the calamari in batches:  Add canola oil to a large saucepan until a depth of about 2 to 3 inches is reached.   Heat the oil to about 360 degrees.  Add a medium handful of calamari to the flour and cornmeal mixture.  Toss to coat.  Add to the hot oil and fry until the coating is light golden brown and the calamari is just done, about 1 minute.  

Note:  Please be very careful and use a deep pot.  Because of the moisture from the buttermilk, mine bubbled up quite a bit when I added the calamari.  Make sure you have LOTS of room in the pan to allow for that! 

Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.  After draining, transfer to a baking sheet lined with clean paper towels.  Repeat this process as needed.  Keep the baking sheet in the warm oven and transfer more calamari as they are ready.  (It took about three batches to cook my calamari.)    

Fried Calamari for Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

7.  When all the components are ready, assemble the tacos:  For each taco, place a tortilla on a plate.  (If your tortillas are thin, as mine were, double them up!)  Top with some of the calamari.  Spoon on some of the slaw.  Drizzle with a generous amount of the aioli.  Garnish with a squeeze or two of lime.  Enjoy!

Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli

Well, these were fun (and pretty good), but I do have a couple of recommendations.  The sauce and the slaw were both great accompaniments to the calamari.  The calamari itself turned out all right, but it was tough to execute.  Honestly, the middle of Arizona is probably not the best place to get calamari, you know what I mean?  I got mine from the freezer section of our local grocery store.  If you have access to high-quality fresh calamari, I would buy that instead!  Both times I've tried cooking frozen (thawed) calamari, it's been less than impressive.

I also wouldn't try this if you're not used to deep frying or haven't made fried calamari before.  I tried removing them from the hot oil with tongs, and it was hard to get them all on the first pass or two.  Consequently, some pieces were more "done" than others.  With calamari, it's better to not overcook them.  Otherwise, they get chewy!  I was wishing I had some kind of metal basket or large metal slotted spoon!

Buttermilk-Marinated Calamari Tacos with Jicama-Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle-Honey Aioli (2)

Don't get me wrong - these tasted great and we enjoyed them!  It just wasn't the best calamari I've ever had.  I don't think that was the fault of the recipe, though.  I think top-quality calamari and a couple of better tools to handle the frying process would have made a big difference!

By the way, I'm pretty sure these would be amazing with shrimp or some kind of fish if you want to go that route.  In that case, you could deep fry them for a bit longer!  One thing that bugs me about calamari is that it's tough to get the coating crispy without overcooking it.

Well, on to the next one!  Tomorrow, I think I'm going to try making a rolled potato taco with flavors inspired by an Indian samosa.  To me, rolled tacos need guacamole and cheese.  How am I going to incorporate that?  Hmmm.  :)

Feel free to comment on this recipe!  Have you ever made fried calamari at home?  How did it go?  Did you try these tacos?  What did you think?

Thanks for reading!

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