Stuffed Adriatic Squid

This post is dedicated to my very dear friend Maja, who lives in Brooklyn. Maja is real nomad, she lived all around Europe and America. We met working on some film production and we developed one great friendship.

In fact, Maja was one of the two person to who I firstly "discovered" my blog. From the moment she discovered I have a food blog she is tampering me to write about my "stuffed squids".

Well, this recipe that I use is certainly not mine. It is traditional dalmatian recipe and according to great tradition of Dalmatian Cuisine it very simple, healthy and tasty!

Few days ago my brother visited Zagreb and I decide to prepare Stuffed Squids for lunch. Off course, since my brother is great gourmet and great cook he jointed me in kitchen and we prepared lunch together.

Stuffed Adriatic Squid

Ingredients:

9 mid size Adriatic Squids*
3 large potatoes
1 carrot
1 spoon of breadcrumbs
olive oil
1 cup red or white wine
1 onion
garlic
parsley
bay leafs
salt
pepper

Separate the tentacles from the body of the squids. Clean the body cavity and carefully remove the backbone without damaging the body of the squid. Wash the squids and the tentacles. Drain and set aside.


Finely chop the tentacles.


Mix chopped tentacles with chopped garlic, parsley and breadcrumbs. Add salt and pepper according to your personal taste. Add some olive oil to make the mixture moist.

You can get creative with this staffing and you can add different ingredients like Parmesan or ricotta cheese, various herbs and spices, pine nuts or even raisins...

I must admit I prefer the simplest combination: only tentacles, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper and superb Dalmatian Olive Oli.

Stuff the squid sacs with the mixture using...


... a very small spoon...


... or your fingers


Seal opening with skewers or toothpicks. Be aware that the stuffing will "grow" so do not overload the sacs or it will break.


Place the stuffed sacs in a baking-serving dish over the already seasoned vegetables: potato, carrot, onion...


Add few bey leafs. If any of the stuffing has been left, just sprinkle it over the vegetables.


Pour over some good quality red or white wine, according to taste.


Cover the dish and cook for about 1 hour, then uncover it and cook for additional 15 minutes.


Stuffed squids cooked in traditional way, "ispod peke" are especially delicious but oven baked squid are quite tasty too.

* NOTE: Adriatic squid (lat. Loligo vulgaris; hr. Lignja) is belonging to the family Loliginidae, and it is preferred in Dalmatian cuisine. Since I couldn't fined any squids in fish market that day I bought Totani or Flaying Squid (lat. Illex coindeti; hr. Totanj or Lignjuni) which resemble to common squid but it's less appreciated since its meet is more rigid. Nevertheless some people prefer Totani over Squids.

Teach a Man to Fish...

...and you have fed him for a lifetime.

There is little hero fish that has fed generations of fisherman and their families for thousands of years. Of course, it is sardine! It is typical staple food of Dalmatia. And it is considered prefect sustainable seafood choice.

Today Sardines are popular as "brain food" thanks to the high level of omega 3 acids and many others nutrition elements like vitamin D, vitamin B, Calcium...

You can enjoy sardine in so many different ways: fried, marinated, pickled, salted, grilled, raw...

I'll send this simple fisherman lunch to blogevent Sustainable Seafood Blog Event organized by Leather District Gourmet.


Fried sardines with "restovani" potatoes


How to prepare fries sardines you can read in my post Fried fish.

"Restovani" potatoes
This is my favorite to eat potatoes. I do not know what would be English name (or in any other language) for this way of preparing potatoes and I'll be more than glad if anyone could inform me about it.

The preparation is quite simple.

Cook the whole potatoes without peeling them.
This way all nutrition elements will be kept in potato and will not dissolve in water.
When potatoes are almost cooked, take them out, peel them and slice into small cubes.

Meanwhile, in the pan heat plenty of oil and fry the onion sliced in tin "moon halves".
When onion has turn gold add potatoes.
Fray the potatoes so that they get golden-brown crust.
Potatoes should "burn" a little. when they are nicely golden-brown, put them on the plate and season with sweet paprika, salt and lots of fresh parsley.

Links:
Buying fresh fish
Fried fish
Grilled fish

Decoding Nicky Hilton feast - Octopus salad

We will start decoding Nicky Hilton feast with the recipe for Octopus salad.

The basic recipe for octopus salad is very simple: clean the octopus and cook it until fork tender. Leave it to cool. Cut it into bite size pieces. Mix olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, garlic and and salt and pour over sliced octopus. Leave it in the cool place for several hours before serving.

Well, although this recipe says all you need to do to prepare excellent octopus salad, actually it does not say anything. All the important secrets, which often can't be scientifically approved, are left hidden.

Cleaning

First of all, if you are lucky enough to have hunted octopus yourself or bought it still alive, you will have to clean it. The best way to clean it is to turn it's body inside out by inserting two fingers inside the body. Pull out internal organ and stomach suck with fingers. Afterwards, remove beak (which you will find in the center where tentacles meets) and push the eyes out. Rinse the octopus and continue the preparation.

Other method is to cut around beak and removing internal organ, stomach suck and beak all at once.

Tenderizing

To avoid rubbery and chewy octopus you will have to do at least one of the following:

- If you have hunted the octopus, beat it several times against rock as soon as you catch it (you can do this in your kitchen too, using the wooden kitchen hammer);

- put it in the freezer for at least two hours or over the night;

- remove it from cooking water before or after the phase in which it gets rubbery (yea, right!)

- Cook it with a cork in the pot;

- Precook the tentacles: Put the water to boil. Holding the octopus body, put the tentacles in water and then pull it out. Tentacles will curl. Repeat this 4 or 5 times. Afterwards, put the octopus in cold salted water, slowly bring it to boil for about 90 minutes (depending of the size).

- Leave it to cool in the water in which it was cooked;

- Before cooking, cut into the "root" of the tentacle with the sharp knife. It will cut the nerves which will "relax" tentacles and it will result with tender meat at the end.

Cooking

- for the octopus of 1 kg takes about one and a half hour of cooking. Smaller octopus take less and bigger more cooking time;

- Some cook octopus in unsalted water since salt can hared the meat;

- Some like to put sliced lemon or small amount of vinegar in the cooking water;

- Some like to cook octopus in half water, half red wine vinegar,

Skinning

Some like to remove the skin but I prefer to leave it since it's very tasteful (if skin goes off during the cooking, it shows that octopus is not fresh).

If you need larger amount of salad, you can add potatoes (carefully wash potatoes and cook whole, unpeald together with octopus. How long to cook potatoes? Add potatoes to octopus according to size and needed cooking time).

What method of preparation to choose it's up to you!

Eat like Nicky Hilton

Yes, less famous of notorious sisters Hilton visited Croatia and sailed around Dalmatian islands. Big deal. I did too!

But I do not see my beautiful butt on the cover of the local newspapers.

Nevertheless, diligent, so called, journalist accompanied by fearless paparazzi followed every step of poor little rich girl so that we, inpatient agitated public, can catch a glimpse of the wonderful life of shamelessly rich heiress.

So, we could read where did she party, when did she pass out, where did she lost her money gambling, and, at last but not least, where and what did she eat!

Luckily, best things in life are free and we all can enjoy our life as much as Nicky Hilton and her kin! All we need is little bit of sun, drop of sea and pinch of talent and one can prepare fast that even both sisters Hilton would die for.

But, let as start with treating ourself with dinner Nicky Hilton had on Island of Korcula (42° 58'N; 17° 08'E).

According to local newspaper on the menu for Nicky and her gang were:
for appetizer prawns and octopus salad; for main dish they enjoined grilled lobsters and they did not take any desert which is pity since Korcula's cookies are delicious.

I'm starting with the recipe for Octopus salad and hope to bring you all recipes as soon as possible!

La Festa al Fresco 2007

I started to write about Spaghetti with Mixed Shellfish, but I was too lazy to write recipe so I gave Photo recipe of the dish. But then I stumbled down on the announcement for La Festa al Fresco 2007 - the blog world’s biggest patio party! And I love patio parties!

To join the party is very simple; you just have to prepare a dish using a fresh, seasonal ingredient. The only rule is «that it must feature a fresh, seasonal ingredient, preferably something that grows in your neck of the woods.»

Well that brings be back to my Spaghetti with Mixed Shellfish which were cooked directly from the sea. What is fresher from that!

So, to prepare Spaghetti with Mixed Shellfish first you have to jump into sea.

For Vongole Veraci * look for sandy sea bottom. Use your flippers to move superficial layer of send and just pick the clams. Murex* and Mussels you will find attached to rocks. Be aware not to pick those that are in shallow water.

Now when you “harvested” enough clams, clean and scrub them well under the running water. Scrape away beards from Mussels with a knife and scrub them; Pull the beard from tip to center. The beard should pull off easily. Do not let clams to sit in a fresh water, as freshwater will kill them.

Fresh clams should be tightly closed in their shells. If a shell is slightly opened, tap it lightly. If it doesn’t snap shut, it is dead and you should not eat it.

Put them in a pot with a small amount of clean sea water. You can leave your clam to soak in clean sea water over the night to purge them of sand. But if you are very hungry you can immediately proceed to cooking them, especially if you plan to serve them without their shells.

Cook the clams in a small amount of sea water because they will discharge their own liquid and clams will be much tasteful when cooking in it. Cook for several minute. Discard any clams that do not open during the cooking process. They are not good to eat.

Carefully pull out the meat of clams from their shells. Extract the meat of the Murex with a toothpick or small knife. You can leave few clams in a shell just for aesthetic, if you like it.

Meanwhile prepare tomato sauce and cook spaghetti.

Mix clams with tomato sauce and cook it for several more minute. Pour over spaghetti and serve warm.

* Since my English is not in best condition, I'm not 100% sure that my translation of the names of the shells is correct, so I'l be more than glad to be corrected if wrong.

Spaghetti with Mixed Shellfish in Tomato Sauce - Photo recipe

Fish, grill and woodfire

We made a short break from sailing to meet our relatives form Zagreb. Off course, family reunions are always ideal opportunities for great dinning! And in Dalmatia this demands to start the woodfire and grill the fish. We call it “Riba na gradele” or shorter “Gradelada”.

To grill the fish requires audience because it is the ritual, it is the ceremony. To be responsible for starting up the fire and manage the grilling, to be “The Master or The Mistress (there is no gender problem here ) of Ceremony” is a big privilege and it is considered to be a great honor.

It takes years of learning and practice to get that right feeling that is necessary to start the fire. To know when the heat is right to put the grills on fire, when is the best moment to turn the fish so it doesn’t break or that skin doesn’t stick to the grills... Some believe that it is the talent you have to be born with.

Riba na gradele - (Grilled fish)
Starting the fire is first and crucial step.

Start the smaller flame with old newspaper and smaller, dry branches. Be aware to leave plenty of air space in between branches because fire needs oxygen to burn.

Set larger wood in the form of pyramid on top of the firestarter. Using the right wood for the fire is very important. Use dry wood. "Seasoned" wood is the best for making a fire. The wood should burn slow and hot. Add grapevine twigs when grilling the fish because it will give special aroma to the fish. Keep your fire "alive" until wood compliantly burs out and transforms in red embers.

Meanwhile, clean the grills with steel brush. Put the grills on the fire (when the flame is still high) so the all residues from earlier gradelade burns out. Afterwards smear with olive oil using the napkin.

When the grills are hot and the wood has burned out and you have hot embers, it is time to start to grill the fish.

While you are waiting wood to burn out, clean and gut the fish. Smaller fishes you can leave whole but larger you will have to slice. Dry the fish and then season it with olive oil and salt.

Put the fishes on the grills. Wait until the skin or meat gets the crust. Turn the fish. Use the rosemary to pat fish with olive oil. When other side gets the crust remove fish on plate and pour olive oil, parsley and garlic.

People in Dalmatia believe that fish has to swim three times: in the sea, in the oil and in the wine, so the glass (one glass, not whole bottle) of good Dalmatian wine is important part of the fish meal.

Fried fish

Buy fresh fish. This is the essential! If you are not lucky enough to buy fish directly from fisherman boat like we did, you will have to know haw to recognize fresh fish! Clear eyes, bright red, moist gills and pleasant, fresh smell are best signs of the fresh fish.
Don’t choose big fish. Smaller fish have firmer flesh that is and more tasteful.

Clean and gut fish (I'm planning to write step by step tutorial on how to clean and gut a fish soon) We leave the head on, but you can remove it if you prefer it that way. You can cut the fish in fillets, but if you leave it whole you will get softer, more tasteful meat.

Place flour on plate. Coat the fish with flour and shake of the excess. The more practical way is to mix flour with salt and paper in a plastic bag and than place the fish in plastic bag, close the bag and shake it well. Place it on the plate. If you have time leave it to dry for about one hour. This will give you nicer crust and more taste.

Heat good quality extra virgin olive oil in large fraying pan (heath well the pan prior pouring the oil) and place fish in the pan. Fish should be fried in hot oil. Shake pan for the first few seconds to avoid fish stick to pan. Fry until skin gets golden crust. Carefully turn fish on the other side. Again, fry until skin turns golden brown.

Put the fish on the plate. Season it with salt. You can sprinkle it with drop of olive oil, parsley and garlic. Serve it with slice of lemon with a side of sliced tomatoes salad.

Buying fresh fish

We are sailing, we are fishing, we are eating....

The first exacting thing we did was two weeks long vacation on our old wooden sailing boat called "Lutalica" meaning "Vagabond". We wondered around nearby islands of Drvenik Veli, Drvenik Mali and Šolta.

The crew were: my parents, my nephew Roko, my "precious one" and me! My sister joined us letter. Our boat is old and small but offers great comfort. But cooking on boat requires lots of good organization. Although the kitchen is really small and very essential we managed to cook and eat fabulous breakfasts, lunches and dinners. The secret is in my mother's experience in organizing the stocks and cooking on boat that she gathered over the years. More about cooking coming soon!

First we visited beautiful cove on mainland called Stari Togir (43° 29.5'N; 16° 02'E), meaning 'Old Trogir' that was the site of an ancient town called Trogir, allegedly visited by Cleopatra. There are remains of the old roman palace and old walls that are partially submerged under the sea. At the end of the cove there is beautiful small sandy beach. We spent our first day just relaxing and putting ourselves in "boat" mood.

Next day we sailed to the island Mali Drvenik, little port Borak (43^o26,6' N - 16^o05,1' E) and spent two days in that small port that seemed frozen in same strange time. The only connection with a mainland is a small ferry that during the summer drives two or three times a day. But, we did get a special bonus - our neighbors were fisherman boats which gave as the great source of fresh Adriatic fish for our hungry tummies!

Drvenik Mali is beautiful small Island situated 8 nautical miles from Trogir. Locals cultivate olives and grape so you can buy great home made olive oil and wine. Since the sea around the island is shallow and rich in fish, there are lots of fishermen and it is great opportunity to buy fresh fish directly from fisherman boat. We didn't miss that opportunity! On the island there are few nice sandy beaches. One afternoon we walked to cove of Vela Rina, known as the most beautify beach on the island. Vela Rina (43^o26.6' N - 16^o05.1' E) is also a pier for smaller yachts.