Page: 84 and 102
Date Cooked: November 14, 2010
Squid is food item I truly enjoy but rarely cook on my own - after this recipe however it may become part of cooking repertoire. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same about making the aioli (it appears that the third time was not the charm).
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| Ingredients: fresh bread crumbs, endive, escarole, frisee, squid, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, white wine, rice wine vinegar, egg yolks |
When I read through the recipe and ingredients, I immediately noticed that Jonathan Waxman called for making aioli. Still high off of my previous mayonnaise making attempt, I decided to make the aioli first. This time around, Jonathan Waxman calls for the use of a blender, as opposed to using a whisk like the times before. Of course, when I read this portion of the directions, I was somewhat relived. I figured, "Oh yeah...using a blender will make this much easier!" Unfortunately that wasn't the case. The first time I tried to make aioli, I put the eggs and garlic in the blender and added the olive oil super slowly as the motor continued to run - it just became a liquidy mess.
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| Aioli making attempt #1 |
The second time I blended the eggs and garlic first in a food processor, placed that into the blender, and then added the olive oil as the motor ran. It was soo close, but the aioli seemed to "break." Nonetheless I used the outcome of the second attempt to finish the recipe.
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| Aioli making attempt #2 |
Luckily for me the rest of the recipe was much simpler and I tried to let go of the frustration from a failed aioli. I made some fresh bread crumbs and let them toast in the oven and then washed, dried, and tore the greens. Jonathan Waxman makes explicit note of the fact that frozen squid will not suffice for this recipe. Luckily for me, my grocery store carries fresh squid on a regular basis and it was already cleaned! The squid was sliced into 1" lengths and laid on paper towels to dry. I made sure to use a mixture of both the body and tentacles.
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| Squid |
The squid was salted and peppered and then placed in a skillet of olive oil. Once all the squid was cooked (had to do 2-3 batches at a time). Garlic was added to the skillet and browned. Both the squid and garlic were placed in a bowl and covered to keep warm.
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| Cooking the squid |
The skillet was then deglazed with some white wine and reduced. Vinegar, olive oil, and the aioli were all added in to make a sauce. The sauce was poured over the squid and garlic mixture, along with half of the toasted bread crumbs.
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| Squid, garlic, sauce, and bread crumbs |
Finally, the squid mixture was tossed with the greens. The salad was put on plates and garnished with the remaining bread crumbs. The final product...
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| Warm Squid Salad |
Despite my aioli disaster, I really enjoyed the salad. Every component balanced each other. The crunch of the greens, the flavor of the breadcrumbs, and then perfectly cooked squid it was just wonderful. I ate the left-overs the following night, and of course the squid was no longer warm, but the salad still tasted delicious.
I can only imagine what it would have been like had that gosh darn aioli come out right. So people of the blogosphere: You have to help me out with these mayonnaise/aioli recipes. They are beginning to drive me crazy. Nonetheless, I will keep on trying!
Enjoy!
Note: Jonathan Waxman calls for the aioli recipe on page 102. However, he later refers to the aioli as red pepper aioli. The aioli was never flavored with red peppers. It didn't call for it. Looks like I found a typo.
