Squid roll sandwiches

I was reading a memoir (titled "Eating") by Jason Epstein the other day and when I got to his recipe for lobster rolls I went Bingo! See, we’ve had a package of little frozen squid I got at one of our Asian markets a while back. They were pretty cheap and there were enough of them to make four squid rolls.

They are really easy to fry. The only thing I don’t like about deep-frying fish is that the oil is only good for fish afterwards. However, by storing the oil outside (it’s plenty cold enough here) overnight, we were able to have these for two lunches.

Peter made a lovely dressing for the sandwiches. It’s a little tartar sauce-like in that it’s has some dill pickle in it. Anyone should be able to come with some stuff to mix with mayo to make a good sauce. Some catsup, or some mustard, or some horseradish – be inventive.

The only other thing that goes into these is some lettuce – romaine in our case.

Squid roll sandwiches (4 servings)
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
2 tbsp dried basil or parsley
14 – 16 oz. baby squid, cleaned
Finely ground sea salt
Vegetable oil, enough for 3” in a pot suitable for deep-frying
1 baguette or other sandwich rolls
Your favorite mayo-based condiment
Romaine lettuce leaves

Heat the oil to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal and dried herbs.

Cut the bodies of the squid into 1/2:” rings, leaving the tentacles whole. Divide the squid into 4 equal portions. Work with 1 portion at a time.

Dredge the squid in the dry ingredients and shake off the excess. Carefully place the squid in the oil. Fry for 1 minute 15 seconds only. Immediately fish them (pun intended) out with a spider and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt (to taste).

It’s helps to have someone else to assemble the sandwiches so you can concentrate on the squid. Repeat with the other 3 portions of squid.

Sandwich assembly. If using a baguette (you could use hotdog rolls, of course), cut it into four pieces and slice open leaving a “hinge” on one side. We like to pull out some of the soft interior. Slather with your condiment, add a romaine lettuce leaf and pack in the squid. That’s it!