Squid, Octopus, Olive & Roasted Cherry Tomato Salad

Last week we stopped into Bocca mid-day to grab a few of the plates that seems to be above average for Old City fare...read what the professionals are saying about the cretivity coming out of the kitchen here.

One dish that really grabbed our attention was the octopus salad; served with an brushed olive glaze and little roasted cherry tomatoes with crispy tomato-skin 'flags' still attached, it was instant inspiration for a great summer seafood starter. The chef came out to ask us if we liked the dish and when we pried for his technique on the roasted tomatoes, he playfully laughed and said it was a secret.

We just so happen to be neck-deep in cherry tomatoes thanks to the Sweet 100 plant in the container garden, so we figured why not try and recreate those little garnishes...and while we're at it, thrown in a squid & octopus salad to boot.

Here's the results of Elizabeth's experiments with the tomatoes. A little bit of oil and a slow roast kept the body intact while crisping up the skin...getting them to stay upright was the only challenge.

As for the seafood, we purchased some squid caps and baby octopus from Whole Foods. Marinated in some olive oil then flashed on a hot grill pan and sprinkled with mint, they turned out just right.

Finally, we tossed the squid & octopus in with some kalamatas, a little bit of torn arugula and laid it on a spread of tapenade we made with the leftover olives. Finally, our cheery cherry tomatoes studded the salad plate...It wasn't as pretty as Bocca's, but the flavors were pretty darn close and those little tomatoes will probably make a repeat appearance later this summer.

Calamari-esque Citrus Shrimp Salad

We had all the right ingredients for a light seafood citrus salad in the fridge...mixed greens, olive oil, real Florida Oranges (courtesy of my boss who brought back gifts from vacation) and a bottle of Pinot Grigio except one thing...no decent seafood.



We headed out to Whole Foods and found ourselves standing in front of the seafood display, pondering the next move. Normally we like to use a seared scallops or some flash-sauteed calamari tentacles, but WFM doesn't do fresh calamari w/ tentacles and the scallops were super-expensive.

Elizabeth had the idea to buy some less expensive wild-caught shrimp and try cutting them into thirds to mimic the curly legs of calamari. I saw something similar in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's The River Cottage Meat Book where he sliced pork tenderloin medallions in such a way that they resembled calamari tentacles when pan-fried.



Here you see the three steps of how we turned the shrimp into calamari 'tentacles'.

I basically halved these 16-26 shrimp and then, if they were plump enough, cut each half into two 'legs'. Sometimes the shrimp were a little too small to cut four legs, so I'd split the larger of the two.



Next, we seared off the shrimp in an olive oil & garlic mix...as soon as the hot pan hit those little guys, they began to curl up nicely...Elizabeth had her 'calamari' all ready to go.



The salad was a simple arrangement of frise & arugula greens, supremed orange sections and a viniagrette made with the reserved orange juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, black pepper, sea salt and some ground fennel & tarragon.