Salt and pepper squid with habanero lime mayo

After paying $19.50 for a salt and pepper squid salad in a bar recently I was pretty sure I could make a version for much cheaper (and not drenched in dressing!... I think the chef must have worked at Subway in a former life).

Squid, I have found, is something people are a little scared of buying and cooking but LOVE eating. A plate of salt and pepper squid in a restaurant or bar does not last long with most of my friends and family but is rarely recreated at home.

It is super easy to make and unbelievably cheap. I bought a bag of five frozen squid tubes for about $6.50 and you only need one tube per person.

Salt and pepper squid

• 2 squid tubes
• 2 Tb plain flour
• 2 Tb cornflour
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• 1 tsp black peppercorns

• Wash tube inside and out and pat dry.
• Cut the squid tube in half so it opens flat and then cut down the middle.
• Cut into wide strips and score both sides using a sharp knife and scoring a couple of diagonal lines on each piece.

• Put the salt and pepper in a pestle and mortar and crush a bit but not until completely fine.

• Mix the two flours and salt and pepper together.
• Coat the squid pieces in the flour mix.

• Heat oil in frying pan until hot (can deep fry but shallow frying is fine - although need a bit of oil as the flour soaks it up).
• Place squid in pan - will have to do a couple of batches as you don't want to crowd the pan and make the oil temperature drop.
• Fry for 30 seconds then turn and fry for a further 30 seconds. At this point they should be golden brown but the squid won't be overcooked.
• Drain on paper towels.

The mayo needs to be made a couple of hours in advance so it can sit in the fridge for a bit. It is spicy and zingy and delish and can be used to accompany a variety of things.

Surprisingly I didn't just add habaneros and lime to Best Foods Mayonnaise as is probably expected, but made the mayo from scratch (albeit a nice easy blender version).

Habanero and lime mayo

• 1 egg
• 1/2 Tb white vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp habanero powder
• 1/2 cup oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• Zest of 1 lime

The first thing I needed to do was grind some dried habaneros for the powder.

• Put the egg, vinegar, salt and habanero powder into a blender (I just use a stick blender) and blitz until combined.

• Turn the blender onto a low speed and pour the oil in in a steady stream.
• Blend until thick (it will also thicken in the fridge a bit).
• Add the lime juice and zest and blend to mix it in.
• Put in fridge for a couple of hours before use.

The salad I had at the pub was served in a tortilla basket so I thought, why not?

While not the height of culinary sophistication (I mean, Denny's has one), the tortilla salad bowl it is actually a great idea to add carbs to a salad for a boyfriend who "can't just eat salad for dinner" and is actually rather tasty and fun to eat.

It is also something that is really easy to make (well, if you remember to oil the bowl which I may or may not have done).

Just preheat the oven to 200°C, turn a dessert bowl upside and put a little oil on the bottom of it and press a tortilla/wrap of your choice over it. Bake for 20 minutes until brown and crispy.
Remove from bowl and voilà!

Put it all together by chucking a bit of lettuce, tomato, red onion, cucumber or whatever salad bits take your fancy, top with the hot squid, drizzle some mayo on the top and serve with a lime cheek.

Pay no attention to the missing chunk which was a result of
trying to pry it off the bowl with a knife

The squid was salty and peppery and tender and scrumptious. The mayo was spicy and provides the citrus for the squid.

It is an easy meal which will impress and for about $4 per serve you can't really go wrong.