FLOWER POT KITCHEN: LAZY SUNDAY LUNCH SALT AND PEPPER SICHUAN SQUID WITH RED ONION GARLIC CHEESY FOCACCIA BREAD

5 Nov 2012

LAZY SUNDAY LUNCH SALT AND PEPPER SICHUAN SQUID WITH RED ONION GARLIC CHEESY FOCACCIA BREAD

Such a favourite dish for us, reminds us of holidays in Spain and the fried garlic garnish takes me back to a little fishing village immediately where I had a whole fish served, skinned and the scales re-placed in sliced pan fried garlic it was divine, a sweet nutty flavour to the delicate fish.

I made a quick cheats caper & garlic aoili mayo dipping sauce and some of my homemade chilli jam.

(serves 4)

Ingredients
2 whole squid tubes cleaned
300g potato flour
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp white peppercorns
1 tsp sichuan pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp all bay seasoning spice (optional)
1 lemon
2 egg whites gently beaten
1 ltr oil for frying
6 double folded sheets paper roll for draining
1 small bunch fresh parsley chopped

For the cheesy garlic focaccia bread
1 cheat focaccia flat bread
300g cheese of your choice I love le rustic
70g butter and 2 grated cloves garlic mashed together
1 small red onion fine sliced

Quick garlic aioli lemon tartare dip
2 tbsp mayo
1 tsp tartare sauce or capers
1 garlic clove grated
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

QUICK COOK GUIDE
Make the garlic butter, slice the onion, spread over the focaccia and top with the cheese, bake in the oven for 15 mins. Deep fry the garlic and chillies quickly and then reserve as seasoning. Slice the squid and toss in the egg white and then in the peppered seasoned flour. Cook in the oil for 3-4 minutes approx, until light a golden colour, drain on kitchen roll and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh lemon then serve with dips.

IN MORE DETAIL
For the seasoned flour, grind all the peppercorns and seasoning and mix well into the flour with salt and the cayenne pepper.

Deep fry the sliced red chilli and garlic for a couple of minutes, remove and reserve for seasoning and decoration. The garlic will have a rich buttery nutty garlic flavour that works really well with the crispy squid rings.

Slice the squid into 1cm wide rings and soak in the beaten egg white, then coat really well in the seasoned flour. In hot oil 200 degrees fry the squid in batches until light and golden in colour, drain on kitchen paper and season with sea salt.

Beautiful little rings of glorious sweet tender soft squid, yummy. To serve sprinkle with sea salt, the nutty garlic and fried chillies, drizzle with fresh squeezed lemon juice, a must for me and I love to make a cheats garlic mayo with fresh grated garlic, mayo, some chopped capers or a tbsp of tartare sauce, a hint of lemon juice to loosen the mayo and there it is a aioli lemon tartare.

Simple quick focaccia bread spread thickly with fresh grated garlic butter, sliced red onion and lots of Parmesan cheese and any other cheese you fancy I like to use le rustic Camembert sometimes too, finish off with fresh flat leaf parsley.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.