Tapas, or how I learned to stop worrying and eat squid

When I was home in CA last week, my mom proposed that we make "an easy dinner, like fresh crabs and cole slaw". I countered with "why don't we make the entire tapas menu from the current issue of Fine Cooking. And so we did.

Though I don't believe Chicago has a particularly large Spanish population, it does have a large number of tapas restaurants, so I've had a chance to try a good number of dishes. For our tapas feast, I followed most of the recipes offered by fine cooking, and added a couple additional ones based on what I had tried, and enjoyed at Cafe Iberico and others.

Our feast included:

• Oil Marinated Manchego
• Queso De Cabra (goat cheese in tomato sauce)
• Shrimp in Sherry Sauce
• Garlic Sauteed Mushrooms
• Chorizo in a wine reduction
• Papas Bravas (potatoes in tangy tomato sauce)
• and last, but certainly not least, a marinated calamari salad.
  

The dish that inspired the marinated calamari salad was actually an octopus one that I ate about six months ago at Parthanon, a semi-famous Greek restaurant. Ever since that meal, I've had visions of crispy (but not fried) octopus with lemon and olive oil. Since I was basing this tapas dish on a Greek version I'd tried six months previous, I figured it made more sense to find a recipe — any recipe — to base my version on. The first recipe I found upon googling was this one, which looked perfect for what I was looking for. Even better, I was planning on getting ingredients at Whole Foods, so I figured I wouldn't have any trouble finding octopus.

I figured wrong. Octopus was nowhere to be found. Luckily, everyone's favorite tentacle-adorned sea creature, calamari/squid, was available, and I left with a good pound anda half, ready to embark on my first calamari creation. I am not kidding, this stuff does not look awesome. It actually looks sort of gross.


Especially when you go in with the macro lense for the extreme close up. I may or may not have been inspired to take this photo after several glasses of wine.


Marinated Calamari Salad
Adapted from the Whole Foods recipe for Pulpo a la Vinagreta

Ingredients
1 lb fresh calamari
1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 TB each chopped onion, green bell pepper and oil-packed roasted red pepper
1 lemon, zested and juiced
chopped parsley, salt and pepper

Directions
Boil the calamari until it is cooked, but not rubbery, about five minutes. Drain and run cool water over to stop the cooking. Mix all ingredients except the lemon zest and juice in a bowl, and let sit, marinating for at least four hours. Add in lemon zest and juice for flavor before you serve.

Serve with other tapas and a nice, bright, prosecco!