Stuffed squids - general principles and methods of cooking
Decapods, cephalopods, and squids, are not a delicacy on our table long ago. This is not only the ingredient of seafood salads, but also fried, stewed and even stuffed dishes. Stuffing a squid is easy - its carcass seems to be made for this. Fillings can be both raw and ready-made, and the dishes are prepared in a frying pan or in an oven until fully cooked.
Environmentally friendly and healthy food grows in the wild, deep in the sea. Catching them is cheaper than growing them on purpose. In industrial catch squid is divided into Pacific and Atlantic. After catching, they are immediately processed, almost always right on the ship. Squid is not thawed more than once, otherwise it may deteriorate.
It is so useful product that it is called even sea ginseng. It is absorbed much better than meat, it has a calming and rejuvenating effect, and in men it helps to increase potency. In countries where the use of squid and other seafood is a tradition, gastric and intestinal diseases are much less common. Sea monsters contain much more nutrients than milk and fish, and the huge amount of valuable protein does not give competitors any chance. In squid meat is taurine, which reduces cholesterol in the blood and stabilizes blood pressure, and vitamins E and selenium remove salts of heavy metals. For adults, especially the younger generation, it is very important to have a high iodine content, which normalizes the functioning of the thyroid gland.
Stuffed squids - food preparation
The basis of success in cooking stuffed squid is to choose the right raw materials, that is, frozen or canned carcasses. On the packaging of canned food they must write the expiration date and composition. A frozen product needs much more attention. If you defrost the mollusks and then freeze them again, then the prepared dish will taste bitter, however hard you disguise it. You can determine this if you carefully consider the carcass. Thawed earlier stick together among themselves, fresh frozen easily separated from each other. The outer film on the carcass can be of a different color - from light gray or dark purple, the “body” itself is only white. Tentacles are cut and used as a component of minced meat. When cooking squid, you also need to remember the main rule - they can not be digested, otherwise you risk getting a substance similar to rubber. Properly cook the squid in this way: in a saucepan with boiling water with salt and seasonings, lower the carcass, after about 15 seconds, only after the water boils, lower the next one. Thus, we get tasty and delicate stuffing for stuffing.
Stuffed Squids - Best Recipes
Recipe 1: Stuffed Squids with Mushrooms
For the filling, mix the mushrooms with boiled eggs and greens - this is enough to get a tasty, rich, not heavy dish.
Ingredients: squid carcass (3-4 pieces), champignons (200-300 grams),
3-4 squid carcasses (large); eggs (2 pcs.), butter (50 grams), onions (1 pc.), green onion feathers, mayonnaise and sour cream (200 ml), flour (1 spoon), salt and pepper.
Method of preparation
The first step is to prepare squid. Dip them in cold water and clean the inside of the whole carcass. No need to cut. Remove the film and my base. On a colander, water should drain completely. Grate boiled eggs (rice can be used instead of rice). Filling: cut the onions and mushrooms, passe the onions in the pan separately. Add the mushrooms, and grate the finely chopped green feathers, grate the cheese.
Mix it all together, salt it with pepper and mix. Stuff the squid carcasses and fix them with a toothpick so that the contents remain inside, put them into the roaster. In a bowl, mix the sour cream, mayonnaise, salt and pepper, pour the squid sauce and bake in a well-heated oven for about 30-40 minutes. Remove the toothpicks and cut into circles. Put the resulting rolls on the dish and decorate. This is a wonderful dish good in hot and cold.
Recipe 2: Squids stuffed with ham
If you want to pamper yourself and loved ones with something more solid, you can take a smoked ham as a filling. Only at first glance, products seem to be not quite compatible, in fact, this is a delicious dish not only for everyday life, but also on the most sophisticated festive table. A truly royal recipe for snacks, though, and requires a lot of food.
Ingredients:
Squid (800 grams), smoked ham (800 grams), cheese (80 grams), olive oil (200 ml), tomatoes (500 grams), parsley for decoration, rice (200 grams), onion, garlic (6 cloves), white wine (200 grams), salt, pepper, bay leaf, a spoonful of flour.
Method of preparation
Clean squid. Cut the tentacles, cut into strips. We continue to prepare the stuffing ham finely chopped. Grate the cheese, chop and fry the onion. When it becomes golden, add the cut tentacles to the pan, and after 5 minutes put the rice there. Add a little water and simmer until the rice is soft (gradually add water). Remove from heat and mix these ingredients in a separate container with ham, greens and cheese.
Carefully stuff the carcasses and fasten open spaces with toothpicks. Roll in flour and fry in butter until browning. We spread on a plate, and in a pan fry the tomatoes with garlic and greens. At the end, gradually pour in the wine. In the resulting sauce lay out the squid and simmer for 20 minutes, covered with a lid. If the sauce began to thicken - the dish is ready!
Recipe 3: Squids stuffed with pickled mushrooms and rice
This recipe does not imply heat treatment of stuffed carcasses. The filling consists of completely finished products.
Ingredients: squids (8-10 carcasses), boiled rice (150 grams), eggs (3 pcs.), Carrots (150 grams), pickled mushrooms (150 grams), onions (2 pcs.), salt, pepper, a little mayonnaise. Method of preparation
Boil squids, chop finely onions and grate carrots. Fry onion in vegetable oil, add carrot a little later. Cut mushrooms, mix with rice, eggs and onions with carrots. Salt, pepper, add a spoon of mayonnaise. Mix, stuff. A dish can be given a decorative look, for example, decorated in the form of piglets - to make eyes out of black pepper, to cut patches out of carrots, and to stick tails out of tentacles. Cut into pieces just at the table.
Recipe 4: Squids with minced meat in white wine
Stuffing stuffing in tomatoes is very soft. Separately preparing the sauce with wine, and the dish is stewed with wine gravy. Alcohol is evaporated, leaving only the wonderful taste of meat.
Ingredients: frozen peeled squid (1 kg), minced meat (veal, beef, 150 grams), garlic (1 tooth), onion, bay leaf, fresh tomatoes (1-2 pieces), salt, pepper, flour for breading.
Method of preparation
Wash cleaned squids and dry. Mix the stuffing with garlic and chopped parsley, salt, pepper and fill with sweet liqueur or dry wine. Some cooks in these recipes add a bit of minced bacon. Stuff with stuffing, zashpilivaem toothpick and lay out on a plate. Separately, we cut tentacles. Fry the carcasses to golden brown, pre-breaded them in flour. Onions separately fried in butter. Add the grated tomato and the tentacles of the squid. Stew for 10 minutes on low heat. It turns out the sauce. Fill them with carcass and add white wine, add some more. Stew under the lid for about 20 minutes. Squid should be soft.
Stuffed squids - useful tips from experienced chefs
A few more ideas for the filling:
- Squids with zucchini squash. Cut the zucchini with carrot into small pieces, add grated hard cheese, pepper and add a little. Stuff the carcass and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. - Squid with beef heart. Cut the heart into small pieces, fry in oil, add finely chopped onion and carrot, simmer for 20 minutes. Add garlic, pepper and stuff the boiled carcasses.
Interesting Facts
The Museum of Natural History is located in London, one of the characters in its exposition is the perfectly preserved giant squid. Its length is 8 meters 62 centimeters.
This rare luck is to catch such a sea animal alive. Usually they are found only on the beach, when the sea throws out sea animals that died as a result of the storm, or in the stomachs of sperm whales.
The museum was defrosted by the museum staff in several stages - in order to preserve the thin tissues of the tentacles. In order to preserve the exhibit, they turned to the notorious artist Damien Hirst, who retained the bodies of people and animals with the help of formalin. A special tank was made for the giant exhibit, and now you can see squid in its natural form at the exhibition.
