STUFFED SQUID

New home, new country, new Christmas. I was determined to make a good first impression. Christmas Eve dinner should be based on fish dishes, in the Italian tradition. This tradition made it across the water so it was also a tradition among some families in the US. Therefore I was a bit taken aback to discover that this part of Italy, didn't go for fish on Christmas eve. Later, I realized I could have gotten away with smoked herring that is sold in convenient plastic packages without fish bones or skin. In the North, where I happened to be this delight is served with boiled potatoes, Nice and easy, especially during flu season.

Having just arrived, I was not aware of this yet. Therefore I went for stuffed squid, which seemed most appropriate for Christmas since it is not something one fixes every day. Certainly it is used here, especially in towns close to the sea, the case for most of Italy, but not here in the north.

Here I am, going to the fish store, acquiring squid, fortunately, they offer to clean it. something I didn't realize was necessary. Squid have an ink sac of black ink that you don't want in your stuffed squid, therefore it has to be removed. Squid also have a big piece of calcium that is used by birds to sharpen the beak. This also has to be removed.

Squid turned out to be more complicated than I thought originally. In addition, I began to have flu symptoms. Of course I ignored them at first. I was about to stuff squid.

First one must prepare the squid sacs, by rinsing and making sure that they are empty. Now for the stuffing Making the stuffing requires few ingredients, but it does require some preparation. First, one must cut off the little tentacles. Yes, after catching and cleaning, there are still little tentacles to cut up and put in the pan with garlic and parsley, cook in olive oil briefly, and then mix with bread crumbs. Sounds quite simple, no? It is simple enough, but when the flu is coming and you have a small child to care for at the same time, it becomes more difficult. If one has lived in the house for years, then you have probably accumulated plenty of dried bread with which to make crumbs. I was at my in-laws. mother-in-law didn't like to cook, so I had to scare up some crumbs. I finally had to buy some at the super market. This was beginning to look more difficult than I thought.

Finally, I had it all together. so I could mix it up. So I did. Then it was time to stuff the clean little sac. Here again I ran into some trouble. The difficulty was how to close the sac. Toothpicks weren't long enough. So I ended up sewing with a needle and cooking string that had to be removed before eating

I finally put the stuffed squid in the tomato sauce in the oven..

Now it wold be ready to eat in 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, my flu symptoms also came to full force.

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New home, new country, new Christmas. I was determined to make a good first impression. Christmas Eve dinner should be based on fish dishes, in the Italian tradition. This tradition made it across the water so it was also a tradition among some families in the US. Therefore I was a bit taken aback to discover that this part of Italy, didn't go for fish on Christmas eve. Later, I realized I could have gotten away with smoked herring that is sold in convenient plastic packages without fish bones or skin. In the North, where I happened to be this delight is served with boiled potatoes, Nice and easy, especially during flu season.

Having just arrived, I was not aware of this yet. Therefore I went for stuffed squid, which seemed most appropriate for Christmas since it is not something one fixes every day. Certainly it is used here, especially in towns close to the sea, the case for most of Italy, but not here in the north.

Here I am, going to the fish store, acquiring squid, fortunately, they offer to clean it. something I didn't realize was necessary. Squid have an ink sac of black ink that you don't want in your stuffed squid, therefore it has to be removed. Squid also have a big piece of calcium that is used by birds to sharpen the beak. This also has to be removed.

Squid turned out to be more complicated than I thought originally. In addition, I began to have flu symptoms. Of course I ignored them at first. I was about to stuff squid.

First one must prepare the squid sacs, by rinsing and making sure that they are empty. Now for the stuffing Making the stuffing requires few ingredients, but it does require some preparation. First, one must cut off the little tentacles. Yes, after catching and cleaning, there are still little tentacles to cut up and put in the pan with garlic and parsley, cook in olive oil briefly, and then mix with bread crumbs. Sounds quite simple, no? It is simple enough, but when the flu is coming and you have a small child to care for at the same time, it becomes more difficult. If one has lived in the house for years, then you have probably accumulated plenty of dried bread with which to make crumbs. I was at my in-laws. mother-in-law didn't like to cook, so I had to scare up some crumbs. I finally had to buy some at the super market. This was beginning to look more difficult than I thought.

Finally, I had it all together. so I could mix it up. So I did. Then it was time to stuff the clean little sac. Here again I ran into some trouble. The difficulty was how to close the sac. Toothpicks weren't long enough. So I ended up sewing with a needle and cooking string that had to be removed before eating

I finally put the stuffed squid in the tomato sauce in the oven..

Now it would be ready to eat in 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, my flu symptoms also came to full force.