how2heroes » Squid Bruschetta

Quick & Easy » Squid Bruschetta

Central Cambridge Farmers' Market visitors got more than a cooking demo and tasty samples when Cooking for Geeks author Jeff Potter came to town. He also explained the nuances of cooking squid: "Squid was a culinary mystery to me for a long time. Either cook it for a few minutes or an hour; anywhere in between, and it becomes tough, like chewing on rubber bands. (Not that I chew on rubber bands often enough to say what that's like.) Why is this? The collagen in squid and octopus is enjoyable in either its native state or hydrolyzed state, but not in its denatured state. It takes a few minutes to denature, so with just a quick pan sear it remains in its native state and tossed with some fresh tomatoes and dropped on top of bruschetta, it’s delicious."

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Ingredients

1 loaf of French or Italian bread, sliced into ½” (1 cm) slices
1 lb (500g) squid (either a mix of bodies and tentacles or just bodies)
1 cup (250g) diced tomatoes (about 2 medium tomatoes), seeds removed
1 tbsp (2g) fresh herbs such as oregano or parsley
¼ tsp sea salt
ground pepper to taste

Special Equipment

pastry brush
kitchen shears
wooden spoon or silicone spatula

How-to

Toast the Bread

To make a simple squid bruschetta, start by preparing a loaf of French or Italian bread by slicing it into ½” (1 cm) slices. You can create larger slices by cutting on the bias. (Save the triangular end piece for munching on when no one is looking)
Lightly coat both sides of the bread with olive oil (this is normally done with a pastry brush, but if you don’t have one, you can either fold up a paper towel and “brush” with it or pour olive oil onto a plate and brieﬂy dip the bread into the oil)
A broiler works best. Place the slices of bread 4–6” (10–15 cm) from the heat. Flip as soon as they begin to turn golden brown. If you don’t have a broiler, you can use an oven set to 400°F / 200°C. For small batches, a toaster also works. Once your bread is toasted, place it on a plate and store it in the oven (with the heat off) so that it remains warm

Prepare Squid, Add Herbs & Tomatoes & Serve

Slice the squid with a knife or, better yet, cut it into bite-sized pieces using kitchen shears
Bring a sauté pan up to medium heat. You want the pan hot enough so that the squid will quickly come to temperature. Add a small amount of olive oil, enough to coat the pan thinly when swirled, and drop the squid into the pan
Use a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to stir the squid. Take note when it starts to turn white, should become subtly less translucent, and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Add tomatoes and herbs, toss and serve with toasted bread

Excerpted from Cooking for Geeks by Jeff Potter