Gordon Ramsay's Squid with Roasted Peppers and Cannellini Beans

I never follow recipes.
My food might be better if I did.
That being said,
this half-assed followed recipe is not half bad.

Let me qualify this first picture.
I had friends over.
I get only one day off a week. Thursday.
Most weeks I like to spend my day off alone.
Sometimes it feels like just another day.
Sometimes when my friends come it feels like it doubles
my time off. Which is a good thing.
So when Catie and George showed up at 9:30 in the morning....
A thousand pictures later {literally} and one burnt red bell pepper.
Not bad considering the amount of beer we drank.
Yes we got our partyness on.




Squid With Roasted Red Peppers and Cannellini Beans

(as I made it)

Ingredients:

1 pound squid
a few thyme sprigs, leaves stripped
a few rosemary sprigs, leaves stripped
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
lemon zest to taste
juice of one and a half lemons
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
10 oz jar roasted red peppers (i roasted my own)
2 - 14 oz cans of cannellini beans
rinsed and drained
sea salt
black pepper
small bunch of Italian parsley

Gordon added one small red chili
sliced on the diagonal. I didn't have one on hand.

Preparation:

(as he instructed, I did not do. ha. squid was cleaned I grilled it as is)

Cut along one side of the body pouches to open them out,
then lightly score the flesh in a crisscross patter.
Lay the scored squid and tentacles in a shallow dish
and sprinkle with the herb leaves, coriander seeds, chile,
garlic, lemon zest (he used pared rinds), and 1/2 the lemon juice.
Drizzle over 2-3 tbs of olive oil then toss the squid to coat all over
with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the frig
for 20 to 30 minutes.
I marinated overnight.

Heat a stovetop grill pan.
Transfer the squid to a plate, ready to cook,
scraping off and reserving the excess marinade.

Pat the roasted peppers with paper towels to absorbe excess oil,
then slice into strips. Heat the reserved marinade from the squid
in a saute' pan and add the peppers, beans, remaining lemon juice,
and some seasoning. Saute' 3- 5 minutes, to heat thru. Set aside.

Place the squid ont eh grill pan, laying the scored pieces flat.
Cook until the squid turns opaque, about one minute on each side
for the scored pieces a little longer for the tentacles. Remove to a plate.
When cool enough to handle slice the squid body into strips
and cut tentacles in half (didn't need to cut the tentacles)

Stir in the sliced squid and chopped parsley through the warm peppers and beans.
Serve immediately.
I added more rosemary and thyme, I felt the parsley wasn't the right herb flavor for this.

you're wondering about the 1,000 picture day off?


really wanna see em?


do ya?



GOOD TIMES:
here's only a few.
its as far as I got editing them.








the love portion of our day.







we are cheap entertainment















the dancing portion of our day

I did NOT step on his foot.




we laughed a lot.
we ALWAYS laugh a lot.

{Bad News Bears, yeh?}

I'll save the rest for another day.....livin large requires more than one posting!











: )