calamari chain restaraunt style

Last week I was out of town for work. We were in the Bloomington/Normal Illinois area, and based on nothing but a hotel magazine advertisement, we chose a place called Biaggi's for dinner. It's a small chain Italian place, but I had never heard of it, as there are none located anywhere near the STL. I was quite pleasantly surprised by how good the food was! For an appetizer we had the Calamari Alla Griglia, "Tender marinated calamari, lightly grilled and served over arugula with extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar" and it was probably the best calamari I've had anywhere. It was grilled, which was a first for me, and I loved the slight smokiness.

So I had a bag of frozen calamari waiting for me in the freezer, and decided to pull it out to try and replicate Biaggi's for a quick and easy Monday night meal. Well, it wasn't quite so easy because I was apparently being far from smart that night...I ended up ruining the seasoning on our cast iron skillet that Jack had worked for about a year to get to where it was. Yeah Balsamic vinegar AND frozen seafood liquid are big no-nos...I just wasn't thinking. Oh well, I salvaged the meal using another pan, and now I get to learn how to season cast iron!



The calamari was pretty good. I cooked some garlic in olive oil, then added balsamic vinegar, liquid smoke (to try and get that grilled flavor...our grill is out of gas) and salt and pepper and then the calamari. I cooked it probably about7 minutes? Somehow I managed to NOT overcook it. Yay! Then I served it over a bed of Arugula. I'm beginning to love arugula more and more. Its peppery bitterness compliments so many things. In this case the sweetness of the calamari and vinegar. It was good, although next time I'll thaw the calamari fully first, and rinse it and dry it. I had to pour a lot of liquid out during cooking, and there was absolutely no carmelization. Also, the calamari was a little fishy tasting...I think rinsing might have helped that...or marinating it for an hour or so...



My favorite part of the meal, and something I'll probably be making a lot, was the improvised side dish of cannellini beans and roasted red pepper. I sautéed some garlic in olive oil, added a can of the beans, salt and pepper and a roasted red pepper from a jar, which I chopped up. I'm always looking for new, easy side dishes.




The next day I had the leftovers for lunch...I added the beans to leftover calamari and arugula and ate it cold, like a salad. Like a really good salad.

food finds

Some foods I've discovered lately that I am diggin big time...

*Pigeon Peas! I discovered a can of these green fellers in the Mexican section at my local grocery store. I gave them a try because, well, I love beans. They are soooo good! I usually combine them with cous cous, mexican spices, some lowfat cheese and salsa (I've been on a Pineapple salsa kick lately). It's cheap, easy and healthy. The Pigeon peas have a slightly nutty taste. Less "mushy" than beans...almost like edamame. Yum!

*Quaker Maple Brown Sugar Multi-grain cakes. Rice cakes? I Know! But, dang, these things are flavorful! They taste just like pancakes, but they are crunchy, and good for you! Great for a sweet-tooth snack, at only 50 calories per cake. And 1 gram of fiber! YAY! FIBER!

*Chocolate Chex Mix. In particular, the Chocolate peanutbutter variety. Such a good idea. Chocolate and peanut butter flavored chex, peanuts and little fake m&m's with pretzels. Now, there were too many pretzels, so we ate them first, so we could enjoy all the other goodness without the bother of all the darn pretzels.

where've ya bean?

Even though my stomach disagrees, I think that Beans are one of the earth's perfect foods. Healthy, versatile, yummy, cheap. Beans are great!

In fact, they are the theme for the next "My Blog is Burning," which I may have to participate in this time. Here's the info, plus some fantastic bean puns from Too Many Chefs. Bean Martin. that's classic.

Here's a can of beans that's traveling all over the world.

Beans & Crockpots are true soul-mates.

Who doesn't love a good bean tale? A Jack & the Beanstalk database with different versions and illustrations.

Mexican jumping beans jump because they have moth larvae in 'em. ew.

Speaking of ew, we all know beans are the "musical fruit." Blame it on oligosaccharides. But don't fret. There are precautions you can take to lessen the sound effects.

A favorite gulity pleasure (guilty in that it's cheap fast-food) is actually pretty healthy. Taco Bell Bean Burrito Fresco Style. Now, making burritos at home is even better....healthier and probably cheaper, and of course yummier. My favorite way to make them was inspired by the gi-huge-ic burritos at Tomatillo's. All you do is make plain white rice, and when it's done you add chopped up fresh cilantro and jalepeno (about one bunch's worth of cilatro leaves and 1 or 2 peppers, depending on their heat) and mix thoroughly. pile some in a large tortilla, add beans (I like black beans...from a can...flavored with cumin, garlic powder, mexican oregano and hot pepper flakes) and any other burrito fare you desire (cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, etc.). Since you're getting bulk from rice and beans, you can make a dozen burritos easy...burritos for a week!

Vanilla Beans are sexy.

The Bean Bible. Bean praying?

The Powamu Festival is a Hopi Indian celebration of the bean sprout. The Bean sprout represents fertility. and there's flogging!

Jelly Bean art.

Bean art.

Bean fortune telling.

Chocolate covered beans. Coffee beans that is. *drool*

Well, that's enough beans to power a submarine, i think. It's bean real, it's bean fun! (sorry, couldn't help myself.)