All right everybody, here’s a post worth reading: Tuesday night dinner (that was tonight!)
Here is the firecracker squid, marinating. I made this with shrimp last night, and I have to say, the shrimp is better. The rough surface allows it to hold more sauce. But the squid was perfectly tasty. This dish was inspired by The Pioneer Woman Cooks‘ firecracker shrimp. Her marinade included olive oil, garlic, salt, Sriracha hot chili sauce, and sugar. Mine is the same, with sweet chili sauce substituted for the sugar (I mean, hey, doesn’t that make sense?) For the hottest option I can tolerate, use equal proportions of the two sauces. Unless you’re used to handling chili sauce, though, I’d start with a 3:1 ratio of sweet:hot.
This morning, my mother tipped me off to Tyler Florence’s zucchini carpaccio. Yum! I kept his recommendations for sliced zucchini, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, and leeks. I went off on my own with the herbs (dried dill and fresh parsley) and the choice of cheese (chevre crumbles–remember the Goat Cheese Mind Trick). This dish was absolutely delicious, DO try it.
This IS the side dish you are looking for.
When Sparks got home, I made him a gin and tonic while he got himself settled, then sauteed the squid and pulled yesterday’s batch of Ina Garten’s wheat berry salad out of the fridge.
Dinner was served. I’m pretty proud of myself.
