Calamar aux miettes de crabe et fenouil confit

Squid, Picked crabmeat and confir Fennel

 

Ingredients:

300g Squid

20ml olive oil

1 pc fennel bulb

500ml olive oil

150g crab meat

2 pc garlic cloves

1 pc tomato

    =Sauce=

30ml olive oil

15ml soy sauce (Japanese is best)

30g tomatoes

15g chives

Espelette pepper

Salt

    =Décor=

Wooden toothpicks

2 pcs sage leaves

 

Method:

1. Remove the skins from the tomatoes; these can be flattened and dried on a tray in the oven if you would like to use them to garnish on the plate. (just keep an eye on them as they burn quickly) Remove and discard seeds from tomatoes and dice to 5mm cubes and put into the fridge. Half the fennel bulb lengthwise and blanch it until its tender, then dry it thoroughly. VERY GENTLY poach the fennel in olive oil without frying it. Aromatics can be added to this oil if you like (herbs, garlic, onions etc)
2. Clean and trim squid inside and out (feeling for the thin piece of cartilage on the inside) separate tentacles.
3. Using a small amount of the fennel oil in a pan, fry the tentacles and dry on paper.
4. For stuffing; dice some of the tentacles (you can leave out one or two for garnish), chop crab meat, garlic and some herbs if you like (parsley and basil are nice) dice some of the fennel leaving two wedges for garnish. Separate out 1/3 of the tomatoes for stuffing (the rest is for the sauce). Combine all stuffing ingredients and season to taste. Stuff squids and secure with toothpicks.
5. When ready to plate, add some fennel oil to a new pan. Fry the calamaris until evenly golden all over, remove from pan. Remove excess fat and large bits from the pan. Add the rest of the tomato dice to the pan along with the espelette. Add the soy and olive oil (the sauce will look broken, but that's what you want) taste and season, at the last minute had a small amount of finely diced chives.
6. Plate up garnished with fresh or fried sage leaves (they are yummy fried!)