Calamari

I put my book down, removed the cat from my stomach and got up from the couch. Pausing for a second, I decided I was still queasy and the feeling that a heart attack was eminent in the somewhat distant future remained. I resolved not to dismiss nutrition labels quite so freely in the future.

For dinner, I actually made a real dinner. One that entailed effort and thought and a bit of planning. As always, the planning left a lot to be desired. I have had in my freezer a bag of calamari rings. The only way I know to cook them is to deep fry them. The three necessary elements of defrosting the calamari, having oil on hand and the time to cook it had never coincided until tonight. Idly looking in the freezer, I remembered that I had them and that I had time to waste.

I'm developing a habit of looking at the nutrition labels. Right now, my big concern is sodium. There's a surprising amount of it in a lot of things. I once did not buy premade dinners due the obscene amounts of sodium contained within the tiny package. Since then, I haven't even bothered looking at them.

So I turned the package over and read about calamari. One line made me pause but I decided it couldn't be that bad. I dug out my cast iron pan with the tall sides and started heating up the oil.

If you ever decide to cook calamari rings, it's quite simple. You heat the oil. A simple trick to know if the oil is hot enough is to drop a small lump of butter in it. When it starts bubbling and looking like it is frying, then the oil is hot enough. Of course, using a thermometer is smarter. I did both.

To prepare the calamari, you defrost it. Mix together flour, salt, pepper, and I used a bit of chili powder. Lightly flour the rings and then drop them into the fat. Jump back as the fat will spit. When the rings float and are brown, then they're done. It takes about two minutes. Pull them out. The best way to drain them is on a cooling rack over a baking pan. Sprinkle some salt over them.

I decided while I had the fat going, I'd do fries too. Fries are done when they too float and are brown. I added a salad to the side and dinner was done.

Normally by now I would be tucking into something sweet. The thought of more food makes me feel rather sick.

I should not have disregarded the one line on the nutrion label:
Cholesterol . . . 85% of your daily recommended value.

And I deep fried it too. With fries . . . .