calamari croquettes

The other day I was enjoying a special lunch at Manolo León and was urged to try the new chipirone croquettes, and well, they were amazing! So much flavour and served with an ajoblanco sauce.

I loved them so much that last weekend I decided to try making them myself – so be forewarned that this recipe is totally off the top of my head. But in fact, it was quite an adventure and the croquetas turned out very nicely. Instead of ajoblanco I served a bit of salsa az on the side, and instead of chipirones I used smallish calamari (the only squid I could find on a Sunday), but what the heck.

Ingredients and instructions below the links.

pescaíto frito

It all started on Twitter the other day when @OstreaEdulis asked me about the breading on some cazón en adobo that he was enjoying in Jerez. I said they were probably using harina para freír … and before I knew it I was in the market yesterday buying some fish and squid to fry. Then I stopped off at the supermarket to pick up some special flour for frying. I don’t fry much at home (prefer to let the tapas bars do it for me) so it had been a few years since I’d used this flour. I’d forgotten how perfect it was, giving a nice even coating and with a lovely “dry” finish – not greasy at all – as you can see in the two top pics (the bottom one is of pan-fried chiperones). Click to enlarge.

More photos and instructions below the links.

dijon chicken thingys

[click on image to enlarge]

So these are just quick snacky chicken thingys … the difference is the dijon mustard.  Not greasy at all, but very crispy, tender and tasty. Served here with a wilted spinach, onion and mushroom salad, with caesar salad dressing.

Instructions below the links.