Greek Squid Baked in a Brown Bag With Tomatoes, Mint, and Garlic
- 4 lbs squid, cleaned (see note)
- 4 medium tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 6 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1 12 teaspoons salt
- toast, such as Thyme Toasts, for garnish. (see note)
- Preheat the oven to 450F Prepare a brown grocery bag for baking (see Note).
- Place the squid in the center of the prepared bag.
- Top with the tomatoes, garlic, and mint, and then sprinkle the salt over all.
- Fold up the bag envelope style to enclose the ingredients.
- Place the bag, seam side up, on a baking sheet.
- Bake until the bag is puffed out a bit, 20 minutes.
- Transfer the bag to a platter and ease it open, taking care to avoid the escaping steam.
- Arrange 12 to 18 small toasts around the squid and serve right away.
- Serves 6.
- NOTE: To prepare a brown bag for baking, cut it lengthwise and open it out.
- Coat the face-up side (inside) with a thin film of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons for a large grocery bag).
- The oil will seep through to the other side and will prevent the bag from crumbling or burning in the oven during baking.
- PREPARING SQUID: While already cleaned squid are an excellent time-saver and, ounce for ounce, a good buy, too much of the flavor of the sea is washed away in the commercial cleaning.
- I recommend buying whole squid and preparing them yourself.
- With a paring knife, sever the tentacles from the squid body just above the eyes where you feel a hard ball.
- With your fingers, push out the hard ball from the center of the tentacles and discard the ball.
- Gently pull out inside material, trying to avoid tearing the bodies.
- Rinse the prepared tentacles and bodies in a colander.
- To cut cleaned squid bodies into rings, slice crosswise to the thickness desired.
- If the tentacles section is small, leave it whole; if large, halve it lengthwise through the area where the hard ball was located.
- If stuffing the whole squid bodies, fill the squid, close, and secure with toothpicks.
- THYME TOASTS: 1 baguette, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices.
- Several sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Preheat the oven to 450F.
- Arrange the bread slices in one layer on a baking sheet and bake until barely golden around the edges, 5 minutes.
- Using the thyme sprigs as a brush, rub one side of each toast with oil.
- (Or, if using dried thyme, stir it into the oil and use a pastry brush to rub the toasts.)
- Use right away or store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Adventures In Greek Cooking.
tomatoes, garlic, mint leaves, salt, thyme
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/greek-squid-baked-in-a-brown-bag-with-tomatoes-mint-and-garlic-214368 (may not work)