Meeting up with a Fellow Blogger and a Recipe for Squid with Lemon and Garlic

Today I met my  blogging friend Anne for the first time. Take a look at her interesting blog, which is mainly about France; she has some stunning photos.  

It is amazing that after following each other's blogs for several months, we discovered that our homes in the UK are in the same village. We are just walking distance from each other!!  Over a cup, or 2, of coffee we chatted away for ages.  It was so good to be able to just talk and find out more about each other.  We will meet again.

Anne and myself  meeting outside the local tea room, which was unfortunately closed for kitchen repairs!!  We went back to Anne's home and had our coffee there. Thanks Anne. I see I have the same jersey on as my blog photo, I promise you it is not the only one I own :-)

While out shopping the other day, I saw squid marked down to half price, I always love a bargain so I thought I would give it a try.

Squid with Lemon and Garlic.

Ingredients: for 2 people

500gr (abt 1 lb) small squid, cleaned and ready-prepared
1 large lemon, grated zest and juice
3 cloves garlic, grated
75ml olive oil (abt 3 fl oz)
2 to 3 heaped tblsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly milled black pepper
I lemon cut into quarters to squeeze over when served

Method

Pull out the little tentacles and wash, dry with kitchen paper and put aside for later. Cut the body section into 1 cm (½ inch) rings and wash them under cold running water;  pat dry with kitchen paper. Place them in a small dish, adding the reserved tentacles. Squeeze the lemon juice over the squid pieces, toss and leave it for 10 minutes. Drain the squid through a colander and shake well to remove excess liquid.

Heat oil in a large, non stick frying pan, add the garlic and lemon zest while cool, allowing the oil to get hot. When it is hot, add the squid and fry it, stirring it all the time so it just slightly takes on a little colour at the edges – it cooks very quickly, a maximum of 2 minutes.

Then add the salt, pepper and parsley and serve it straight away from the pan, with lemon wedges to squeeze over.

In the pan

and on the table.

.
I served it with couscous and mange tout and I was very sorry that I had not bought more squid and frozen them!!

When cooking couscous I chop up a few vegetables that I might have in the fridge. This time I used 1 carrot, 1 onion, a clove of garlic and a small pepper. After chopping them quite small, I add a little oil to the saucepan and cook the vegetables gently.  When the vegetables are soft, I add 400 ml (14 fl ozs) of water, with a teaspoon of chicken stock powder, and bring it to the boil.  I then add 200gr (7 oz) of couscous, stir well, put the lid on the pan and allow it to stand for 5 to 10 minutes.  Mix well with a fork and serve.

Enjoy