Baked Calamari

Baked Calamari makes a nice change from the deep fried variety.  This dish is like ratatouille with some calamari thrown in for good measure.  Served with rice or pasta it makes a hearty meal. For a lighter fare you can have it with some chunky bread in a bowl.

Ingredients

1 pound of calamari hoods cleaned and skinned

1 eggplant

1 zucchini

1 bell pepper

1 onion

1 tin of whole tomatos

garlic, thyme, oregano to taste

1 tsp of chili flakes

salt and pepper

olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F

Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds and place into oiled roasting pan.  Slice zucchini into 1/2 inch rounds and place on the eggplant base.  Slice onions and peppers into chunks place on the the eggplant base.  Slice squid hoods into rounds, place ontop of vegetables. Sprinkle liberally with olive oil.  Pour can of whole tomatoes on top of everything.  Spread the seasonings over the whole roasting pan.

Cook for two hours until everything is very soft and the calamari is cooked through.

Serve

Flounder

 I had been eyeing the Flounder at the fish shop for a long time, wondering how cool it would be to roast a whole flounder for dinner one night!  Well I finally gave in a picked up a huge six pounder.  A daunting looking thing that needed to be boned and skinned!  Thankfully I was up to the task.  The Flounder cooks up firm and meaty, with a sweet taste.  It was worth the work to get this fish roasted but I would recommend doing this when you have an afternoon to spare.  The prep is difficult and takes persistence and time.

Home from the fish market with the catch of the day, six pounds of Flounder to prepare for dinner.

The fish eclipses my two foot cutting board!

What a beauty! Thankfully the fish guy had gutted and scaled the beast! 

Remove the head and start to cut back the skin at the large end.

Once you get the skin starting to separate from the meat with a knife you can grab a hold with your hand.  With a fairly large amount of effort you can pull the skin right off the fish and then trim the bones that circle the fish with some kitchen scissors.

Place in a roasting pan, if you can find one big enough.  Oil and salt and pepper the fish, then into a 350 F oven until the internal temp is 165F

Roast to perfection.  Flesh will be opaque and flaky!

The Flounder has meat on both sides of the bones.  With a knife and a fish slice slide off the top fillets.

Pull out the bones.  They will come out easily in one piece at this point in the cook.

This will leave the bottom fillets ready for plating. 

Plate and sauce.  A little browned butter is always nice.

Serve.