Summer & Spice - Grilled Buffalo Calamari

You don't have to eat poultry to enjoy Buffalo flavor. Turns out, Buffalo ANYTHING is pretty darn delicious - even humble Cauliflower becomes the life of the party when paired with America's favorite spicy sauce. 

In today's post, we give Calamari a really fun twist. Buffalo Calamari is a light seafood appetizer that is fun, super shareable and easy to execute in just ten minutes of active time. While I prefer to marinate the squid for about an hour in a bit in Oil, Lemon, Salt and Pepper, it's still good even if you don't have time for that. 

Grilling Calamari outdoors on a grill pan will prevent the tubes from slipping through the cracks. Alternately, you can boil Calamari on the stove just a few minutes until it is fully opaque and firm but not rubbery. Toss it in the sauce and you have a winning starter that guests will love. Enjoy and let's get to it. 

Grilled Buffalo Calamari, Photo: NK

Grilled Buffalo Calamari
Serves 3-4 as a light Appetizer

Ingredients: 
1.25 Pounds Cleaned Calamari, Tubes and Tentacles
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil 
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Salt 
Pepper
2.5 Tablespoons Frank's Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Melted
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce 
Scallions and Cilantro or Celery/Celery Leaves for garnish

Method: 
About an hour before you'd like to grill, add the cleaned Calamari to a large Ziploc Bag with the Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, and a few light shakes of Salt and Pepper. Allow to sit in the fridge for an hour. 

Preheat your grill until very hot with a thin Grill Pan suited for seafood on top of it. Grill Calamari about 3-4 minutes per side until golden in parts and opaque, but not rubbery. Remove Calamari to a cutting board to cool a bit. Once cooled, slice into 1/2 inch rings and leave small tentacles intact. Place in a mixing bowl. 

In a small saucepan, mix the Hot Sauce, 2 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter and 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce. When the butter melts, mix into the Calamari and toss. Serve warm with your desired garnishes and enjoy!

Summer Gets Spicy - Old Bay Baked Chicken Wings

Anyone who knows me would agree that I'm a major spicy food hound. While my main obsession is hot sauce, I actually like all types of spices - anything that adds flavor complexity or an extra kick is welcomed by me. 

Old Bay Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings, Photo: NK

A Line Up of the Usual Suspects, Photo: NK

Today's recipe is an slightly different take on traditional buffalo wings. Old Bay Seasoning, an iconic spice blend most often used on seafood, gives these wings an extra zesty undertone of added flavor that enhances their inherent hot sauce goodness. Old Bay has a cult following and an interesting history too. Click here to learn more: The Old Bay Story   

Our recipe calls for baked wings making them slightly lighter, while letting the wings sit in spices overnight helps infuse flavor. These will be a hit with your friends and family, and as you might expect, they are sure way to any man's heart. My husband gobbled these up in no time oohing and ahhing all the way through. Men sure can be simple creatures, in a good way, and sometimes keeping food simple is the way to go.

Old Bay Buffalo Wings 
Adapted from Serious Eats

Old Bay Seasoning, Photo: NK

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:
1.5 Tablespoons of Old Bay Seasoning 
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
2 Lbs Chicken Wings and Drums
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted 
2.5 Tablespoons Frank's Red Hot sauce
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Method:
The day before (if possible)
In a bowl, mix together Old Bay, Baking Powder, and Salt.

Pat the Chicken Wings dry and place Wings in a large bowl.

Sprinkle in the Old Bay mixture and toss to evenly coat.

Lay the wings on a wire rack leaving space in between them.

Place the rack on top of a foil lined baking sheet. 
Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Prepping the Wings, Photo: NK

The day of
Preheat the oven to 425.
Place the baking sheet and rack into the oven and cook until browned and crisp. 35 to 45 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine Butter, Hot Sauce and Worcestershire. Mix.
Add Wings to the bowl and toss thoroughly to coat with sauce.
Serve immediately with a beer and lots of napkins!
Enjoy! 

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