Grilled Seafood Recipe: Simple but Exquisitely Mediterranean

Our Grilled Seafood Recipe for Squid and Mussels

Over the past several weeks, my good friends at SmokinLicious® have allowed me to make their Tips & Techniques blog platform “my home away from culinary home” to highlight the cooking with wood style.  I hope you’ve enjoyed the articles as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.  Before I begin an extended hiatus overseas, as my thanks, I thought I’d leave you with a pretty easy and flavorful recipe that showcases all the virtues of wood grilling with a couple of my favorite seafood- squid and mussels.  The cooking style is one that is very popular in the Mediterranean region.  Give it a try and let us know how it fared!

Let’s start out with squid or “calamari” as my Italian friends remind me.  Whether it’s squid or calamari, it’s got to be fresh!  Prepare first by thawing and rinsing thoroughly with cold water.  Drizzle with a good quality of EVOO.

Grilling the Squid

Grill over the hottest part of the wood fire, cover to get a shot of wood smoke flavor.  It’s important to not overcook the calamari.  If your grill is really hot (and it should be) cook just long enough to get a grill sear mark (30-40 seconds per side) Remove immediately when ready. Drizzle again with EVOO, season with salt and pepper.  Spritz with a squeezed fresh quartered lemon section and garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley.  Plate and serve right off the grill!

Mussel Preparation

Next, grilling the mussels in the shell!  Rinse the shelled mussels with cold water. Remove the beard with a quick, firm yank.  Working in batches, place shelled mussels directly on grill grate over the hottest part of the wood fire.  When shells just begin to open, cover to allow for a wood smoke infusion.   After a minute, uncover and remove with tongs.  Make sure you discard any unopened mussels.  Quickly but carefully, remove the mussel meat from the opened shells with a fork or spoon and collect the meat in a mixing bowl.


After shelling out the mussels, drizzle with a good amount of EVOO (1/8 cup), season with salt and pepper and a hefty spritz of a squeezed whole fresh lemon.  Plate and serve right away.  For a flavor option, if desired, before grilling the mussels, prepare a mixture of clarified butter (about 2 tablespoons per 1 dozen mussels) with equal amounts (1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon) of finely chopped garlic, oregano, and parsley.  Season the grilled mussel meat with the mixture, plate and serve with wedges of fresh lemons.

I hope you enjoy these recipes.  Keep on cooking with wood!  Bon Appetite!

STUFFED SQUID COOKED ON THE PLANCHA WITH SMOKINLICIOUS®

Bringing smoke flavor to stuffed squid done on the plancha will provide wonderful and unique flavor to this appetizer.

We love demonstrating the versatility of SmokinLicious® products with all types of equipment.  We’re taking our Piccolo® wood chips to the plancha to smoke infuse some stuffed squid for a unique appetizer.   Don’t own a plancha?  You can do the same thing with a standard stovetop griddle and a small roasting rack.  Or, use a charcoal or gas grill with some wood chunks for the same smoky flavor.

Plancha Cooking

A plancha is a flat top grill made of heavy metal that can be placed on any type of heat source: electric, gas, infrared, induction, charcoal grill, gas grill.  Basically, a plancha is a griddle made of metal.

What’s great about a plancha is you can do simple hot smoke infusion using a micro wood chip that is quite fast due to the intense heat these quality metal cookware pieces produce.

My plancha is made by the French company, Mastrad.  I prepare the plancha by placing it on my heat source – in this case my gas range – set the heat level to medium-high, place a handful of SmokinLicious® Piccolo® Wood Chips in Beech size #10 on the plancha, and place the two smoking racks on the griddle.  I’ll give the wood chips about 5 minutes to heat up and start releasing smoke, then it’s time to place on the stuffed squid bodies.

Stuffed Squid Ingredients

For our stuffed squid you’ll need to gather the following ingredients in addition to SmokinLicious® Piccolo® Smoker Wood Chips (Beech):

• 2 large ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1-1/2 heads of frisee or other green lettuce, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons capers
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1-1/2 pounds squid, bodies only, rinsed – should be about 8 bodies

 

Making Stuffing

Time to make the squid stuffing.  Taking a medium bowl, combine the seeded and diced tomato, chopped greens, and capers.  In a small bowl, make the dressing by whisking together the 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, lime juice and zest, salt, and pepper.  Drizzle over the stuffing mixture and toss to coat.

Stuffing the Squid

Taking one squid body at a time, fill with the stuffing mix using a teaspoon within ½ inch of the open top.  Then lace a toothpick through the top.  Brush all the bodies with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil.  Then they’re ready to place on the hot plancha.

Plancha Cooking

With the wood chips hot and releasing smoke vapor, I place the readied stuffed squid on the cooking racks.  These will cook and smoke for about 7 minutes before I will turn them.  Another 4-5 minutes on the other side, and you’ll see a golden hue and plump shiny bodies emerge.  Turn off the heat to your plancha and carefully remove the squid.  Cut into 1-inch slices and serve warm.

There are many variations to stuffing squid bodies but this is one that is essentially vegetarian in design so it can be enjoyed by everyone.