can we say Cala-freaking-mari?!

There are some foods I think seem a little intimidating to make at home.

Or perhaps people think of certain foods as 'restaurant' goodies.

Well, I'd like to shed some light on one of the all time great foods we love to order at restaurants, but never really make at home...

the ever so daunting but undeniably delicious,

CALAMARI.

Oh yea baby.

Who doesn't love love love them some calamari?

I know I do.

Isn't it a known fact that anything fried, really, is going to taste incredible?!

Actually, scratch that.

Have you seen some of the foods they fry at the county fairs?

Some of the stuff they dip in breading couldn't even be considered 'food'.

Fried Snickers?

Fried Butter?

Yea, no thanks.

I'll pass.

But fried calamari?

Now that's a food worth frying.

The crunch of the breading,

the texture of the calamari,

what's not to love.

It's a little slice of salty heaven.

And truly, it's quite easy to whip up a batch at home.

Trust.

I wouldn't lie to you.

I'm not a very good liar anyway, so you would know if I was.

Maybe.

:)

There are certain little hands and mouths that absolutely loved the calamari and couldn't get enough of the dipping sauce I made.

I named it Bloody Cilantro Sauce.

I made it with blood oranges.

Get it?

Bloody Cilantro.

Because of the blood oranges...

Clever?

Or Creepy?

Creepy, right?

I'll work on the name.

Anyway, here are some estimated numbers that I came up with.

I really need to start writing things down...

Calamari:

2 calamari steaks, sliced into thin strips

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 tblspn garlic powder

2 tspn onion powder

1 tspn paprika

1 1/2 tspn salt

1 tspn pepper

Mix all the dry ingredients together and dredge the calamari strips.

Heat the vegetable oil to 360 and fry calamari until crispy, about 1-3 minutes.

Take out of oil and place on a paper towel to absorb some of the oil.

Immediately sprinkle with salt.

Wanna make my Bloody Sauce? ;)

Ok, let's change the name tooooooo.......

Peachy Cilantro Sauce.

Better, no?

It's tres delicious, so I highly recommend you get on this sauce.

You can use it for many different things too, so it's worth it!

I poured it over fish and baked it in the oven and it was so yummy.

Like SUPER yummy.

Here's the lowdown on the sauce...

Peachy Cilantro Sauce:

2 Blood oranges, juiced

2 garlic cloves

1 bunch cilantro

2 tablespoons honey

2 heaping tablespoons peach preserves

1 jalapeno, (you can seed it if you don't want your sauce too spicy)

A few glugs of olive oil, I'd say like 1/4 cup

salt and pepper

Throw everything in the food processor and blend.

If it's too thick, taste it and see if it needs anything.

Sometimes I'll even add some water to thin out my sauces so I don't overdo the flavors if I think they are right on and don't need anything more.

You can add more honey or peach preserves if you like a sweeter sauce.

I'm telling you, this sauce is some serious eats!

Tons of flavor and so versatile!

Try it.

Taste it.

Love it.