Tuesday 21 January 2020

Fritto Misto di Mare

I think Italians created Fritto Misto to be a stand by meal, one which is quick and very satisfying.  Add a good handful of capers, some lemon quarters and a lovely rich aioli and it becomes sublime.  Serve with a fresh green salad as well and your guests will be impressed.


Yesterday afternoon I had a Doctor's appointment at 4.30pm.  Being tied up at work I was running 10 minutes late by the time I arrived at the doctors surgery and almost phoned to apologise for my lateness.  When I arrived, luckily there was a convenient park close by to the building.
Located just before the receptionist's desk is a large monitor whereby you enter you name and date of birth to confirm that you have arrived for your appointment.   After I signed in I was informed that I was 5th in queue!  So much for the worry of keeping them waiting.
Needless to say by the time I saw the Doctor, departed, then went to the Chemist to get a prescription, popped the prescription back in the car to get shopping bags and proceeded to the supermarket it was already after 6pm.  After scanning my items, I realised there was no wallet in my handbag and that it was probably sitting on the back seat of the car with my prescription.  The lovely check out operator assured me she would set my shopping aside until I returned to pay for the items.
It was 6.30pm and I was quite frazzled by the time I arrived home, with the groceries.

I hadn't even unpacked the shopping before our two gorgeous adult sons waltzed in the door and even though they said they were coming home on this day, we hadn't heard from them so assumed they would arrive the next day instead.

It was too hot and late to cook lasagne on this 30C day.

One thing I always keep in the freezer is frozen green prawns, tail on and off, squid tubes, baby octopus and whitebait.  These all defrost well and you cannot buy them fresh in our town.  I always buy fresh fish as there is a good variety available.
This means that when you choose to you can always cook a seafood dish.
Hence, we had a quick version of fritto misto, complete with capers, fried red chilli and shallots with lemon.


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Fritto Misto di Mare

(Mixed Fried Seafood)

2 squid tubes,cleaned, scored and sliced into 1 x 2cm strips
400g prawns, shells removed but tails on and deveined
150g whitebait
200g baby octopus cleaned and cut into halves
handful of rinsed capers
lemon quarters
180g rice flour 
180g potato starch (can use cornflour instead)
salt and pepper
vegetable for deep frying

Mix the rice flour and potato starch together with salt and pepper.  
Heat the vegetable oil to 170C in a deep fryer.
Dip the pieces of seafood into the flour mix and drop about 10 pieces per time into the hot oil and cook for 2 minutes.  Drain on absorbent paper and keep warm whilst you fry the remaining seafood.
Fry chopped chilli and shallot in a separate small frying pan and sprinkle on top of the seafood with the capers. 
Serve with lemon quarters and a healthy green garden salad.
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Do you like to be on time for your appointments too?
What is your favourite deep fried seafood?

Buon appetito, enjoy Merryn xx


16 comments:

  1. I can't remember when I last had some squid or cuttlefish. This has me drool terribly :-))

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  2. Thanks Angie for your kind comment. I especially love squid too, cuttlefish is available occasionally here and I always buy it when possible.

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  3. I hope you are OK! And that was amazing your wallet had not been stolen. I get so frustrated when Doctors run late and don't call you to let you know. I really want to cook baby octopus but we don't get fresh ones here. Only imported ones. Enjoy the time with your sons.

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    1. Baby octopus is so beautiful and tender when you can source it, otherwise in restaurants on holidays is a good choice as well. Thank you Tandy it is lovely to have time with our children.

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  4. Yum! Clever idea for a quick meal too Merryn! I need to have a full battery on my phone whenever I go to the doctor's office as sometimes the wait is over 2 hours.

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    1. Ouch, 2 hours! I will never complain again with our one hour wait :D

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  5. yum delicious i love this dish. what a shame my hubby doesn't :-( cheers and happy new year sherry

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    1. I know what you mean it's tough when you do not like the same dish and you usually compromise to keep your family happy.

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  6. How much do you want a bet that if you kept that same doctor waiting, they'd want to charge you some kind of late fee? Go figure. You're so nice about it. At least some good food came on the other end!

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    1. Thanks Jeff, yes, you are right, they certainly know how to charge and in the same context do not offer a discount for your waiting time.

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  7. Organizing the freezer so that you can make a last-minute meal is an impressive accomplishment!

    By late afternoon I think every doctor I know is running late because they schedule the appointments so close together that they can't keep up. It's understandable with doctors, but when my hairdresser does it I really get angry.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for yourcomment Mae, you are right, we shouldn't complain as it is well worth the wait to see Doctors. Hairdressers, agreed, no excuse for more than 10 minutes waiting time.

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  8. What a tasty quick meal! I wish my freezer were as well-stocked!

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    1. Thank you Lisa, it is so great to be able to cook at short notice from the freezer and I do not freeze red meat as a general rule. Only seafood and chicken.

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  9. This is such a great dish -- tons of flavor, pretty simple and quick to make. A lot of the best dishes are easy, aren't they? Now, I need to go stock my freezer!

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  10. Yes John it's these simple dishes that can turn a meal into a feast.

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