When I’m cooking for company I usually also like to try a recipe for the first time which is not typically advised for obvious reasons. I’m not totally sure I would recommend it myself. I think when I was younger my dad and his best friend Richard would use Friday night dinner as an opportunity to experiment with new recipes. Maybe this has rubbed off on me a bit and maybe that’s why when Cub and I decided to cook for 30 people I insisted upon trying this thing I had been staring at for a while. I had actually tried to prepare it earlier in the year, but the store where I did my shopping did not carry squid. C’est la vie.
This particular dish, a squid and potato stew, came from Margot Henderson’s cookbook You’re All Invited: Margot’s Recipes for Entertaining. She is one of chef/owners of Rochelle Canteen, a very fashionable restaurant in London that serves lunch every day and dinner some days. So I imagine she, especially at this stage in her career, has time to entertain for dinner. Her style is very straight forward in the way that I’ve been craving, referencing both her peers in cookery and experiences as a mom. It is important to add too that she is the wife of the chef Fergus Henderson, and as half of a different hospo couple I feel drawn to her, at least partially, for this reason. As the title makes clear the book is designed with a party in mind and the stew comes from a particularly useful section called “Feeding the masses”. Each recipe is modestly presented for four people while also scaling a few times up to 30 which is useful if only to spark your imagination and offer you confidence that not only is it possible it’s roughly the same experience.
The squid dish is inspired by our lady of squid Marcella Hazan’s recipe for Squid and Potatoes Genoa Style from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Henderson’s differs in a swap of marjoram for crushed red pepper and more garlic. I think Marcella Hazan might have balked about the amount of garlic in the dish, we kind of did. Garlic can be hard with wine, but we chose to split to difference by crushing each clove instead of finely chopping as suggested. This was also due to my refusal to finely chop 60 cloves of garlic for the dish, hosts have other things to think about. Another change we made that differed from both Hazan and Henderson is that we used two tins of tomatoes instead of one as written. Which was less stylistic and more due to my forgetting, but I think it worked well and I would do it again the next time I pursue this.
Margot Henderson suggests not to make the recipe in advance, so we tried to make as big of a dent in prep as we could. Peeling the garlic and potatoes in the afternoon before people arrived. It's nice to have the opportunity to cut so many potatoes, I kept thinking and rethinking about how I big I wanted a bite to be. They were not uniform, which eventually led to some murkiness in our broth but I valued variety of bite and texture more that day. That's maybe one of my favorite parts about parties, the little moments where you can let the anticipation build. We then finished it up that evening, when we were starting to feel hungry though it was a blazing hot day and I was regretting the choice of recipe. We left our guests outside for a bit as we endeavored to do the stew in the kitchen, meanwhile the sky opened up and offered a hard & brief rain. It was blessedly chilly after and everyone wanted the stew. With the rain returning I thought of this recipe again, light and warming. Perfect for a chilly summer evening, the kind where you can turn your stove on. And make more if you can, you never know who might end up at your house.
Rainbow Wines’ Squid and Potato Stew for 30, after Margot Henderson & Marcella Hazan updated due to circumstance & convenience*
10 lb cleaned squid
12 lb waxy potatoes
800 ml very good olive oil
50 cloves of garlic, smashed
7 tsp dried red chili flake
6 large handfuls chopped parsley
2 tins (28 oz.) whole tomatoes
1 liter water
Cut the squid into ½ inch pieces. Leave the tentacles whole unless they are very large.
Peel the potatoes and cut into 2 -3 in chunks.
Now prepare to cook the squid in batches of around 1 batch per 2 lbs of squid:
Over medium heat, warm some of the olive oil in a wide heavy bottomed pan. Add some of the garlic, chili flakes and parsley and some salt**. Cook for a couple of minutes then turn up the heat and add the squid. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, until it is sizzling away, add a little more salt, then add a good splash white wine and let it bubble for 1 - 2 minutes to reduce.
Dump the squid mixture into a big pot, and repeat if working in batches.
Place the potatoes and the water in this big pot as well. Break apart the tomatoes in your hands and add to the pot. Bring this mixture to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Keep the heat low, gently simmering away, with the lid on for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally, until the potatoes are cooked through. Season to taste and serve hot to lukewarm even is good.
*Margot Henderson says you can’t make this in advance but Cub and I both enjoyed our leftovers a lot. The potato disintegrates making for a murkier color and texture, and softens the sharpness of the wine/tomato acidity.
**if you wanted to add some marjoram here I bet it would be good. I love marjoram.
We drank Paski from Cantina Giardino with this and I recommend it whole heartedly. It was from a very large bottle which added to the sensation so I may also suggest a magnum of their Rosato, a fun surprise from the El Rancho warehouse. Definitely recommended to get the cold cold wine going with the hot stew.
We’re adding some new things to the shop this week from L’Octavin and getting a restock of La Clarine rosé too. DM @rainbow_wines or send us an email at rainbowwinechi@gmail.com if you have any questions or want to chat.
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