1) The document provides instructions for properly preparing calamari, including breading, frying, tossing with ingredients, and plating the dish. 2) Key steps include breading calamari pieces evenly, frying until the screaming stops, tossing with cotija cheese and cilantro, and plating with aioli and hot sauce. 3) Plating instructions are given for serving calamari both for dine-in and to-go orders.

1. Calamari
Preparing and plating calamari

2. The goal of this lesson is learning how to properly
prepare a calamari dish
Upon successful completion, you should be able to correctly answer a series of
multiple choice questions

3. Great food, made consistently
At Bear Tooth Grill, our motto is “great food, made consistently.”
Discussion: What does this mean to you, the cook? If we follow this motto, what
does that mean for our customer?
We should use quality ingredients in the correct portions. Our orders are made
fresh, cooked properly, and plated uniformly. So regardless of who is cooking, the
customer will receive the same great dish they’ve come to expect every time they
choose to dine at the Bear Tooth Grill.

4. Review of ingredients
8 oz cut calamari
calamari breading
0.25 tsp cotija cheese
0.25 tsp minced cilantro
1.5oz artichoke aioli
1.5oz hot Colorado sauce
parsley garnish

5. Prep to cook
1) The calamari breading must be dry and granulated. If it is old breading, is
clumpy, or is running low, dump it out and pour new breading from the prep
area
2) Weigh 8oz of calamari using the scoop. Make sure the cambro is clearly
labeled with the correct date
3) DRAIN the calamari of excess water using either the scoop or your gloved
hands.
4) Lightly toss the calamari in the breading bowl with your gloved hands.
Spread the cuts apart individually to ensure all pieces are coated evenly
TO GET A CONSISTENT COATING OF BREADING WE MUST USE CLEAN

6. Cooking
Place the breaded calamari evenly across the bottom of a clean, empty fry basket.
This will help it cook uniformly. Drop the basket into the fryer.
COOKING TIME WILL VARY, DEPENDING ON THE THICKNESS OF THE CUT
Cooking will take 60 seconds to 90 seconds or longer. Thin cuts need much less
time to cook. While it is important not to undercook calamari, it is also important to
not overcook calamari as it will be tough and rubbery. One of the best ways to
gauge cooking time is by listening...

7. Use your ears to cook calamari?
Excess water in calamari will rapidly boil off once placed in the hot oil. The oil will
be very active with bubbles as evaporated water tries to escape. It will make a
loud, churning sound. We refer to this as the calamari “screaming”. When the
activity dies down and the cooking starts to quiet, then we know the excess water
has been cooked out and our portion is almost done.

8. Drain and toss
When we have determined out serving to be sufficiently cooked, yet not
overcooked, we can lift the basket out of the fryer and let it drain. The calamari
will continue to cook even after removal from the fryer.
Pour the serving into the separate tossing bowl. Pinch the cotija cheese and
sprinkle generously on top of the calamari. Then do the same with the minced
cilantro. Gently toss the ingredients, being careful not to over-toss and remove
the breading.

9. Plating
For here:
Pour the cooked, tossed calamari onto a clean large round. Place one metal
ramekin of aioli and one of hot Colorado sauce on the top of the plate. Garnish
with parsley
To go:
Pour into a clamshell. Place one 2oz paper portion cup of aioli and one of hot
Colorado sauce at the top of the box. Garnish with parsley.
Congratulations! We now have a properly prepared plate of
calamari!