Our delivery from Siren SeaSA this week was squid. Gutted and cleaned, thankfully, and ultra fresh. We get a half-share, and it was still almost a pound of squid, so this will feed us for two meals.

There isn’t anything complicated about the recipe, it just requires everything be prepped before frying up the squid so it can go right onto the sandwiches. The black chile oil is really terrific and we’re looking forward to using it again (particularly mixed with mayo on another sandwich). Larry grilled the chiles outside so we didn’t have to deal with the cough-inducing smell of roasting dried chiles.

I cut the squid bodies into thin rings before tossing them in lemon juice and then flour. They went into a cast-iron dutch oven with a couple of inches of oil heated up inside, and they’re completely cooked in just a few minutes. The lemon juice adds a teeny bit of tang and flavor – just enough. The star of the show is the calamari, which turned out perfect and tender. We loved these sandwiches, but we both thought the ratio of bread to fillings was too high – I think next time, we’ll use slices of a rustic loaf, lightly toasted. Find the recipe for the sandwiches at Serious Eats, and the creamy coleslaw we had on the side at A Year in the Kitchen.

• Fried Squid Po’Boy with Avocado & Black Chile Oil (‘Wichcraft)
• Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw (Cook’s Illustrated, July 2002)