Patriotic Watermelon and Coriander Salad with Fennel Risotto Stuffed Squid

Australia Day. Why they chose a day that says a big fuck you to the people who'd just happened to be here at the time and had been for quite a while before that is a bit beyond me. As is flag waving, I mean I think my wife is just the best but I don't insist she wears a name tag to remind me what a great wife she is. Anyway that's all neither here nor there because it's also the day all the swearing in of new citizens happens and since my Quebecois brother in law was to become a citizen, we thought we'd do the right thing just in case he'd thought he'd signed up for some other country.

A big and tasty lunch was had and I brought the above along. I started with squid and worked my way back. Stuffing would be risotto and then I thought that just squid is a bit squiddy and then I saw the watermelon in the fridge and remembered Neal Jackson does a very nice fried squid with a watermelon salad. It uses coriander instead of the more traditional mint. The value of being exposed to ideas is that you can nick them later at an opportune moment of inspiration. Here's a quick run through.

Baby squid tubes:
15. Already cleeaned, too easy. Otherwise you'll just have to clean them

Risotto:
One finely chopped white onion and a similar amount of similarly finely chopped white of the fennel bulb and four finely chopped garlic cloves. Saute in olive oil, colour the aborio rice (a cup and a half) and then continue with the slow process of stirring and adding liquid until al dente (won't be explaining thjat today). I used a mix of about 80% white wine to 20% chicken stock. Can't say I was overly impressed with the resulting flavour, as it ended up a bit vinegary like sushi rice. The effect was much more harmonious once inside the squid. About two thirds of the way through I started adding a small handful of parsley and fennel leaves(?) as well as half a cup of sliced fennel stalks. Finished by adding pepper and stirring in a nice big dob of butter to keep it moist whilst cooking in the squid.

Another thought is I wasn't exactly sure when to add the parsley and fennel leaves. I didn't want to put them in at the beginning and have them end up as much but I also wanted to them to blend in a bit, hence the two thirds result. Curious to know how it might have worked out otherwise.

Watermelon and Coriander Salad:
A nice exercise in size and flavour. If the watermelon is cut into cubes a little smaller than a coriander leaf, the flavours balance out nicely. For the same reason the spanish onion shouldn't be bigger than one of the smaller buttons on your remote control (no I'm not writing this on the sofa no). Mix together.

Cooking:
Stuff the squid tubes with the risotto and close each one up with a toothpick to prevent rice jizzing everywhere. Place them in an oven tray with a glass of white wine (I used cask Moselle), cover with foil, and cook in an oven at 200C for 40 minutes.

I gave the squid a bit of a sear on a griddle before putting them on the salad. The rice was nice and compact so I could have in fact sliced it up rounds which would have been nice. The fennel taste wasn't strong at all and matched nicely with the squid. The watermelon salad is great and should be compulsory at summer barbecues.

And there we go, a suitably traditional and diverse dish that didn't send acrumble our cultural mainsteam of the decent us with the culinary introduction of the them. As for my brother in law Jean [below], he is now an official Aussie: don't think I'm happy about it, he is no doubt rooting my sister, watches ice hockey, and objectively has a much better motorbike than me. Anyway here's to 218 years of hey how did you get in here.

Also:
恭喜發財!

and thanks to whoever voted me into second place as the 2006 Best West Australian Blog . I didn't mention it as well I'm a bit iffy about comps, as Buddha says "a competition brings with it losers and with losers, unhappiness". Pleased again to be nudged out by Robert Corr and congratulations to third place on preferences Tama Leaver - for those that aren't familiar with preferential voting, it means he's more popular but I'm less unpopular. If you missed out, tough! ahahaha, I mean I meant to say robbed!