For the last several years, Husband has talked about soups -- not just any recipe, but one made by Kyria Katy from Church. A while back, we had asked Ka. Katy, and she laughed to say, "It is nothing special. It is how my mother made it." So, we had to find out if we could duplicate such a recipe. We did ask a million questions to get all the information that we could so we could try to satisfy Husband's memory of this wonderful dish.
Soupies are cuttlefish. They are similar to squid or octopus, but are different all together. The similarities end in that the cuttlefish, squid, and octopus are all part of the same family, and they all have to be cleaned in similar ways. You can buy cleaned and prepared soups, or you can do it yourself. As a side note, this recipe will also work with squid or octopus. We are giving you rough estimates for amounts, and they may vary slightly. We are also taking the step that Kiria Katy told us she started doing a few years ago which really made this an easy dish to make, and took minimal time to prepare. We used a pressure cooker!
Some pressure cookers are the kind that sit on the stove and build heat and pressure right on the burner. Some have sensors that tell you how much pressure is built up inside, and you time the pressure to the food inside. Ours is an electric pressure cooker and we set the timer on the front and hope for the best! The nice thing is that our electric pressure cooker turns to warm and holds when the timer is done, so you really can just walk away from it as if it were a slow cooker. You absolutely can make this without a pressure cooker, it will just take longer. We are giving the directions for both -- the pressure cooker first and a traditional stove top version second.
For this recipe, you will need the following:
1 cup red wine
3 pounds cuttlefish
1 onion, chopped
3-4 tomatoes, peeled, chopped (1 cup canned)
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper, water as needed
We started by cleaning the cuttlefish. We removed the insides and rinsed well. Remember to remove the hard cartilage that is like a piece of plastic that runs down the back of the cuttlefish. Separate the tentacles section (the head) from the body. Remove the beak (that black thing inside the head) and the eyes. This will leave two cleaned parts -- the body, which we opened so you can see the whole thing, and the tentacles, which we will separate into pairs.
Let's start the recipe. Separate the tentacles into pairs. Using a scissors was easiest for this. Also, cut the body into pieces. I started to cut smaller pieces, Husband said that Ka. Katy cut large pieces so they were more filling. We had a variety of sizes, but should have stuck to the medium size pieces which would be 2 bites per piece of cuttlefish. That made this dish feel hearty, too!
Once the soupies, onion, garlic, and tomatoes are ready to use, then we can start the cooking process. Begin by frying the onion in a little oil. Cook them for about 10 minutes to make sure they are nice and soft. We are cooking on a medium low heat so the onions do not turn brown. As they start to turn translucent, add the garlic. Allow this to cook for about five minutes so the two flavours combine well.
Add the cuttlefish pieces to the onions. Mix this around so the soupies get coated with the oil and the onions. Leave this to cook for about 10 minutes. You will see that the soupies will start to turn pink and rich in colour. This is good. Now, it is time to add the tomato and wine and season with salt and pepper. Mix this well and get all the ingredients evenly distributed.
Kiria Katy reminded us to add a little water to make sure that the tomato and onion is not sticking to the bottom of the pot. You may see a little liquid that came from the cuttlefish, since it does release water as it cooks. But, add a bit to be safe. It is better that this is too thin rather than too thick and stuck to the pan. She said she has more sticking problems when using the pressure cooker than when she uses a regular pot, because you can watch the pot more closely than you can a pressure cooker.
Mix this well. Add a bay leaf to the mixture and put the lid on the pot. Now, you want this to cook at a medium to medium-high temperature for 40 minutes in the pressure cooker, or 1 1/2 hours in a regular pot.
You want to adjust the amount of wine, garlic, and salt in this recipe to fit your likes. Kiria Katy likes her soupies heavy in wine and garlic, whereas Husband liked heavier wine and salt flavours. If you like the red wine more, then add a little more. We added a bit more garlic by using a little garlic powder at the end, and that really boosted the flavour a lot! Serve this over rice, pasta, or serve it with a lot of crusty bread to absorb some of that lovely liquid. Any way you eat it, we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
"Fasts and vigils, the study of Scripture, renouncing possessions and everything worldly are not in themselves perfection, as we have said; theyare its tools. For perfection is not to be found in them; it is acquired through them. It is useless, therefore, to boast of our fasting, vigils, poverty, and reading of Scripture when we have not achieved the love of God and our fellow men. Whoever has achieved love has God within himself and his intellect is always with God."
-St. John Cassian
Source of quote: http://www.azquotes.com/author/23687-John_Cassian
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