Calamari

Homemade fried calamari is both easy and inexpensive.  This dish is all about getting the batter fine-tuned to your specific taste.  Squid doesn't really have much flavor by itself, so you get to fill the blank slate however you like.

Acquire your squid fresh.  In preparation for battering and deep frying, be sure to remove the inedible innards.  Just separate the legs from the body and you'll see a slimy bulb that shoots ink.  Don't eat that part.

On this day, I ended up cutting out the squid body completely and just ate the legs.

Mix your batter.  I put corn starch in this photo, but I ended up using tempura batter, which is actually what I'd recommend, especially if you prefer a Japanese flair to your calamari.  

Batter up your calamari and deep fry them at around 325 degrees.  They really shouldn't be in there for more than a minute.  Perfectly-cooked calamari straddles a fine line between fishy-tasting (undercooked) and chewy (overcooked).  

Enjoy.