Experiment: Rhode Island Calamari

This is a dish occasionally served at Legal Sea Food, which I positively adore, and which they don't have on the menu anything like often enough. It's sort of like their usual Spicy Fried Calamari, but much tangier and more flavorful. Yummy enough to make me decide to try to puzzle it out.

Version 1

6/29/99
Took 1/2 lb cleaned squid tubes, sliced into rings. Dunked those in bread crumbs for breading. Took 1 fat green hot pepper; sliced that, carefully removed all seeds, and fried a bit. Added the squid rings, and fried those for a little while. Added 1/2 cup vinegar, and reduced until there was no liquid to speak of.
Results: Not quite a miserable failure, but definitely not a success. The breading came off and turned into mush; I think that, if I want the rings breaded, I'm going to have to use a proper batter and probably deep-fry the rings. Far too much vinegar; while the recipe almost certainly calls for some, it was much too intense. Needs more of the peppers, and probably some small round hot red peppers as well. And definitely needs some spices.