Pickled And Grilled Octopus Food

GRILLED OCTOPUS

Steps:

• Fill a large pot 1/2 full with water. Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt, peppercorns, and the wine cork; bring to a boil over high heat.
• Meanwhile, place octopus on a cutting board. Using a wooden spoon or meat mallet, pound the octopus multiple times, starting in the middle and moving down each tentacle to tenderize the meat.
• Dip tentacles into the boiling water 3 times, holding them in the boiling water 2 to 3 seconds each time, until the tentacles curl up. Submerge entire octopus in the boiling water. Bring water back to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until octopus is fork-tender, 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 30 minutes.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Grill octopus until charred on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• Remove from heat, slice into pieces, and place on a serving platter. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, squeeze lemon over top, sprinkle with parsley, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

CHARRED OCTOPUS TACO WITH HARISSA, CHORIZO CRUSHED POTATOES, AND PICKLED RAMPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275°F. Place the octopus, garlic, and thyme in a 5-quart pot or Dutch oven. Pour olive oil over (octopus should be submerged) and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover the pot with foil, place in oven, and cook until tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Check the octopus periodically for tenderness by inserting a paring knife into the thickest part of an arm. When fully cooked, the knife should easily pierce the flesh. Remove from oven and let sit covered until the octopus comes to room temperature. Discard thyme and garlic. Remove and discard head, separate arms, and gently remove the purple skin.
• Toast the chiles in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant. Let cool and remove the stems and seeds. Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small pot. Add chiles and simmer until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Purée chiles and water in a blender until smooth, scrape out and reserve.
• Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sweat the onions until tender and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the onions, ground spices, lemon juice, and salt to the blender with 3 tablespoons of the pepper purée. Blend all ingredients until smooth. Strain, taste, and adjust seasoning. Harissa can be made 1 day in advance.
• Bring the vinegar, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water to a boil and stir until dissolved. Place the ramps in a heatproof glass container and pour vinegar mixture over. Let sit until ramps come to room temperature, then refrigerate 1 hour. Ramps can be pickled 1 day in advance.
• Start the potatoes in a medium pot with cold salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain, crush with a fork, and reserve.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the chorizo, breaking into bits, until browned and cooked through. Strain and reserve oil.
• Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Rub the octopus with a little olive oil and grill until lightly charred, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Slice octopus into bite-size pieces. Meanwhile, heat the reserved chorizo oil and potatoes in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked chorizo and toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Warm the tortillas. Divide the crushed potatoes between the tortillas, top with octopus, a spoonful of harissa, and 2 or 3 pickled ramps.

PICKLED OCTOPUS

Steps:

• If you can buy cleaned octopus you can skip the next stage.
• Gut the octopus and peel the skin from the octopus. Remove the beak (it is located at the top of the legs).
• Place the octopus in large pan with 1 cup water. Cook over medium/low heat. The octopus will give off a lot of liquid but check ocassionally that there is still enough liquid in the pan.
• Cook for about 1 -1 1/2 hours. Test with a skew, it should easily pierce the flesh.
• Remove from pan and allow to cool slightly or cool enough to handle.
• Slice tentacles into 3cm lengths and body into pieces.
• Mix up the dressing ingredients. Check dressing that it is not too vinegary as vinegar strenght is so variable.
• Pack the octopus in the sterlised jars and pour over the marinade.
• Let sit in the refrigerator for 5 days before eating.
• Serve as part of meze.

GRILLED BABY OCTOPUS

Steps:

• Boil octopus in salted water until cooked through (check inside with a paring knife), 15 to 20 minutes. To a metal bowl add oil, oregano, pepper flakes, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper, then add octopus and toss.
• Preheat a grill to high heat.
• Place octopus on the grill for 3 to 4 minutes, then transfer back to bowl and back to grill. Repeat this step a few times. Finally, put octopus back in bowl and add balsamic vinegar. Toss well, then serve over baby greens.

GRILLED OCTOPUS WITH CHICKPEAS AND OREGANO

Steps:

• For the octopus: preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a large pot, combine all of the ingredients (the corks are believed to tenderize the octopus) and season with salt. Cover with a lid and slowly bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Place in the oven and cook until the octopus is easily pierced with a knife, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Let cool to room temperature in liquid. Remove the octopus and, using scissors, separate the tentacles from the body. Discard the head and beak.
• For the marinade: combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Marinate the tentacles for at least 30 minutes. Preheat a grill to high heat.
• For the salad: in a small saucepan, bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Add the onions and remove from the heat. Allow to cool. Strain the liquid.
• Grill the octopus over high heat for about 1 minute; turn the tentacles and cook for 1 more minute.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and the olive oil. Add the oregano and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Add the pickled onions and chickpeas and mix well. To serve, spoon the chickpea mixture onto plates and place the octopus on top.

GRILLED OCTOPUS

Steps:

• Combine the octopus, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, 1 teaspoon salt, the garlic, and one of the lemons, cut in half, in a saucepan along with water to cover. Turn the heat to medium, cover, and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so that the liquid simmers slowly and cook until the octopus is tender, 30 to 90 minutes (check with the point of a sharp knife). Drain, discarding all the solids (except the octopus). You can prepare this 24 hours in advance up to this point; cover and refrigerate the octopus.
• Start a charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill; the fire should be quite hot and the grill rack about 4 inches from the heat source. Cut the octopus into large serving pieces, brush it with half of the olive oil, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Grill it quickly, so that the outside browns before the inside dries out. Cut the remaining lemons into wedges.
• Brush the octopus with the remaining olive oil. Serve with lemon wedges, hot or at room temperature, garnished with the parsley.
• Grilled Squid with Vinaigrette
• Much simpler: Cut cleaned squid into big rings (or use baby squid, cleaned but left whole) and skewer it. Grill or pan-grill it over quite high heat until browned, less than 5 minutes. Serve as directed or drizzled with Vinaigrette (page 600).