Potato Chorizo Octopus Skewers Food

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.

SPANISH SKEWERS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Half-fill a large pan with water and bring to the boil. Add the potatoes and return to the boil. Cook for 1 min, then drain in a colander and tip into a bowl. Pour over the olive oil, sprinkle with the rosemary and season. Toss together.
• Scatter the potatoes over a large baking tray and cook for 5 mins. Turn the potatoes, add the peppers and cook for a further 10 mins or until just beginning to soften. Set aside to cool.
• Thread a chunk of yellow pepper, a chunk of potato and a chunk of red pepper onto bamboo skewers, finishing with a piece of chorizo. Place on a parchment-lined baking tray, cover and chill (up to 8 hrs). To make the dip, mix all the ingredients in a bowl, cover and chill.
• When ready to serve, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Bake the skewers for 10 mins or until the vegetables are softened and nicely browned, and the chorizo slices are cooked through. Serve with the dip.

GRILLED TOFU AND VEGETABLE SKEWERS

Steps:

• If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes.
• Cut the tofu into 12 equal pieces by making 2 cuts through the short side of the block and 3 on the longer side; each piece will be a 1 1/4-by-2-inch rectangle. Place the tofu pieces on a paper towel lined-plate, top with another paper towel and press gently to dry.
• To assemble the skewers, thread a piece of tofu vertically onto a skewer, then top with a piece of zucchini, yellow squash, red onion and bell pepper. Repeat twice more, ending with a bell pepper. There should be 3 pieces of each ingredient per skewer. Repeat with remaining tofu and vegetables and place the skewers on a rimmed baking sheet or large platter.
• To make the marinade and sauce, stir together the parsley, oregano, shallots, garlic, honey, vinegar, oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in a medium bowl. Pour 2/3 cup of the marinade into a small bowl and stir in the pine nuts; set it aside for serving.
• Spoon the remaining marinade over the skewers and use a pastry brush to coat all sides of the tofu and vegetables. Season the skewers with salt and pepper.
• Prepare a grill for medium-high heat. Brush the grill grates with oil and grill the skewers, covered, turning them occasionally, until the tofu has grill marks and the vegetables are cooked through and a bit charred on the edges, 16 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer the skewers to a platter and spoon the pine nut and herb sauce over them. Serve with warm naan or pita.

GRILLED MUSHROOM SKEWERS

Steps:

• Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium high. Swirl the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add the garlic and soften about 2 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce.
• Put the mushrooms in a medium bowl, add the soy-garlic butter and toss until well coated. Thread the mushrooms on the skewers, putting 7 to 8 on each and leaving 3-inch handles at the ends.
• Put the skewers on the grill with the handles resting on or just off the edge of the grill (for easier handling, since they will get very hot) and cover. Cook, turning the skewers every 2 minutes or so and brushing with the butter after every turn, until the mushrooms are slightly charred all over and softened, 8 to 9 minutes. Sprinkle with the thyme and parsley or lemon zest if using and season with salt. Alternatively, melt a little extra butter and add the thyme, parsley and/or lemon zest if using and drizzle over the mushrooms.
• The sixth ingredient: Chopped fresh parsley or grated lemon zest, sprinkled over with the thyme; or you could melt a little extra butter at the end, add the thyme, parsley and or lemon zest and drizzle over.

2-STEP POTATO-CHORIZO HORS D'OEUVRES

Steps:

• In a saucepan of actively boiling lightly salted water, blanch the potatoes for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the tines of a fork will just pierce the surface. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, cut them in half and score the cut side of each with the tines of a fork.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
• In a bowl, combine the potatoes with the olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper and toss together until evenly coated. Transfer the potatoes to the hot skillet and spread them out into an even layer so they are hardly touching each other. Heat until sizzling, then transfer the skillet to the hot oven. Toast, turning over every 10 minutes, for about 30 minutes, until very crisp and golden.
• While the potatoes are roasting, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons water. Cook the sausages for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally and pouring off the fat as it accumulates. Drain the sausages briefly on a double thickness of paper towels and slice them 3/4 thick.
• Place a slice of sausage on top of each roasted potato half and secure with a toothpick. Assemble the hors d'oeuvres on a platter and squeeze a little lime juice over them. Serve, accompanied by Avocado Salsa.

OCTOPUS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Squeeze in 1 lemon and add the rinds to the water. Holding the octopus with tongs, dip the octopus into the boiling water 3 or 4 times, until the tentacles begin to firm and curl. Then, submerge the octopus in the water and cook for 40 minutes, uncovered.
• In a large bowl, mix the oregano, vinegar, oil, and salt together. Remove the octopus from the boiling water, place it into the oregano mixture, and let lightly marinate for a few minutes.
• Heat the grill to medium high. Grill the octopus until browned and crisped on the edges, turning every 5 minutes for 15 minutes. Remove from the grill, place on a platter, and cut into pieces. Squeeze the lemon over the octopus and sprinkled with some dried oregano.

SAUTEED POTATOES WITH CHORIZO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo and cook, breaking up the clumps, until dry and crisp, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chorizo to a paper lined plate to absorb any additional oil. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan and heat the pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and boiled potatoes and saute until brown, about 12 minutes. Stir in the cooked chorizo and season with just a little salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

CRISPY POTATO, PEPPER & CHORIZO SKEWERS

Steps:

• Heat a barbecue or grill. Bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes and cook for 12 mins until a skewer can easily be inserted. Drain and leave to steam-dry. Toss the potatoes with the peppers, chorizo, olive oil and rosemary in a large bowl. Take six to eight large metal skewers and thread the potatoes, peppers and chorizo alternately onto them. Barbecue for 10-15 mins or until lightly charred on the outside, or grill for 5- 6 mins on each side.
• Mix the mayonnaise, garlic and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Sprinkle with some paprika, if you like. Serve the skewers with the parsley scattered over, if using, and the garlic mayo and salad on the side.