GRILLED OCTOPUS THAT DOES NOT DISAPPOINT
I was recently posting some of my memories from my times traveling through Greece and other places. I wrote about some great eating experiences I enjoyed on the Greek Islands. One dish that always stuck with me was the island octopus, part preparation, part smell that mixed the food with the sea air. It was magical. I was discussing this with someone and offered to share a recipe I have for octopus. Unfortunately, I cannot add the sea air. I actually learned to cook this octopus from a Mauritian guy I worked with in Toronto. He spent half his life in Mauritius and the other half in the UK. As I found out, they have cooking octopus down to a science. His name is David Le and I worked with him at Centro Restaurant. This one is for you David.
Grilled Octopus:
Adapted for Scotland without sun drying😊
Serves 8 as an appetizer best shared,
Ingredients:
2 x Medium Sized Octopus appx 2 Kg Ea
Copper Penny Clean 1
6 L Water
5 Plum Tomatoes Quartered
2 Red Onions Peeled Quartered
1 Head of Garlic Separated and Crushed
2 Piece Celery
1 Large Handful Coriander Seeds
1 Tablespoon Oregano
4 piece Tarragon
1 Tablespoon Black Peppercorns crushed
600 ml Red Wine Vinegar
400 Ml Red Wine
1 Slice Of Lemon
5 Bay leaves Dry
Salt To Taste
Finishing:
Ground Black Pepper
Sliced Lemon
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Method:
1.
Cut out
the beak of octopus underneath the head.
2.
Remove
Fibrous tissue From Head and Turn inside out. (Keep octopus intact 1 piece)
3.
Add to pot
with all other ingredients bring to the simmer.
(Do not Boil) Just simmering over lightly. Appx 2-4 hours until the thickest part of a tentacle can be pierced with a kitchen fork.
Caution you need to check every 20 minutes for doneness after 2 hours. If overcooked will become dry and stringy.
4.
Once
cooked Remove from liquid and cover with cling film on the plate to prevent drying,
let cool 15 minutes until just warm.
5.
Using a
small spoon scrape the suckers out and discard as they are quite rubbery.
6.
For more
even cooking cut tentacles into separate pieces.
7.
Marinate
with good olive oil ground pepper and lemon for at least 30 minutes,
8.
Grill over
low charcoal fire until hot all the way through and slightly crunchy on edges.
9.
Remove
slice into bite-size pieces re-season with sea salt and more ground pepper a squeeze of lemon and lots of olive oil, serve with Ouzo Fried Potatoes Garlic
Saffron Aioli for Dipping,
Note:
You may also marinate this with teriyaki glaze it is quite good. (very
low heat on the grill to avoid charring due to sugar content in Teriyaki Glaze,
Also, excellent mixed into warm potato spinach
salad with grain mustard and vinegar.
