There are things that I cook well. Whether it comes from repetition, luck, natural talent(ya right!) I feel confident that I can do certain things correctly. Octopus is not one of them. It is a very unfamiliar ingredient for me so I have been digging and digging for methods, tips, opinions(which there are a lot of) to help me in my quest for sound
octo cookery. This guy was HUGE, its sitting on the largest cutting board in our kitchen. I knew immediately that that we be an important aspect for how I was going to prepare it. After removing the ink sac, beak, and other innards, I scrubbed it down with coarse sea salt to help flavor and tenderize.
After patting it dry I heated a pot and threw it in for a quick sear which, in retrospect, may not have been
necessary or even effective based on the large amount of liquid that is released when heat is introduced. The good thing however is that it pretty much generates its own braising liquid. I removed it from the pot, added aromatics, wine and some crushed tomatoes along with the
octoliquid. I let it go in the oven for about two hours based on the size.
What better to pair with
octo than fresh squid ink pasta. This ingredient has always been very interesting to me. I can remember watching
Batali on Iron Chef bust out meatballs with squid ink
fett and thinking "wow, crazy black pasta whats that going taste like." I filled the pasta with a caper and artichoke filling.
Sadly the business came through and I didn't get a snap shot of the final dish. No worries though I will be
revisiting this one soon.
There are things that I cook well. Whether it comes from repetition, luck, natural talent(ya right!) I feel confident that I can do certain things correctly. Octopus is not one of them. It is a very unfamiliar ingredient for me so I have been digging and digging for methods, tips, opinions(which there are a lot of) to help me in my quest for sound octo cookery. This guy was HUGE, its sitting on the largest cutting board in our kitchen. I knew immediately that that we be an important aspect for how I was going to prepare it. After removing the ink sac, beak, and other innards, I scrubbed it down with coarse sea salt to help flavor and tenderize.
After patting it dry I heated a pot and threw it in for a quick sear which, in retrospect, may not have been necessary or even effective based on the large amount of liquid that is released when heat is introduced. The good thing however is that it pretty much generates its own braising liquid. I removed it from the pot, added aromatics, wine and some crushed tomatoes along with the octoliquid. I let it go in the oven for about two hours based on the size.
What better to pair with octo than fresh squid ink pasta. This ingredient has always been very interesting to me. I can remember watching Batali on Iron Chef bust out meatballs with squid ink fett and thinking "wow, crazy black pasta whats that going taste like." I filled the pasta with a caper and artichoke filling.
Sadly the business came through and I didn't get a snap shot of the final dish. No worries though I will be revisiting this one soon.
never worked with octopus. It's on my to do list now. What's the pasta stuffed with.
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