[markface]

i picked up about 6 lbs of fresh octopus this morning at a local seafood shop . i need to find a good recipe to use it in . i've never worked with these critters before so i have no clue as to how it should be prepared . any help would be greatly appreciated .

[mike]

markface, its gotta be braised because it can be tough. the greeks do some interesting stuff with octopus as do the italians.Red sauce based stews & stuff. I once had it cooked with its own ink which was unusual. Also you can braise it and serve cold its nice that way.

[cape chef]

http://www.splendidtable.org/soupton...h_octopus.html

[phatch]

I've had it in Korean/Japan box lunch dishes before. No idea what the specific preparation or dish was but it was good. Check out some asian cuisines for ideas.

Phil

[Pongi]

Hmm...I love octopus!
Actually here in Italy it's very popular.

The easiest way to cook it is by boiling. Clean the octopus, beat it with a meat beater (hope this makes sense in English-it's what we call "batticarne") to soften fibers, then make a court-bouillon with vegetables and your favourite herbs, add a cork if you like (we had a thread some time ago about the utility of a cork to soften octopus meat!), put the octopus in and boil until tender, 1 hour or more according to the size.

There are two schools about boiling octopus:
1)It has to be put in hot water.
2)It has to be put in cold water.
I'm for the 1), but it's likely it makes very little difference.

Cool it down into the broth, cut the meat in cubes or slices and season with chopped garlic and parsley, lemon juice and EVOO, S&P. Mix with boiled potatoes if you like.


Another very tasty option is OCTOPUS STEW:

Fry very gently in EVOO some chopped garlic and few salted anchovies until they're dissolved. Add a handful of soaked chopped mushrooms and a handful ground hazelnuts (or whole pine nuts) and fry other 2-3 mins. Dice in cubes your octopus and sautè it with the sauce about 5 mins, deglaze with white wine, then add a VERY SMALL amount of concentrated tomato puree (never more than a couple of tbsp!), a glass of water or fish stock, cover and stew gently until tender, adding more water if required. It will take about 1 hour. Five mins after turning off the heat, add a handful of chopped parsley. Adjust salt if required and enjoy!

Pongi

[markface]

well , i ended up using a recipee given to me by a friend of italian desent , or atleast thats what i started out doing . the problem i ran into was that once it was boiled i had basically rubber octopuss . it tasted real good , but it took fifteen minutes to chew each bite . i'm assuming i did something wrong , but found a way to avoid throwing it out . after thinking about it for a while (had plenty of time while chewing my first 2 bites) i took my rubber eight legged friend and threw it in a food proccesr with some garlic , onions , bacon , and a little curry powder . let it run till i had a very thick paste , and had octopuss paste sandwitches for lunches for a few days . it was actually quite tastey . it may not have been the best solution , but i have always been a bit of an unconventional person and it suited my tastes .

[waltersg69]

Iv'e seen it simmered in a stock fortified with lots of soy sauce, sugar and ginger. Mmmm.

[Pongi]

markface,
it's likely you didn't cook it enough.Octopus must be boiled for a very long time to become tender, about 40-45 minutes each lb, and cooled down into its broth. The same if you stew it-as long as it's chewy, it hasn't cooked enough. Cook it more!

Pongi