Octopus And Potatoes With Olives And Chile Recipes

OCTOPUS AND POTATOES WITH OLIVES AND CHILE

Steps:

• Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Generously cover with cold water in a medium saucepan and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer, partially covered, until just tender, about 12 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain.
• Cook onion and garlic in oil with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is just tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in red-pepper flakes and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add vinegar and cook until most of liquid has evaporated. Stir in potatoes, beans, octopus, tapenade, and 1/2 cup reserved cooking water and cook until just heated through. Remove from heat. Add more cooking water to moisten if necessary. Sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with olive oil.

BABY OCTOPUS AND POTATO

Steps:

• Separate heads from tentacles, and cut the larger heads in half; cut the tentacles into two or four bunches. Marinate the baby octopi for at least one hour in a mixture of Ponzu sauce, lemon juice, wine, shallot and garlic. You may also add the mushrooms here.
• Meanwhile, rinse the potatoes, cut out any eyes, and slice about 1/4 inch. Place on baking pan and mix in ground pepper, tarragon, and rosemary, to taste. (Fresh is nicest, but dried will do.) Add a little olive oil to prevent burning.
• Roast in pre-heated 350 F degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
• Drain marinate from the baby octopi into cooking pot (dimensions of your pot are important, you want as small a surface area as possible to minimize addition of water). At this point, add the 1/4 cup water.
• Bring to boil, reduce to simmer.
• Add octopi, and additional water to cover, if needed. (You could ainstead add any or all of the other liquids to taste, as additional ideas)
• Bring liquid back to a rapid simmer, not a full-fledged boil. For baby octopi, simmer this way 15-20 minutes. Avoid too much liquid, but also avoid burning.
• Time your finish time to coincide more or less with the potato finish time, with the potatoes finishing first. Layer potatos on a serving plate, and pour the octopus dish over this. If you have too much liquid, then strain your octopus out and place over potatoes, although be sure some of its cooking marinate is served.
• For a little spice, add the crushed hot red pepper flakes at serving time. It's a nice extra bit of spice.

OCTOPUS AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Simmer octopus in water to cover until nearly tender, for 1 hour or more (check with point of sharp knife). Add potatoes, and cook 10 to 20 minutes longer or until tender.
• Remove potatoes to platter (wood is traditional), and octopus to cutting board. Cool octopus for a couple minutes; cut into bite-size pieces. Combine with potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika, drizzle with plenty of olive oil and toss gently. Top with salt, and serve.

WARM OCTOPUS AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Put the octopus in a pot with water to cover; add the bay leaves, thyme, and garlic. 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 nearly tender, 30 to 90 minutes (check with the point of a sharp knife). Add the potatoes to the water and cook for another 10 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Drain and discard everything but the octopus and potatoes.
• Transfer the potatoes to a platter (wood is traditional) and the octopus to a cutting board. Let cool for a couple of minutes, then cut it into bitesized pieces. Add to the potatoes, sprinkle with paprika, drizzle with plenty of olive oil, and toss gently. Sprinkle with salt and serve.