Octopus Chowder Recipes

OYSTER CHOWDER

Steps:

• Spread bacon in a soup pan and place over medium heat. Cook until browned and its fat has rendered. Drain. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat and put pan back on the heat. Scrape the onion and celery into the pan and saute until softened. Drop in the potatoes. Add enough water to cover, about 3 cups. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 15 minutes.
• Take the pan off the heat and, using a masher, lightly crush the potatoes to thicken the chowder. Add the oysters and oyster liquor and season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper. Simmer until the oysters curl, about 5 minutes.
• Pour in the milk (use 2/3 cup if you prefer it less rich), bring to a boil, then shut off the heat. Crumble in the bacon and stir in the parsley.

SPICY SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Steps:

• Chop the raw bacon into small pieces and fry in a large stock pot. When crisp, drain bacon and grease. Reserve 1 tablespoon in pot.
• add 1 tablespoon butter.
• Saute oinion in the fat on med/med low till tender and onion starts to carmelize, 10-15 minutes.
• Turn up heat to med/ medium high. Add carrots, celery and jalepeno. Saute till soft.
• Add potatoes, corn, spices and stock. Simmer till potatoes are soft. You can stop at this point and finish the soup at a later time if you like.
• Add seafood and cream. Heat till seafood is warmed through, but take care not to overcook.
• Enjoy with some good bread.

NEW ENGLAND SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Steps:

• To render fat, cook chopped bacon in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Add chopped onions and sauté until onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add curry powder and stir 30 seconds. Mix in bottled clam juice, diced potatoes, diced butternut squash and bay leaves. Simmer 5 minutes. Add chopped kale leaves and simmer until vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes. Add 5 cups milk, 1 cup half and half and minced thyme. (Chowder can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate.)
• Bring chowder to simmer. Add fish and simmer until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves. Ladle chowder into bowls and serve.

OCTOPUS CHOWDER

Steps:

• Boil the octopuses for one hour. Drain. Place everything in a sauce pan and simmer until turnip and vegetables are tender (about 30 minutes) Remove bay leaf. Can be refrigerated for a day or two to blend the flavors.

OCTOPUS STEW (POLVO GUISADO) THE RIGHT ONE RECIPE - (4/5)

Steps:

• "Purple stew" is what someone called this when they inquired about an octopus recipe popular with the Portuguese. The color purple comes in to play when cooks use red wine in the dish instead of white. It is a matter of preference. Day 1 Cut octopus into large pieces, about 2-inches long, and place in a bowl. Season with the salt and pepper. Add the remaining ingredients. Turn to coat evenly, cover and chill overnight. (You will notice that I am not instructing you to beat the octopus with a stick to tenderize it. Some Portuguese cooks still do this and you can if you wish.) Day 2 Reserving the marinade, transfer octopus to another separate bowl Pour just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet. Fry the onions until golden. There should be a brown caramelized coating on the bottom of the skillet (called a fond by professionals). Add the garlic and parsley. When the garlic is aromatic,toss in the octopus. When it starts to take on some color, recover. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let it sweat for 30 minutes. It will release a lot of water. Add the potatoes and continue to cook on medium-low for another 30 min. Test the fattest piece. If it is still chewy or tough, let it cook some more (around but not usually over 30 min.) Anytime the liquid looks like it is evaporating, add the reserved marinade in small amounts. Thicken the liquid with a cornstarch slurry. If you overcook it, it will shrink to almost nothing but if you don't cook it enough it will be tough.

CROATIAN OCTOPUS "POD PEKOM"

Steps:

• Use the whole octopus, cut in pieces about 3-5 cm. The best is to use frozen octopus, even if you get fresh one, freeze it - it will be mush softer.
• Take one large pan for baking in oven. Put some olive oil on bottom and than put potato cut thin almost like chips all around the bottom.
• Than put octopus, tomato cut in ¼, onion cut in ¼ , olives, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and on the tom rosemary. Pour the wine and olive oil. Cover with aluminium cover for households preventing steam to get out: very firmly.
• Put in the oven on 200°C for 30-40 minutes.
• It is also very good with large white fish, or you can add shrimps to taste, or whatever sea food you like.