Grilled Octopus With Chickpeas And Oregano Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat a grill to 500 degrees F.
• Place the olive oil in a medium heated shallow pot. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until golden brown. Add the piquillo peppers and orange juice and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove form the heat and puree in a blender. Season, to taste.
• Toss the octopus and shrimp with the extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, oregano and season with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook until charred on the outside. Place in a mixing bowl and toss with the sliced red onions, lemon juice, water cress and Piquillo Pepper Fondue. Season, to taste, and finish with the crispy chick peas.

Steps:

• For the octopus: preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a large pot, combine all of the ingredients (the corks are believed to tenderize the octopus) and season with salt. Cover with a lid and slowly bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Place in the oven and cook until the octopus is easily pierced with a knife, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Let cool to room temperature in liquid. Remove the octopus and, using scissors, separate the tentacles from the body. Discard the head and beak.
• For the marinade: combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Marinate the tentacles for at least 30 minutes. Preheat a grill to high heat.
• For the salad: in a small saucepan, bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Add the onions and remove from the heat. Allow to cool. Strain the liquid.
• Grill the octopus over high heat for about 1 minute; turn the tentacles and cook for 1 more minute.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and the olive oil. Add the oregano and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Add the pickled onions and chickpeas and mix well. To serve, spoon the chickpea mixture onto plates and place the octopus on top.

Steps:

• If using raw octopus, remove and discard the eyes and beak and clean thoroughly. Sprinkle all over with salt and knead well to tenderize. Rinse under cold running water. To make the poaching liquid, pour the fish stock or clam juice, water, and vinegar into a stockpot into which a medium strainer will fit. Add the black peppercorns and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Place the cleaned octopus in the strainer and dip in the boiling liquid for 30 seconds. Remove and let rest for about 2 minutes. Repeat this procedure twice. Transfer the blanched octopus to a tray and refrigerate until cold. Strain the poaching liquid and reserve 1/4 cup. When ready to use, cut the octopus into bitesized pieces. Drain the soaked chick peas and, in a large pot, combine them with the water and the bay leaf. Bring up to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered for about 2 1/2 hours, or until tender. Drain well and discard the bay leaf. (Or, if desired, use canned chick peas for this dish: rinse and drain them well before adding to the salad.) In a bowl, combine the octopus, reserved octopus cooking liquid, chickpeas, lemon juice, parsley, oregano, salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Toss together until all the ingredients are well coated. Mound the salad onto a platter and place leaves of red leaf lettuce upright all around the edges. If desired, sprinkle with crumbled feta and diced tomatoes. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• For the octopus: Fill a large pot about 2/3 full with water and bring to a boil. Blanch the octopus by placing it in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and set aside.
• Drain the water or in another large pot, add the vinegar, wine, cinnamon, star anise, peppercorns, fennel seeds, bay leaf and a few sprigs each fresh parsley and thyme and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the octopus. Cover and cook until fork-tender, about 30 minutes.
• Prior to serving, if desired, heat a grill to high heat and grill the octopus pieces for texture until slightly charred and crisp on the outside.
• For the chickpea salad: Reheat the chickpeas in a medium pot over medium heat and keep warm. Prior to serving, remove from the heat and toss with the red onion, poblano, lemon zest and juice, lime juice, orange zest and juice, olive oil, romaine, arugula and chopped basil.
• For the salsa verde: Roughly chop the basil, parsley and garlic and add to a small food processor or blender. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while pulsing until the ingredients are well combined and have a smooth consistency that is not too liquid. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve the salsa verde over the chickpea salad and octopus.

Steps:

• Combine the octopus, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, 1 teaspoon salt, the garlic, and one of the lemons, cut in half, in a saucepan along with water to cover. 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 tender, 30 to 90 minutes (check with the point of a sharp knife). Drain, discarding all the solids (except the octopus). You can prepare this 24 hours in advance up to this point; cover and refrigerate the octopus.
• Start a charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill; the fire should be quite hot and the grill rack about 4 inches from the heat source. Cut the octopus into large serving pieces, brush it with half of the olive oil, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Grill it quickly, so that the outside browns before the inside dries out. Cut the remaining lemons into wedges.
• Brush the octopus with the remaining olive oil. Serve with lemon wedges, hot or at room temperature, garnished with the parsley.
• Grilled Squid with Vinaigrette
• Much simpler: Cut cleaned squid into big rings (or use baby squid, cleaned but left whole) and skewer it. Grill or pan-grill it over quite high heat until browned, less than 5 minutes. Serve as directed or drizzled with Vinaigrette (page 600).

Steps:

• Combine octopus, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, 1 teaspoon salt, garlic and 1 lemon, cut in half, in saucepan along with water to cover. Turn heat to medium, cover, and bring to boil. Adjust heat so that liquid simmers slowly, and cook until octopus is tender, for 30 to 90 minutes, depending on whether you're using two smaller octopuses or 1 larger one (check for doneness with point of sharp knife). Drain, discarding everything but octopus. (You can prepare this 24 hours in advance up to this point; cover, and refrigerate octopus.) Set aside.
• Start charcoal or wood fire, or preheat gas grill; fire should be quite hot. Grill rack about 4 inches from heat source. Cut octopus into large serving pieces, brush it with half the olive oil, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Grill it quickly until outside browns but inside is not dried out. Cut remaining lemon into wedges.
• Brush octopus with remaining olive oil. Serve with lemon wedges, hot or at room temperature, garnished with parsley.