287234 Fri Jun 01 00:56:24 -0700 2001 14 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1543868 I have 4 beautiful mediterranean octopus, about 6 ounces apiece - claimed to be from greece. I've cleaned them and want to use them grilled, on a warm salad. Any suggestions on how to proceed? Do they need to be cooked or tenderized before grilling? Fri Jun 01 00:56:24 -0700 2001 0 gini 1 1543869 The trick with octopus is that you need to freeze it to tenderize the chewy tissue. Fri Jun 01 02:12:14 -0700 2001 1543868 0 Melanie Wong 2 1543880 Somewhere in my 'files' I must have known that . . . before I went to bed last night I glazed the cleaned octopus with water and put it on a sheet pan in the freezer! I plan to grill it. Do I need to blanch it first? When I worked for a seafood distributor I can remember chefs freezing octopus when it was scarce, but I didn't know that it also tenderized. Thanks. Fri Jun 01 10:23:02 -0700 2001 1543869 0 gini 1 1543876 From Alfred Portale's Gotham Bar and Grill cookbook is a recipe for grilled marinated octopus. This utilizes much larger octopus than yours; 2 medium @ 2lbs. each. These are first cleaned of head and beak then placed in a briny water seasoned with plenty of aromatic veggies and herbs. Brought to a boil and simmered uncovered for a couple of hours until the tentacles begin to pull away from the body. Cool in the liquid and proceed from there. I guess you could utilize the same procedure with your smaller specimens with a shorter cooking time. They sound like beauties. if you would like the entire recipe I can e-mail you. Fri Jun 01 08:46:53 -0700 2001 1543868 0 Heidi 2 1543882 Thanks, Heidi. I would love to have the recipe. I am a little embarrassed to admit I am doing an adaptation of a recipe I saw on Martha Stewart for a grilled seafood salad. Same marinade as dressing - olive oil, lemon and parsley. Grilled squid, bay scallops and shrimp tossed warm with arugula, radichio, sea salt and ground pepper. Really simple, but sounds delicious. Fri Jun 01 10:36:15 -0700 2001 1543876 0 gini 3 1543884 Don't be embarrassed! The woman knows her stuff. She has contacts and resources the rest of us can only dream about. (Full disclosure: my daughter works for her). Nevertheless, I'm convinced The Martha is a Chowhound. She talks like one and she eats like one. Her recipes are usually very accurate, they test and retest them and some of the best things I've prepared come from her mag. or books. Pat Fri Jun 01 11:11:50 -0700 2001 1543882 0 Pat Hammond 4 1543893 Pat, I'm only half serious! My husband wanted to enter me in a 'most-like-Martha' contest years ago (I wouldn't allow it). I do have a wonderful parody on my bookshelf titled MARTHA STUART'S better than you at ENTERTAINING, perhaps you've seen it? Heidi and I worked together years ago - in the pre-Martha era. Fri Jun 01 12:29:03 -0700 2001 1543884 0 gini 5 1543894 And I only took you half-seriously! Martha is definitely ripe for parody. I've read all the published parodies and some on the internet. As they say, she probably laughs all the way to the bank! Pat Fri Jun 01 12:36:48 -0700 2001 1543893 0 Pat Hammond 6 1543909 Half-kidding or not, no one should ever be embarrassed to be using any recipe that makes them happy, be it written by Martha Stewart or Betty Crocker or from the side of a can of beans! There is no room in this world for any more food snobbery on any level. I've found great recipes in some mighty unlikely places. I've made a stupendous flank steak roulade from a cookbook "by" Willard Scott, marvelous chicken pot pie from The Myra Breckinridge Cookbook (four cups of red wine!), a kind of WASP lasagne from a 1988 Wellesley College cookbook, and the best tapioca pudding I've ever tasted (except Claudia Fleming's at Gramercy Tavern) from a Midwestern cafeteria cookbook. I have five Martha Stewart cookbooks, I subscribe to her magazine and visit her web site, and cook from "her" recipes frequently. Never once was I disappointed. In fact, tonight I'm making a sautéed duck and spinach salad from her big green cookbook, to go with some spice-rubbed baby back ribs (my recipe) and roasted mustard and rosemary potatotes (ditto). Wish you were all here! Fri Jun 01 15:51:33 -0700 2001 1543894 0 Tom Steele 1 1543905 Someone once taught me that you should add a wine cork to the boiling water to help tenderize the octi. Anyone else ever heard of that? Fri Jun 01 15:36:04 -0700 2001 1543868 0 Shoeman 2 1543908 Shoeman, Absolutely! I've not tried it but it's really supposed to work! Why, I have no earthly idea. I'm of the "wack it in the kitchen sink until you're woozy" school, myself. pat Fri Jun 01 15:43:08 -0700 2001 1543905 0 Pat Hammond 3 1543959 Mario Batali said it has to do with an enzyme produced by the cork that tenderizes the octi? Mon Jun 04 11:30:25 -0700 2001 1543908 0 Shoeman 2 1543912 Interestingly, the recently voted fan-favorite Iron Chef episode featured the live octopus battle, with Iron Chef Italian (Kobe) using a cork as well. I think the announcers said it was an old tradition. FWIW, with respect to tenderizing it, I think Kobe used a whole daikon radish and really pounded the beast. He claimed it tenderized it well without damaging it. Fri Jun 01 16:24:24 -0700 2001 1543905 0 Abrocadabro 1 1543915 I've heard of the cork method but I've also been told that at Avra (NYC Greek restaurant) they put the raw octopus in the spin cycle of a washing machine (no clothes, detergent or water) to tenderize it. I've had their octopus and they must be doing something right because its wonderful. They then grill it and when its at room temperature serve it in a vinaigrette dressing with red onions and fresh parsley. Excellent! Fri Jun 01 19:08:51 -0700 2001 1543868 0 Stefany B. 1 1543929 In "How to Cook Everything" Mark Bittman writes: "Nearly everyone will tell you that octopus must be "tenderized" before cooking, and nearly everyone has some bizarre method of doing so--dipping it into boiling water three times, kneading it with grated radish, or hurling it against a stand of rocks (or, more likely, the kitchen sink). The reality is that some octopuses are more tender than others, so I don't pretenderize; instead, I cook the fish until it is tender (revolutionary!), which sometimes takes quite a while." He recommends boiling until done, testing frequently. A decent sized octopus will probably take at least an hour, but the small ones you have should be done sooner. Just keep testing as you go along. Sat Jun 02 22:33:43 -0700 2001 1543868 0 hobokenhenry