#Octopus recipes italian how to#
#Octopus recipes italian skin#

Light a grill for high heat cooking, 450f degrees or more.The drier they are, the more char you will get without overcooking them. For maximum char, let the tentacles dry sitting on paper towel in the fridge for a further 2-3 hours. Allow the octopus to cool in the water, then remove and pat dry with a paper towel.To check for tenderness, you should be able to pierce the thickest part of the tentacle easily with a paring knife. Cook over medium flame until the water begins to boil, then reduce heat and simmer the octopus until tender. Place the octopus in a pot and cover with cold water.

#Octopus recipes italian skin#

The only way to counteract that is to add in the extraordinarily protracted step of airdrying the octopus in the fridge for 24 hours before searing, or to remove the skin altogether. The most wet the surface of the protein is, the harder it is to get a decent sear (this is all thanks to the Maillard reaction). Second вЂ“ this gelatinous layer is really wet when it comes out of the boiling pot, and will destroy any chance you have of grilling up a decent char. First, while I love that soft texture in things like beef cheeks, I really didnвЂ™t enjoy it with the octopus. I am sorry to go against the grain here, but I am not a fan. When you pre-cook the octopus gently, the skin ends up developing a soft, gelatinous texture. Dan Gritzer at Serious Eats SWEARS that the skin is the best part. And while HankвЂ™s method does add another flavor dimension, I was really happy with the results of my less time consuming method, which adds the herbaceous flavor at the end thanks to a fresh drizzle of oil and herbs.ДЄ final note about skin-on versus skin-off. My friend Hank Shaw swears by a second step of dry dutch oven roasting over herbs. Some folks say you need to add a cork to the water to tenderize it, but by all accounts thatвЂ™s one of those old kitchen myths. Boiling is the most common way to soften the meat, and thatвЂ™s the step IвЂ™ve found most successful. The TRULY old school Greek fisherman tenderizing method is to bash the octopus against some seaside rocks, but IвЂ™m going to assume you donвЂ™t have that kind of rock access, and lord knows there are cleaner ways to go about it. If you tried to grill the octopus from raw stage, youвЂ™d end up with the most awfully chewy tentacles, so the meat needs a little help before it hits the grill.

#Octopus recipes italian how to#

The first question most people ask is how to get the octopus truly tender. If youвЂ™ve never tried it before, you should know that octopus can be notoriously tough and rubbery. ItвЂ™s ok if itвЂ™s frozen or thawed, but it has to be raw. A note here вЂ“ you want to source fresh, not pre-cooked octopus. Honestly, I love the weird/awesome texture of the suckers so the tentacles are my favorite part anyway. There are some other great resources online for cleaning and preparing whole octopus, but this recipe is for tentacles only.

I found my octopus tentacles at a local fine grocery store, so thankfully didnвЂ™t have to deal with the head.

While beef tongue is rich and fatty, octopus is tender and delicate, and giving it a finishing sear over charcoal makes it spectacular. Cuts that seem a little gross at first, but are actually incredibly delicious. ItвЂ™s one of those вЂugly deliciousвЂ™ cuts, like cow tongue. Octopus is just one of those proteins that seems to make people squeamish. Print Recipe The trick to this grilled octopus is a gentle poaching to tenderize it before charring it over charcoal.