Octopus, Greek style
I can’t recall how many years I spent hearing the many ways about the proper way to cook an octopus.Mostly by boiling with a wine cork floating in the pot until tender.
Kind of witchcraft, not to mention intimidating.
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When Henry (son) returned from cooking on a boat in Europe where he was shown a different way. The best way is to do a slow sauté of the whole octopus in a covered pot with only olive oil, garlic and a few herbs for about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
The result is a very tender Octopus with a significant amount of an extremely good, intense broth. The octopus releases the liquid, or broth, during cooking, and shrinks dramatically, as it releases the water within.
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1 cleaned Octopus
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1 Serrano Chile, split in half
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1 cup chopped Italian Parsley
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4 Garlic cloves
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1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
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Pound the octopus with a wooden mallet and rinse thoroughly before cooking, this decrease the saltiness of the octopus.
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Place octopus in a large heavy casserole with the oil and garlic and herbs.
* Don’t season with salt now or it will toughen during cooking.
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Cover with the lid and simmer about 1 1/2 hours, until tender. Taste the cooking juice and correct as needed. Pour over the plated dish.
