Pulpo Guisado (Stewed Octopus + Cilantro Quinoa + Mango Slaw)

I've pretty much always been an "adventurous" eater.  Even as a kid, I loved ordering the "weird" menu items: oysters, octopus, frog legs, lamb. Getting octopus in Greek Town after church on a Sunday was a highlight for me.  In the Greek hole-in-the-wall tavernas, octopus is served either stewed in a red tomato sauce and served over rice -OR- marinated in a deliciously tangy oregano, olive oil, lemon marinade and served cold as an appetizer or the way I learned to love it:  over a big Greek salad.   I haven't had much of it in recent years, unless I go to Greek Town, or go to a sushi place and order octopus sashimi, which is a little rubbery and bland for my liking.

On the last evening of our most recent trip to Costa Rica, I got to experience it in a completely new way.   Browsing the menu of KOKi Beach, Matt & I both landed on "Pulpo":  octopus stewed in white wine, ginger & garlic, served with potato puree and sauteed veggies.   Consider both of us SOLD.  The stew came in a good sized bowl on an over-sized plate with the accoutrements. The sauce was a buttery rich brown with a ginger warmth.   Next to the bowl was a healthy amount of pureed golden potatoes decorated with yucca chips and tender steamed carrots & zucchini.  The main difference of this octopus to all of the other times?  Texture; it was *actually* tender.  Our awesome bartender/waiter listed off the ingredients that he knew of and I scribbled them in a mental note.

The other day at Honey Bee, while grabbing some staples, the octopus appeared for only $3.99/lb!

Serendipitous.  I already had all of the ingredients in my cart, except the white wine.   So here's my first attempt at recreating this gorgeous dish at home:

NOTE:  this is not a quick dish.

Prep caramelize time: 30-40 minutes
Cook time:  approx. 2 hours

Equipment for the octopus: 

Meat mallet
Salt
Crushed ice
Gallon-sized ziplock bag





Ingredients:

1 small (1 - 2 lb) octopus, cleaned (beak & eyes removed)
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
2 large cloves garlic (about 2 tbsp) minced
Fresh ginger (about 2 tbsp) minced
1/2 bottle white wine; I used Pinot Grigio
1/2 stick butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste.

Directions: 

First and foremost, dice that onion up.  Heat a pan to medium with 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil.  Caramelize the onion.  This should take a good 30 minutes.   Stir frequently. While you're doing this, listening to some good jams and drinking a glass of vino is most acceptable.  Prep your ginger & garlic.   You have plenty of time to prep your octopus now.

Rinse octopus.  Inspect it because it's pretty cool looking. Cut the tentacles off and into thirds.  Chop up the "head" into bite sized pieces.  Now, put the pieces with about a teaspoon of sea salt and a cup of crushed ice into the gallon ziplock.  Close and put into a larger grocery bag.  Beat the whole thing with a meat mallet.   Tenderize the heck of out it.  Without this step, your octopus might turn out pretty rubbery. Important note to pass along:  it is advised to wear gloves when handling an octopus because some people get a skin reaction.  Since I didn't have any available, and don't have any known food allergies, I took my chances and ended up ok - rash free.  Once you have it all prepped, let it drain in a colander.  

When your onions are an even golden brown, add in the minced ginger and garlic.  Stir them in for 1-2  minutes or until fragrant.   Dump in the 1/2 bottle of wine and remaining 3 T butter.  Turn up the heat to bring it to a low boil.  Add in the octopus.  Bring down to a good simmer (bubbling but not boiling) and cook for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so.   Now, uncover and let it go another hour, or until the sauce thickens up and reduces down to your liking and octopus is tender.   My sauce did break a bit at the end.  Next time I think I will add in a bit of flour and the butter to make a rue before adding the wine next time.

Instead of the potato puree, I whipped up a bit of quinoa pilaf and that did nicely to soak up the octopus and gravy.  For the pilaf, sautee onions in butter, cook them with quinoa according to package directions and add in a few tablespoons of fresh cilantro at the end.  In substitute of the veggies at KOKi Beach, I freshened things up with a red cabbage-mango-cilantro-citrus-jalapeno slaw tossed with honey, lemon, salt and evoo.

My version turned out with a fantastic texture and flavor and I will be making it again.  For reference, here is KOKi's delicious presentation with the potato & veg medley. Please excuse the bad cell phone shot:



Octopus-lovers, I certainly urge you to try this one at home or at KOKi Beach...and please share your outcome if you do!

Lamb Tagine with Chickpea Couscous Pilaf & Sweet Potato Mash

In support of the Moroccan protests, my friend Katie and I made Lamb Tagine.  Actually, my dear old Dad had cut this recipe out of the WSJ and gave it to me.  Our timing with making it just happened to coincide with the madness.  In any case, this is a dish that requires two days of preparation, a considerable variety of spices....and is WELL worth the effort! 

The first day is the prep work and cooking of the dish.  After a sleepover in your fridge, all that has to be done on day two is a slow re-heat. The result is falling-off-the-bone lamb in a rich, sweet sauce.  Apricots, prunes and buttery onions offer a decadent base, fresh ginger, garlic and cayenne pepper give it some heat, while coriander, cumin and cinnamon give it a tantalizing & exotic warmth.  

We served it with mashed sweet potatoes (seasoned with ginger, cumin, butter & brown sugar) and chickpea-couscous (turmeric, cumin, nutmeg, carrots, mint).   For a topping, I fried some almonds and also some mint for its pretty green color.  As for wine pairings, we chose some equally spicy, warm reds: Bogle Phantom (Petite Syrah, Old Vine Zin & Old Vine Mourvedre blend) and Valpolicella by Solane.

Let's just say that everyone was a member of the clean plate club.  Do yourself (and friends) a favor and host a Tagine Tuesday dinner party!

NOTE:  recipe calls for golden raisins, but the apricots we used instead were delectable.  I can't see how raisins would be better....then again I really dislike raisins....

Also, we probably spent 40% of a typical Whole Foods or Westborn grocery bill by shopping at small independent markets. The lamb was from Hoff's in Warren, and most everything else was from Dijla (12 & John R). They're a very modest Middle-Eastern market and have a great selection of high-quality dried fruits, nuts and "staple" vegetables.

The beautifully organized prep area. ;)

Lamb and seasonings in the pot before the stew....