Flu season… that’s my excuse. I’m a full two days late, and counting, with this blog post, but I’m cashing in a “sick day”. There’s a lot of people coming down with this bug around now, and I happen to be one. We did manage to finish our second octopus recipe video though, and so at least we are keeping to our schedule of two to three new videos per month.
Here is a recap of our grilled octopus for those of you who were nice enough to come visit our blog. My head right now is feeling as tender as our perfectly boiled octopus, so that is a good reason to keep this short and to the point.
What you might need:
- Tender boiled octopus ( see episode 9 )
- garlic
- red wine vinegar
- balsamic glaze
- thyme
- parsley
- white wine
- boiled potatoes
- olive oil
- steamed green beans
- arugula
Now of course, some of the ingredients here are bells and whistles, such as the green beans and potatoes but they do add some variety. Feel free to leave out or add veggies as you wish.
Now, slice your parboiled octopus ( I like to just slice the tentacles and leave each one intact ) and put them in a bowl. Add your minced garlic, wine vinegar, balsamic glaze, chopped thyme and parsley, and white wine. Chop in some boiled potato. Toss in your steamed green beans. Give it all a good layer of olive oil and toss it around so that all these flavors marry nicely. And for those who watch our show, you probably notice we don’t dive into exact amounts for anything, such as how many teaspoons or tablespoons of this or that. Just go by feel. In this case, I would say, just as no one needs to tell you how much salad dressing to put on your salad, this is the same. Just go by feel and make it a nice generous flavor party.
Let it all sit for a few minutes while you get your grill nice and hot. Give it one more mix and then toss it on the grill and let it all sear around evenly. Move it around once in a while. Everything is already precooked, so all we are trying to do is give it some extra flavor by allowing it to caramelize a bit. You can dribble on any marinade left in the bottom of the bowl, just to add a little more flavor. Once it all looks delicious, I would plate it on a nice bed of greens. Wild arugula are the greens of my choice, but whatever you like. I like to give it all a nice sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley and time just to top it off, and maybe another squirt of the balsamic glaze. And that is it my friends. Enjoy. If you want to see the video, it’s right here.
But you know what? With my current case of the flu, I’m inspired to include another link here. This is what I would eat when I am feeling sick. A lentil soup, to give you that nice warm comforted feeling, so just for those of you out there feeling a bit sick, this one is what the doctor prescribes.
Be well everyone,
Chef Tony Scarpati
askcheftony 