With a month-long craving for octopus pushing me, I finally decided the past Sunday to make the time to see if there was any to be had in the local fish markets. I’m not talking about the bright burgundy-colored stuff you find in Japanese markets, already cleaned and partially cooked. No, I wanted the slimy grey stuff that may have been tenderized a bit or maybe not. I was resigned to the fact I might only find it frozen. I visited the Ballard Farmers’ Market first to see what was available. I had planned to go the Mediterranean route, so I was definitely interested in some potatoes. I perused several booths when I ran across the perfect match, Purple Viking Potatoes. Unlike Peruvian Purple potatoes, Purple Vikings have snow white flesh and purple skin with red mottling, when sliced they have a color pattern similar to octopus that has been cooked and sliced…perfect. I also picked up some eggs, Wall Rocket - aka, Wild Arugula – and a spicy salad mix composed primarily of Mizuna, Tatsoi, and Baby Red Mustard leaves. I then headed to the Pike Place Market, and as luck would have it, one of the three fish vendors had frozen octopus. They sold it in frozen one-kilo blocks, so I bout two and headed home to cook.
As with squid, you have two options in cooking octopus, and that’s the long and short of it…I decided to take the long slow route. My two babies had been partially cleaned - guts and beak removed - and so things went pretty quickly after I thawed them. KATZ Chef’s Pick organic California olive oil, garlic, thyme, a dried red Ayers Creek organic Sivri Aci chile, a touch of white wine and my octopi went into my Le Creuset Dutch Oven and into the oven at 300 degrees. After about 1-1/2 hours I removed my shrunken babies to cool - I reduced the liquid for use later. Later that afternoon I cut up the octopi and marinated them in olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper and a few splashes of KATZ Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Agrodolce Vinegar.
The next day I sliced the potatoes and cooked them in a fry pan with water, olive oil, sea salt and pepper - you know the drill – just barely al dente with a touch of browning here and there. I dressed all of my greens with the KATZ Olive Oil and Agrodolce Vinegar, quartered a hard boiled egg, and voila, my take on a classic combination from the Mediterranean...Octopus and Potato Salad for two.
