How to Make Braised Octopus With Chorizo and Yuca Mash

For this recipe, I've braised octopus in a stew of chorizo, tomatoes, garlic, onions, white wine and lemon juice spiked with a little paprika and ancho for a bit of heat. It's served here with a yuca mash but potatoes would work just as well. I chose yuca to enhance the Spanish inspired theme of the recipe and because I like the sweet note it delivers that a potato does not. If using yuca, prepare it just as you would a potato by peeling it, chopping it into chunks and boiling it until fork tender in salted water. It makes a nice alternative to roughly mashed potatoes and delivers a heavier, slightly starchier texture. Slow braised octopus is not the same as say, slow braised beef. It only takes about thirty minutes to an hour to achieve a succulent result, one that has mingled with the stew it was braised in and reflects back the flavors in a pristine, unadulterated way. Octopus cooked too quickly often results in a rubbery texture but when cooked low and slow, its meat transforms to tender perfection.

I love octopus for its many virtues including its intelligence and keen ability to slip and squeeze its way out of virtually anything. I respect its defense mechanisms, how many animals have the ability to detach a limb at a moment's notice and leave it crawling around as the rest of its body scurries away? I admire the sacrifice they are willing to make to reproduce and it warms my heart to think of the female octopus gently blowing on her eggs, strung delicately by the strings she has threaded herself, to supply her babies with oxygen. I love that its eight suctioned tentacles operate virtually as autonomous beings, choosing to follow the command of their brain only if they want to, all the while tasting what it discovers on the ocean floor with its suction cups. Yes, there are many things that I love about this brilliant creature but in the end, when I'm sitting down to a glistening plate of octopus, what I love most about it is what a gem it is on the palette.

Octopus is frequently available already cleaned and butchered and sold in sealed packages in many gourmet food stores but if you are fortunate enough to bring home a fresh, whole octopus, it is quite easy to prepare for this recipe. To test the freshness of whole octopus, smell it. It should smell of clean sea water and nothing else. To clean the octopus, cut the tentacles away from the head, below the beak then cut away the beak and discard. Turn the body inside out and remove the internal organs and the ink sac. Do this gently so as not to rupture the sac. Rinse the tentacles and head well under cold running water. Strip the skin away if desired but I like to leave it on as I feel it provides an extra layer of texture and leaves behind when cooked slowly a fatty gelatin, call it the marrow of the octopus, and really, isn't marrow the closest thing we have to divinity in the culinary world? Chop the tentacles and head into bite size pieces to prepare it for the marinade. If you c

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 5 cloves garlic, minced finely
• 1-2 inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus additional to finish the dish
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for the braising process and to finish
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon ancho powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 pounds prepped octopus pieces
• 1 medium sized onion, roughly chopped
• 1 cup chorizo, chopped into small 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 large tomato, roughly chopped
• yuca mash as accompaniment

1. 
    

   for the marinade
   
   Combine the minced garlic and ginger and mash with a fork or a mortar and pestle until a paste is achieved. In a medium sized bowl (large enough to hold the octopus) add the paste to the lemon juice, olive oil, smoked paprika, ancho and salt and pepper and mix until the marinade is well consolidated. Add the octopus pieces to the the marinade and stir well to coat evenly and thoroughly. Refrigerate covered for at least one hour.

2. for the braise
   
   In a large rondeau or sauté pan, sauté the onions in olive oil until translucent. Add the chorizo pieces and sauté until they are slightly crispy. Deglaze the pan with a splash of the white wine, scraping up the fond (or tasty bits), on the bottom of the pan to fully incorporate them into the wine. Add the rest of the wine along with the chopped tomatoes and the marinated octopus pieces. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and braise the octopus covered for about thirty minutes to an hour or until the octopus is tender and meets the tip of a sharp knife with little resistance.

3. To serve, divide yuca mash evenly on four warmed plates. Top with a serving of braised octopus with chorizo and finish with an additional drizzle of olive oil. Serve with fresh lemon wedges.
   Yield: 4 appetizer sized servings

[2besure]

on 5/29/2008 Eeeeek! Just can't get around the though it's octopus.