smoked octopus Somebody had to do it might as well be me

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Smoked version ,no written recipe until now because it is the new frontier 
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.Into a pot went 4 O' s with 1 bottle red wine,same amount water. I had some primitivo from Puglia I got for $5 a bottle.I think you guys call it zinfandel.5  garlic cloves,peppercorns bay leaf a dried chilli some brown sugar. Im going to simmer this for 45min ,dry it put it in fridge on rack for a bit then smoke it for an hour over maple.I ve kept the legs all together wont cut until later again because thats the way an old family friend showed me,she was from Calabria .She in the big kitchen in the sky now.

The next bit Im still working on
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. The yearly food festival is on in my suburb today its a very Italian place I may get some inspiration there,I will at least get some black olives which I  forgot.I  speak very bad Italian but cover that up by mixing it with English same as the old folk do who all speak dialect anyway.There will be some Puglians there .They will look at me & think what a shame the guys parents didnt teach him proper Italian.Gee hes tall & not very fashionably dressed hang on hes a bloody skippy( old time Aussie) we better help him. Otherwise he will ruin good food who ever heard of a Skippy who could cook old school Italian
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.Polpi affumacato what is he thinking.
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When O for terrine is tender leave to cool in cooking liquid. Then Ive got to do the dainty chef assembly bit & assemble it.

When cool remove O from liquid reserve 2 cups ,but better 3 of cooking liquid .The O is going to have to be cut up to get best finish,I must have been goofing off in class I cant remember how I was shown or its that dam red wine.

MIX O with  300gm of toasted pistachio nuts the 2x half bunches of dill,chives,I deviate here & add fennel frond as well.juice of a lemon salt pepper.Pack mix tightly into mould add reserved cooking liquid pack down tightly again .Refrigerate for 6-7 hours. 

Mines cooling at moment. I need to tinker a bit Iwill post photo then.
 
OK I added 3 full cups of cooking juices, 1/2 pistachios  because I  didnt take my glasses to the market & didnt read amount on label.The juice of 1/2 orange because its such a Southern Italian flavour, MIXED after seperating tentacles (drumsticks) slicing hoods,bit extra lemon zest, packed it in tight then poured over juices  then packed it again. Buttered loaf dish first put in fridge ,pray to cooking Gods that it sets.
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 Looks a bit rustic but thats me dont do dainty.
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Going into smoker now. I think ragu is just going to be how Ive made it before.I do 3 or 4different O'PUS  ragu's so this will be out of that box. It will be tonights dinner. Interesting to see how it will take smoke. Concensus among Italians is if Octopus was meant to be smoked we would have worked that out during the course of our 2000 year kitchen tradition. Why dont you skippys live our food alone
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 but yes the terrine is authentic they serve it in upmarket seaside hotels etc in Sicily,Sardinia ,Amalfi . Who would have thought a skippy would/could pull it off. Now Im under pressure. 
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If it doent set I will just serve it as a cold salad the liquid tastes absolutely brilliant. Set baby set.
 
Out of smoker & chopped. Into ragu.onion ,garlic,red bell pepper,10 smoked tomatoes & the saved red wine poaching liquid,some bottled Italian tomato puree ,black olives at end. O is tasty ends got a little crispy but so? Flavours good,will simmer it for a while. It did go a little dark! It is mighty tasty but its for people who like big flavours dainty it aint. You get the the smoke flavour words like robust ,hearty ,gutsy fit it. The saved poaching liquid had lovely depth gave it a little orange juice to sweeten it.As ragu's go its a real good one. Ill let it simmer a while yet. Terrine set baby set.
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If I  got this wrong or it fell a little short I  would say so. I didnt it was just awesome
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,really big bold flavours but had a little nuance to it as well. Little touch of squeezed orange juice the lemon zest, it just sang. In a very loud voice.Simmering it  just made the O'pus so soft,you didnt need a knife it cut with a fork. Yes its a bit of a dark & brooding colour but it just had a great depth & richness .You got the smoky flavour & the smoked  tomato just gave it a sweetness.For you wine types I drank a wine called Esprit by Spinifex wines. Barossa Valley Aussies of french heritage who also worked a few vintages in South west France  Shiraz 36%Mataro 25% ,Grenache 26 % Carignan & Cinsault the rest.Great wine .Bear view
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Terrine set baby set.I know I  learnt it in school but we got the "this is the one I prepared earlier" deal. Im one from one in the O'pus stakes here I  just hope I  get something that slices.
 
That really looks delicious Moikel.

I've never had octopus before, you really bring a whole new dimension to this forum.

Thank-you for such a great post!

I'm sure this one will be on the carousel!
 
Glad you liked it,I  just cook with whats around me. Some of its a bit "out there" if you havent seen it but lets face it some where way back a guy looked at a bunch of animal intestines & said Im going to fill that with meat & eat it.And look where that got us.
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Octopus is a lot of clean white meat that takes flavour really well,if it was around you it would be on your table.You couldnt ignore it.
 
Bed time for me down under,set baby set &I will post the terrine.Thanks for everybody who was open minded about the Octopus. Its a really great clean,no waste white meat thats versatile. I know its not going to turn up at your local market if your not coastal but its a great product. Really nice grilled marinated first or asa salad greek style.As well.
 
Moikel, that Octopus looks fantastic. would love to give that a try sometime.

Still looking for Octopus in Tennessee though. No luck so far.

Happy Smokin'

Mike
 
AWESOME !!!!   COMPLETELY AWESOME !!!!

That all just looks so good!!!

Even that first plate of "non-smoked" looks fabulous!!!

Your threads are unbelievable! 

I start reading them and I become enthralled----I read every word--Some sentences 2 or 3 times, to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Thank You for adding such exciting things to this forum.

Bear
 
That's a lot of excellent eating!  Beautiful dish.  I know there are some of you who are thinking "I wouldn't put that squiggley thing in my mouth", but if you tried it, you would change your mind.  I've been married to an Italian for 28 years and she taught me about eating some different foods.  My favorite is linguine with calamari (squid) and tomatoes.  Keep it up Moikel, I enjoy every one of your posts.
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That's a lot of excellent eating!  Beautiful dish.  I know there are some of you who are thinking "I wouldn't put that squiggley thing in my mouth", but if you tried it, you would change your mind.  I've been married to an Italian for 28 years and she taught me about eating some different foods.  My favorite is linguine with calamari (squid) and tomatoes.  Keep it up Moikel, I enjoy every one of your posts.
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I figure that Southern Italian cookery just used what was available,Octopus,squid,cuttlefish will all make a great pasta sauce. Cuttlefish as low as $3 a kg bit more waste than others & messy because the ink is always released but really what can you buy for $3!! The nonnas here do a casserole with potato,cuttlefish,peas.Its often served with peas maybe they are both in season at same time?? Glad you liked ragu,terrine is coming.
 
 
Im going to have a shot at this as a Catalan/Galacian inspired braise with chorizo. Poach some biggish O's in red wine a bits then smoke over some apple in the MES.Then back to the pot with smoked tomato's ,chorizo onion,bell pepper,bay leaf poaching liquid,garlic,gbp,black olives & anything else that gets within range.


Will kick it off in a couple days. No O'pus at my local, will have to go to big market on friday.


Ive seen people on this site eat snapping turtle so just think of Octopus as a sea chicken with 8 drumsticks.

That looks awesome! Unfortunately, we don't get much octopus in North Dakota! I guess I will have to stcik to snapping turtle for now! I am better at cleaning those anyway!

Bigfish
 
All turtles protected here unless your a tribal aboriginal living in tribal country. Tropical Aust mostly. And its sea turtle .Same logic its just to much protein not to work out how to eat. I assume those snapping turtles were a food item for the early settlers & the tradition started that way. Im open minded about food if it tastes good & is not some endangered species,OK. 
 
Turned terrine out of mould looked ok but as soon as I tried to cut it,it came apart. I think 
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blanching O'pus first might have taken away some gelatin.Its also a hot day anyway its tasty it will be salad now. I will have another shot at this but I think to be sure of it you would have to use additional gelatin.
 
My late father used to say" If you start the job you finish the job" so heres the salad/terrine. Served with a salad of blood oranges&fennel.Both at the end of season here. Should be drunk with white wine but I only had Italian cheapie cold. Not up to it.So had a wine thats an Aussie take on a spanish roja. Its grenache 77%,touriga nacional,shiraz & mostrell in a blend. Lovely. By S C Parnell of Adelaide. This terrine wont beat me but I will have to do a bit of homework. Its getting warmer here day by day so cold dish's ideal. Mango season is on big time& its early. Already $20 per tray 16 to a tray.
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. When it really picks up pace they could go to $10 as the later ripening stuff comes into play.

Going to do a smoked duck,mango ,watercress salad sometime soon. Thanks for all your kind words.I love this site .I really do. Bear view.
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