Well, to start my story and video voyage on the making of the octopus, let me give you a little bit of background on it. First of all, I have been totally afraid all my life over the process of making an octopus. But in December of 2015, I decided to make this insane lunch and dinner party for my son (T), his wife (S), and my good friend (M). It was an insane international collection of about 15 dishes (combining lunch and dinner). I started off with Thai, then went into Korean for lunch. Then for dinner I headed into French, then Italian. By the time I got to talking about making the Linguini Con Vongole e Calamare, Porcini and Truffle Risotto, Grilled Octopus and then finishing off with Churos, I heard instant protesting groans from all three. They were so full from what had come beforehand that they couldn't ingest another bite. So, I scrapped about four dishes for a future date (to their relief).
So, what to do?? Well, of course, I froze the calamare and the octopus. Two months later, I invited my son and wife over again and we enjoyed a Tom Kha Gai (a Thai Coconut Lime Chicken Soup) and the Grilled Octopus with a lot of bread dipping in my own infused herb/garlic olive oil. They LOVED it.
So recently, my son (who will continue to remain unnamed to protect the innocent) decided to start up his own bi-weekly bluegrass jam at his apartment. He had hopes of doing a lot of grilling in his community BBQ area. One of the items he wanted to grill was octopus. He and his wife (also to remain unnamed) found that there was a nearby fish store that carried frozen octopus for a very reasonable price per pound.
Now my daughter-in-law and my son felt quite intimidated over preparing the octopus. I'm not surprised. I have felt the same way all my life and have found the very varying cooking/preparation instructions very conflicting and confusing on the internet. Some hang the octopus on a clothes line in the sun for a day. Others bash the octopus against a wall (or hit it while it hangs on the clothes line?). It's sort of like hitting a rug against something to get the dust out). Others boil the octopus in a variety of liquids, varying from wine to water with seasonings. And a lot of octopus cooks throw in a wine cork into the mix (just as an assurance that it's going to make the octopus tender). So...what to do....what to do. That is, until December of 2015. So, my daughter-in-law asked if I could supervise the making of the poor octopus for the upcoming music jam (stand there as moral support). But, the timing might not work, since my son wanted to make it the very same day of the jam, and I preferred to make it the day before. So, my son asked me if I could make a video of myself preparing it the week before (i.e. I was making it to bring over to my friend's house (she and M -- we'll call them M and M) for a little birthday and stuffed artichoke face-off celebration).
So, at my son's request, this is the documentation of my octopus making. I was very camera challenged, and there was quite a lot of incompetence. But, I think I got the job done. Plus, I did not pretty myself up to make the video. So sadly, I look like a sow. SOO-EEE!!!!
My first challenge was the camera. Not only am I camera shy, but I detest seeing others taking their selfies. So, here I was, doing the same. Uggggh!! Kill me!
So, the camera setup: Quite a bit of incompetence there, I must say. I finally decided to sit the phone in a box. Hmmmm? https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B77PJbnoe8cCV21wUEdrazctLXc/view?usp=sharing
Well, of course, there had to be a second try at camera adjustment before starting. Now I sat the phone on top of kitchen towels, but still in the box. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCMm51UkpLQU1RYms
So finally!!!! AT LAST!!! The first step of the preparation. Keep in mind that this is a fresh octopus which is three pounds. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B77PJbnoe8cCa2VtWnJZQjFrNW8/view?usp=sharing
This is the second step. I did attempt to put the videotaping on pause from the prior video, but, I didn't succeed in doing so. I could have sworn that I activated that function (when I didn't want to, of course). But, after investigating my phone pretty thoroughly, I couldn't find any link or button that might serve as a "pause" button. ??? Who knows? https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCaVVrQnM2NHlCQ2M
So, now that we've finished with the prior step, I wanted to show you the octopus in the pot. It looks so beautiful. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCZ2JVOEFEamJvWWc
At this point, I'm done with the first and second steps of the preparation and took a break. I decided to give you the after talk of the preparation, in addition to a lot of maniacal gesticulations. Wow!!! Do I really look like that?? It's frightening. Although, now I see what my sister, R, is talking about, and my daughter, M. R says that I bat my eyelashes when I speak. What? Me?? Never!!! I'm the least flirtatious person I know. But, here I am batting away. Oh, my God!!! My daughter says my nose moves up and down when I say certain words. I can't tell if that's happening, or not. Quite honestly, I'm quite horrified at how I look when I speak. My friend, M, asked me if I had been drinking. Hahahah. No, I hadn't had any at all. Oh, well. I'll have to remember not to take too many videos of myself. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCVmJES094T1U5MUE
We're reaching the homestretch. This is the marinade preparation. Oh!! And as a defense to my fatness -- yeah, I'm noticing it again after being two thirds of the way through this whole process -- I realize that I am wearing running pants that have a very thick cord on the waist that ties in an enormous knot in the front, and protrudes way out (why do clothes designers do that?). But, that's just a minor defense actually, because I AM FAT. Oh well, enough with my defense . . . on with the post. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCcHRSUE0wMk9DZVE
Well, into the oven it goes. and roughly two hours later, this is what it looks like. And, remember that there was no liquid added whatsoever to the pot. The octopus braised in its own juices. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCUTExRUxUejNsNUE Here, at the end of the entire process, we have some more video-taking incompetence and more talking. Blah, blah, blah!!! https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCZnZCblV1bWpwRms https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCX0M1Zkpkdzdsa0E
The whole process was fun. And, believe it or not, when I made it at the Face Off dinner get-together, this is what it looked like while grilling on the outdoor BBQ grill, and in its serving dish after grilling was complete. My hostess and friend (M and M) said they liked it very much. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCeE1Mb2JHNnJPZW8 and https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77PJbnoe8cCTU02M2RNNjk2WXMTHE END
PS: Next time, I think I'll experiment with the marinade and maybe with the herbs used, as well.
PPS: I used different herbs the first time I made it. I had purchased a bunch of different fresh herbs.and it was very good.
PPPPPSSSS: Hopefully, this experience will make me improve with my next videotaping of myself cooking.
No comments:
Post a Comment