Octopus,bacon& leek .... thing?

moikel · Jul 20, 2013

If you are worried about toughness,freeze O,pus then defrost & start from scratch.Freezing tenderises them. Lot of Spanish recipes for O,pus. There is bit of a difference in species the big guys have different skin can be a little tricky,plunge into boiling water out into cold repeat x 3 skin will come off.
I do like them cooked with chorizo or bacon,paprika,onions,garlic,chilli or what the Galacians call " fairgrounds style" boiled then dressed with flavoured olive oil.

Bearcarver · Jul 20, 2013

Moikel said:
Glad to see you are on the mend. I learnt to make bacon from your thread so only fitting that it goes into an Octopus dish that you liked.

Thank You Much, Mick!!!-----I'm honored.

Bear

snorkelinggirl · Jul 20, 2013

Hi Mick,

A little late to your octopus party! I love your seasonal cooking! As always, your dish looks fantastic. Great job!!!

I'm glad you explained what "speck" is, I thought I was going to need to ask. Did you think the smokey flavor complemented the octopus? Interesting combination!

Hope you have a great Sunday!

Clarissa

moikel · Jul 20, 2013

It just gets called speck here in the deli's.Its just cooking bacon.Got a big batch & 3 beef tongues in the smoker now.

I make it pretty smoky & it was a winner with the O'pus.I just followed that path in European cooking where they put some sort of cured pork with seafood.Mostly shellfish but there is that Spanish style that uses chorizo with O'pus.

Fennel is my favourite veg,I mostly eat in raw but its a lovely ingredient with seafood.Peak season now.

I learnt my bacon making from Bearcarver ,I can buy the belly strips at the chinese butchers at a pretty good price. It gets used in all sorts of braises. The rendered fat mixed with the EVO was just perfect to colour the O'pus.

I personally think winter is the best time for O'pus I don't know that I have that much science to back it up. The guys I bought were just AAA grade,right species & the skin texture isn't slimy.They look better cooked than some other types.

moikel · Jul 21, 2013

SnorkelingGirl said:
Hi Mick,

A little late to your octopus party! I love your seasonal cooking! As always, your dish looks fantastic. Great job!!!

I'm glad you explained what "speck" is, I thought I was going to need to ask. Did you think the smokey flavor complemented the octopus? Interesting combination!

Hope you have a great Sunday!

Clarissa

Talking interesting combinations out to dinner last night & on the menu as a starter was seared scallop,jerusalem artichoke & crispy fried pigs ear . Didn't order it but I do have a bag of pigs ears in the freezer

We will go back there so I might try it, then work out how to recreate it at home

foamheart · Jul 21, 2013

Howdee howdee..... we always had ears and tails with greens in the winter. If we were lucky got some neck-bones added. Its pretty good stuff.

Made a promise to myself in the service, every other payday, or once a month, I'd go somewhere local and eat a a fine restaurant and get the local cuisine. I met Octopus and snails in Spain. The swore to me that Octopus was a medicinal stew for upset stomachs. I figured the chef had just cooked to much. They brought it out and it looked a lot like a bouillase or a courtbullion. It was alright, it didn't trip my trigger but I think had they fried it like squid it might have been better. This octopus was tuff, so I assume like squid its either cooked fast or really slow and this must have been in the pot in the middle.

Thanks for the quick explanation about cleansing, don't think I have ever seen 'em in the Gulf. I was going to ask if the had that calcium/cartilage plate like a squid had.

BTW my favorite way to have pig ears is head cheese.

I love your and Clarissa's threads you two always make me smile. Thanks for sharing!

moikel · Jul 21, 2013

Foamheart,I dont know who had the Eureka moment at the fish market & decided to use a cement mixer to tenderize them but it works.

Great approach to food you had back in the days you were in the service.

Bet you had some great meals.

Aussies didn't eat it here until the post WW2 migrants showed us what we were missing. It was bait until then. Our coastal aboriginal tribes hunted it,it is called jungka in some dialects.

But we also have a deadly poisonous little guy called blue ring octopus.Lives in tidal rock pools,its smaller than the palm of your hand.Will kill you stone motherless dead in no time at all if it bites you. Not edible.Warning signs at our beaches in case somebody thinks it something to take home to put in their fish tank because its so pretty. Pretty deadly is what they are

Bearcarver · Jul 21, 2013

Moikel said:
Foamheart,I dont know who had the Eureka moment at the fish market & decided to use a cement mixer to tenderize them but it works.

Great approach to food you had back in the days you were in the service.

Bet you had some great meals.

Aussies didn't eat it here until the post WW2 migrants showed us what we were missing. It was bait until then. Our coastal aboriginal tribes hunted it,it is called jungka in some dialects.

But we also have a deadly poisonous little guy called blue ring octopus.Lives in tidal rock pools,its smaller than the palm of your hand.Will kill you stone motherless dead in no time at all if it bites you. Not edible.Warning signs at our beaches in case somebody thinks it something to take home to put in their fish tank because its so pretty. Pretty deadly is what they are

Your O'pus looks awesome!!!

The only thing we have around here in Restaurants & Steak Hoagie Joints is side orders of "Calamari".

I assume they get it breaded & frozen, then they deep fry it (too long).

We call it breaded rubber bands!!

Bear

moikel · Jul 21, 2013

It gets served here in seafood joints.Big catering packs, frozen Asian squid. Dont eat it myself. We get really good stuff fresh in a few different sizes. Also hand jigged snap frozen from Indonesia which is really way better than I thought it would be.Lot of people fish for it here ,rod & reel & a shrimp lookalike jig. Quite a skill ,worth learning

So many ways to cook it other than deep-frying in breadcrumbs but then I suppose thats the way with a lot of things.Some people buy supermarket bacon !

snorkelinggirl · Jul 21, 2013

Foamheart said:
Howdee howdee..... we always had ears and tails with greens in the winter. If we were lucky got some neck-bones added. Its pretty good stuff.

Made a promise to myself in the service, every other payday, or once a month, I'd go somewhere local and eat a a fine restaurant and get the local cuisine. I met Octopus and snails in Spain. The swore to me that Octopus was a medicinal stew for upset stomachs. I figured the chef had just cooked to much. They brought it out and it looked a lot like a bouillase or a courtbullion. It was alright, it didn't trip my trigger but I think had they fried it like squid it might have been better. This octopus was tuff, so I assume like squid its either cooked fast or really slow and this must have been in the pot in the middle.

Thanks for the quick explanation about cleansing, don't think I have ever seen 'em in the Gulf. I was going to ask if the had that calcium/cartilage plate like a squid had.

BTW my favorite way to have pig ears is head cheese.

I love your and Clarissa's threads you two always make me smile. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you, Foamheart! A really nice compliment!

I love pig's ears in head cheese as well. That little crunch of cartilage is such a fun surprise! However, I haven't made head cheese in a couple of years. The last time, when I tried to remove the cooked and cooled pig head from the stock pot, I reached into the pig mouth with my hand in order to lift the pig head out by the jaw. Dang but that jaw actually closed, and the stupid pig head bit me! Didn't break my skin, but left me a bit traumatized. Now when I get a pig's head, I debone it and roll the deboned head up to make porchetta di testa. Safer!

Have a great day!
Clarissa

snorkelinggirl · Jul 21, 2013

Moikel said:
Talking interesting combinations out to dinner last night & on the menu as a starter was seared scallop,jerusalem artichoke & crispy fried pigs ear . Didn't order it but I do have a bag of pigs ears in the freezer

We will go back there so I might try it, then work out how to recreate it at home

I love jerusalem artichokes! Sounds like a delicious starter! I've never tried frying pigs ears....I guess you must braise or poach them until tender first? Can't wait to see the post on this!

Bearcarver · Jul 21, 2013

SnorkelingGirl said:
Thank you, Foamheart! A really nice compliment!

I love pig's ears in head cheese as well. That little crunch of cartilage is such a fun surprise! However, I haven't made head cheese in a couple of years. The last time, when I tried to remove the cooked and cooled pig head from the stock pot, I reached into the pig mouth with my hand in order to lift the pig head out by the jaw. Dang but that jaw actually closed, and the stupid pig head bit me! Didn't break my skin, but left me a bit traumatized. Now when I get a pig's head, I debone it and roll the deboned head up to make porchetta di testa. Safer!

Have a great day!
Clarissa

Holy @#$%^& !!!!

Sounds like the makings of a "Horror" Flick---"The Attack of the Dead Pig Head".

No doubt would traumatize anyone!!

Bear

snorkelinggirl · Jul 21, 2013

Bearcarver said:
Holy @#$%^& !!!!

Sounds like the makings of a "Horror" Flick---"The Attack of the Dead Pig Head".

No doubt would traumatize anyone!!

Bear

Ha! Yes, I may not have physical scars, but I do carry the emotional scars. I was home alone at the time. Tears were shed, curse words were uttered. Not my proudest culinary moment.

moikel · Jul 21, 2013

SnorkelingGirl said:
Ha! Yes, I may not have physical scars, but I do carry the emotional scars. I was home alone at the time. Tears were shed, curse words were uttered. Not my proudest culinary moment.

Revenge of the pig head

. Lot of people wont eat anything that looks like it came from an animal & your cooking pig head ,way to go!

On an Aussie version of the English River Cottage TV show,the chef come small acre farmer cooked a pigs head for the farmer he bought his pigs from. Cut in half ,braised low & slow. Butchers daughter looked at me sideways with that" your on your own mate " look.

I think I can sell the pigs ear scallop dish.I think if you boil them ,cool then egg & breadcrumbs then fry. I think if I cut them into neat sections it will work.

I figure I have built a bridge between nose to tail & seafood sections

snorkelinggirl · Jul 21, 2013

Moikel said:
Revenge of the pig head

. Lot of people wont eat anything that looks like it came from an animal & your cooking pig head ,way to go!

On an Aussie version of the English River Cottage TV show,the chef come small acre farmer cooked a pigs head for the farmer he bought his pigs from. Cut in half ,braised low & slow. Butchers daughter looked at me sideways with that" your on your own mate " look.

I think I can sell the pigs ear scallop dish.I think if you boil them ,cool then egg & breadcrumbs then fry. I think if I cut them into neat sections it will work.

I figure I have built a bridge between nose to tail & seafood sections

I've seen pictures of crispy pig ear salad where the pig ears were sliced into rectangles. They looked a lot like fried wonton skins. I definitely think you can get away with that!

foamheart · Jul 21, 2013

As much as everyone loves fried pig skins, cracklins, the crisp hog skins, how could fried pig ears not be a hit. But would you leave the cartilage in? Bite and pull?

Octopus,bacon& leek .... thing?

Master of the Pit

Gone but not forgotten RIP

Master of the Pit

Master of the Pit

Master of the Pit

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

Master of the Pit

Gone but not forgotten RIP

Master of the Pit

Master of the Pit

Master of the Pit

Gone but not forgotten RIP

Master of the Pit

Master of the Pit

Master of the Pit

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

Similar threads

Hot Threads