Grilled Octopus and Cuttlefish!

Cuttlefish (various sources):

The cuttlefish are also called the chameleon of the sea. They have a very great ability to change their pattern for various purposes. The change of coloration is due to the special cells called chromatophores. The cells change colors when the individual cells expand or contract. Therefore, the cuttlefish are known to blend into many backgrounds with ease. The cuttlefish can therefore change into colors of gold, green, silver, blue etc.

Mr. Tastebuds and I love Octopus and I make it several times a year. Well my market had baby Octopus on sale and then I found some Cuttlefish which I’ve never tasted nor cooked before. I don’t think I need to tell you that this was going to be one visually interesting dish!

I usually marinate Octopus over night and pop it under the broiler. But this time I decided to marinate the Octopus and then try out our new grilling basket! The grilling basket worked out perfectly for both the Octopus and Cuttlefish. I served the grilled Octopus and Cuttlefish over linguine with a light creamy garlic sauce and garnished with green onion. And it was not only an exciting dish to make but delicious as well!

Marinade for Octopus
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

1/2 c or so of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 cloves of garlic crushed
2-3 TBL Balsamic Vinegar or 1/2 c. red wine
3-4 large fresh basil leaves, minced
sprig of fresh tarragon

Mix all the ingredients together pour into a shallow covered dish or a secure zip lock bag. Make sure that whatever you are marinating is completely covered with the mix. If there’s not enough liquid to completely cover just rotate every few hours.

NOTE: Octopus can be quite chewy, so I usually marinate it over night.

Garlic Cream and Green Onion Sauce
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

1 lb linguine
3 TBL EVOO
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp anchovy paste
3-4 green onions, sliced into 1/8″ coins including the tops
6-10 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1/2 c. cream
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, finely grated **See Note
1/2 c. parsley, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Option: 1/4 c. dry white wine

In a large kettle, cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to pkg directions. I add about 1 TBL EVOO to my pasta water too but that’s me!

As soon as you put the pasta water on to boil, heat 3 TBL EVOO in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Gently saute the whole garlic cloves until each clove is just golden brown and easily pieced with a fork. Remove garlic cloves and on a cutting board mash cloves with a fork and mix with anchovy paste. Turn burner off.

As soon your pasta water begins to boil and you’ve added the pasta, reheat the sauce pan of oil. Return mashed garlic/anchovy paste to the warm EVOO and simmer for a minute. Add basil and green onions, gently stir, making sure the mashed garlic is distributed and simmer for about 1-2 minutes. Add cream, Parmesan cheese, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Toss sauce with drained pasta and serve.

NOTE: I like my pasta sauces thin but if you’d like a thicker sauce just add more Parmesan cheese.

Are you game enough to try it?

Gadgets that Work

I bought the grilling basket sometime last year towards the end of the summer and it was in the sale bin. Not being sure if we’d ever use it I did not want to spend a lot of money so the $9 price tag was within my limit.

Well, I finally tried out the basket with the Octopus and Cuttlefish and I LOVE IT!

The grilling basket is very easy to use just place food inside the 2-piece basket and latch the basket together. The 2-piece basket has 3 adjustable settings and holds food firmly in place. And being there’s a top and bottom to the basket it’s a snap to just flip the basket for even, over-all grilling.

The non-stick finish cleans up quickly either by hand or machine. And the 14 1/2″ wooden handle stays cool and is plenty long enough to keep hands at a safe distance from the grill. Also being rather flat it is so easy to store, we just keep ours in the coat closet in our mud room.

I really did like the basket but there is one problem. I wish the grid was a bit smaller so that I could grill shrimp. When it came time to grill some shrimp, I skewered the shrimp first then put them in the basket and the skewers prevented the shrimp from slipping through the grate. Ta-Da…grilled shrimp and it was so much easier to flip the basket then trying to flip skewered shrimp!

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Tagged as: Anchovy, Cream, Cuttlefish, Garlic, Octopus