Grilled Spanish Octopus, heirloom fingerling potatoes, lemon chili oil, grilled corn, salscicia, romesco and micro cilantro
Chef Mark Gaulden from Bugatti’s Steak & Pasta at Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles
About this dish: Many people are scared of octopus. When they see it on a menu, they don’t want to order it because they think it will be tough and rubbery. We want to break that myth that octopus is rubbery and encourage people to go out of their comfort zone and try something you normally wouldn’t try.
Plated Octopus (4 portions)
- Octopus: 8 legs
- Roasted Heirloom Fingerling Potatoes: 16 oz
- Salsiccia 8 oz
- Lemon Chili Oil 2 oz
- Grilled Corn: 8 oz
- Micro Cilantro: 1 oz
- Romesco: 4 oz
Octopus Preparation
Take whole octopus and using a meat mallet gently tenderize each leg, do not want to hit it hard, light taps are perfect. Another way is to use the back of your knife. Tenderize it until you can feel the legs go from circles to ovals when you feel them.
Cooking the Octopus
Add water, lemons, peppercorns, white wine, garlic, salt, and tenderized octopus to a pot, bring, and keep between 160 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not add the octopus to boiling water; you want to bring it up to temp in the water slowly to help keep the octopus tender.
- Water: 1 gallon
- Lemons: 3 ea, squeeze into pot
- Peppercorn: .5 oz
- White Wine: 2 cups
- Garlic Cloves: 6 ea
- Salt: 4 oz
- Octopus: 1 ea (2 legs per order)
Cooking the Octopus
- Cook the octopus for approximately 90-120 minutes depending on the size of the octopus. I recommend using around a 3 lb octopus; the legs are perfect portions for this dish. You want to be able cut through the legs with a fork when it is tender, the skin will start to peel off the legs.
- Once tender, turn the pot off and let the octopus steep in the pot for 30 minutes, then pull out octopus and put directly in marinade and refrigerate.
- You want to marinade the octopus for 8 hours.
- When you finish marinating the octopus pull it out of the marinade and remove the head and the beak, the beak is in the center of all of the legs and can be removed by cutting from above.
- Lastly cut the legs off of the octopus and leave in the fridge.
Octopus Marinade
- Olive Oil: 2 cups
- Lemon Juice from 1 lemon
- Garlic cloves: 10 ea
- Red Chili Flake: .25 oz (.75oz if you like it spicy)
- Salt: 1 oz
- Smoked Paprika: .25 oz
- Cooked Octopus: 1 ea
- Red Wine Vinegar: 3 tbsp
Romesco
- Red Pepper: 4.5 oz
- Garlic cloves: .75 oz
- Toasted Almonds: 2 oz
- Tomato Puree: 2 oz
- Parsley: .25 oz
- Red Wine Vinegar: 1 tbsp
- Smoked Paprika: 1 tsp
- Olive Oil 6 tbsp
- Salt: .1 oz
To prepare the Romesco:
- Fire roast your whole red peppers on an open flame, you can use a gas stove or a grill, you want the outside to char.
- Once the outside of the peppers are charred black, remove from heat, place in a bowl and wrap airtight with plastic wrap, let cool to room temp.
- Once peppers are room temperature, remove from the plastic, peel off the charred skin and remove the steams and the seeds.
- Add all ingredients besides the olive oil to a blender. Purée until smooth, then add the oil slowly to the mixture. You can add less or more oil depending on what consistency you want the romesco, the more oil you add the thicker it will become.
Roasted Potatoes
- Heirloom Fingerling Potatoes: 1 lb
- Salt: .1 oz
- Pepper: .1 oz
- Olive Oil 1 tbsp
To prepare the Roasted Potatoes:
- Cut the fingerling potatoes in half longways.
- In a bowl toss with salt, pepper, and oil.
- Roast on a baking sheet at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes.
Grilled Corn
- Corn on the Cob: about 2 ea 8 oz total after cutting off cob
- Olive Oil: 1 tbsp
- Salt: .1 oz
- Pepper: .01 oz
To prepare the Grilled Corn:
- Remove the corn from the husks.
- Toss in oil salt and pepper.
- Char on the grill until the kernels are golden brown.
- Once corn is cooked, cool to room temp and cut off the cob.
Salsiccia
- Medium Ground Pork: 11 oz
- Salt: .25 oz
- Pepper: .1 oz
- Red Wine: 3 tbsp
- Garlic, minced: .75 oz
- Rosemary: 1 tsp
- Red Chili Flake: 1 tsp
- Olive Oil: 3 tbsp
To prepare the Salsiccia:
- In a hot skillet add your olive oil, once oil is hot add your pork. Season with salt, pepper, and chili flake.
- Saute until the pork is cooked about halfway, then add your garlic and rosemary.
- Cook the pork until done then add the red wine.
- Cook the red wine au sec (until dry) and then remove the pork from the heat.
Lemon Chili Oil
- Olive Oil: ¼ C
- Red chili flake: .1 oz
- Garlic, minced: .25 oz
- Fresh Lemon juice: 2 tbsp
- Red wine vinegar: 2 tbsp
- Salt: 1 tsp
To prepare the Lemon Chili Oil
- Add olive oil, chili flake, garlic, and salt to a pot.
- Bring oil to around 200 degrees and then turn off, let the items steep in the oil for about an hour.
- Add lemon juice and red vinegar once cooled.
Plating Octopus (4 portions)
- Octopus: 8 legs
- Heirloom Fingerling Potatoes: 16 oz
- Salsiccia 8 oz
- Lemon Chili Oil 2 oz
- Grilled Corn, cut off the cob: 8 oz
- Micro Cilantro: 1 oz
- Romesco: 4 oz
To prepare the Plating Octopus:
- In a hot skillet, add the sausage and a little olive oil.
- Let the fat come out of the pork then add the corn and the potatoes.
- Cook all items until they are hot, then pull off the heat and use half (2 oz) of the romesco to coat the potatoes, sausage, and corn in the skillet. You should not need any more seasoning since everything was seasoned and cooked already but if never hurts to check, taste it and adjust seasoning as needed.
- While this is cooking in the skillet, take the octopus and put it on the grill. It is already cooked; all you need to do is char it on the outside a little for a delicious smokey flavor.
- Once the octopus is charred slightly and the corn, potatoes, and sausage are hot it is time to plate.
- Smear the romesco in the bottom of the bowl; place the corn, potatoes, and sausage in a mound on top.
- Then place the octopus legs in an X across the top of the mound, garnish with micro cilantro and lemon chili oil.
