I made this dish a while ago, then never got the chance to finish writing it. So here we are now, during the holiday season with a non Christmassy dish…It’s not quite the best recipe for the occasion but it is definitely delicious so we’ll make it festive.

Anytime I buy octopus, I think about Paul the famous octopus who predicted all the soccer games in the 2010 world cup. I have a weakness for octopus dishes but then when I buy one and see it staring at me, I am thinking, that’s the last time I will buy one. I have strong mixed feelings about it. Eventually, at some point, I will stop buying it. Maybe this one is Arthur, Paul’s relative.

Since I bought Arthur, I will make the best out of it. I have made many octopus dishes before, and this one with a tomato base is a classic Italian or Southern France dish. The white bean puree goes well with the tomato base, and it’s all enhanced by a herb oil. I loved it. Herbs are an essential part of my cooking style, I could not cook without them. They make any dish taste better, they give it more character.

It’s fairly easy to make herb oil. You need excellent olive oil, the most fragrant you can find. I used Paesano brand (from Sicily). I would use some unrefined and unfiltered extra virgin olive oil, cold press. You can use any herbs you want. I used a mixture of parsley, chives, mint, mixed with garlic, jalapeno pepper. The oil needs to be infused for a while, a minimum of two hours. Then you can store it in a glass bottle and use it when needed.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the octopus

• 1 whole large size octopus (about 2.5 lbs)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 large shallot, diced
• 3 large heirloom tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• Piment d’Espelette
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp tomato vinegar (optional)
• chives for garnish

For the cannelini bean purée

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 400 g cooked cannellini beans
• 1/3 cup vegetable broth
• salt and pepper

For the herb oil

• 1 cup unfiltered cold press extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• one handful mixed fresh herbs (mint, parsley, basil, chives, etc…)

Preparation

For the octopus

Cook octopus in boiling water until tender but not over cooked (about 30 minutes) or alternatively in a pressure cooker for 15-20 minutes. When cooked, drain and cut in medium size pieces (about3-4 inches).

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven. Add shallots and brown them. Add tomatoes, garlic, piment d’Espelette, salt and pepper. Let cook for a few minutes. Add wine, stir well and place in the oven with lid on for 20 minutes. Remove lid and continue cooking until some liquid has been absorbed. Remove from oven and add tomato vinegar. Let cook for another minute an serve.

 For the cannellini bean purée

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions and let them cook until translucent, then add garlic and stir until fragrant. Add beans and broth, salt and pepper. Let it cook to absorb the flavors for about 15 min. Then mix in a mixer to obtain a smooth puree. Add more broth if too thick.

For the herb oil

Mix all ingredients in a mixer until smooth. You could drain and press the mixture in a cheese cloth to obtain the oil (I like texture so I didn’t, and kept it mixed without pressing the oil)

Serve purée in bottom of plates, add octopus on top and herb oil all around. Sprinkle with chives.

Since I came back from Japan, I have been wanting to make Takoyaki which are Japanese octopus balls usually find in the streets of Japan and eaten as snacks. They are delightful (of course if you like octopus). I went to Japan town and got all the ingredients, then when I arrived home, I decided to change my menu and went for a more Mediterranean recipe instead. As we say in French “il n’y a que les imbeciles qui ne changent pas d’avis” (only imbeciles don’t change their mind). I was quite hungry, and I thought I didn’t want to eat something called a “snack”. So takoyaki will have to wait.

Needless to say I adore octopus, in any shape or form, and my two favorite ways to eat it is either as a stew or grilled.

I made this herb salsa a few days ago to eat with grilled fish and I had some left that would be perfect for this dish as well. You don’t need to make two sauces. You can pick between the roasted pepper sauce or this herb one…or both if you don’t mind the extra work (which is very minimal). Honestly, I love to serve it with both. The roasted pepper salsa brings out the sweetness and the herb salsa is more pungy and citrussy and both are really a great combination for grilled octopus.

This dish is fairly simple as far as technique and likelihood to mess it up. Now, it require many different ingredients, but not too many spices. I don’t like dishes that are too complicated where you lose the essence of the primary ingredient, therefore end up not knowing what you are eating anymore. So this dish does not fit in that category despite its ingredients.

I included some saute greens that are optional, but I love my greens so it’s up to you to decide if you want to add some or not. The ones are used are Asian greens that looks like rapini, but any stems green would work.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the roasted pepper salsa

• 2 red peppers
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the herb salsa

• 1/2 bunch dill
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1/2 bunch basil
• 1 garlic clove
• zest of 1 meyer lemon
• juice of 1 meyer lemon
• 1/2 ts cumin
• salt and pepper

For the fava beans and fennel saute

• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 fennel head, shaved very finely and thinly
• 1/2 cup fava beans (shelled)
• 2 tbs dry white wine
• salt and pepper
• lemon oil for drizzling

For the octopus

• 400 g cooked octopus
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

For the roasted pepper salsa

Roast peppers under broiler until they turn black on all sides. Remove from oven and let it cool. Remove seeds and skin and place in a mixer with the rest of the ingredients until the mixture becomes smooth.

For the mix herb salsa

Mix all ingredients in a mixer less the lemon zest until fine, like a pesto texture. Add lemon zest at the end.

For the fava bean and fennel saute

Remove fava beans from pod. Bring a water to a boil in a small pot.  Cook fava beans in water for about 3 minutes. Drain and remove the fava bean from their shell. Keep aside.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add fennel and mirin and cook at medium heat for a few minutes until the fennel starts to soften but still remain firm. Let mirin evaporate. Add fava beans and mix well. Adjust with salt and pepper and drizzle with lemon oil.

For the octopus

You either need precooked octopus you can find at any Asian market or raw octopus that you will cook yourself in water until soft (it should take about 40 minutes). When cooked, cut a few tentacles in about 4.5 inches long. Marinate them in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper for about one hour. Grill on barbeque on skillet until golden brown and crispy on each sides (about 10 minutes).

I have been thinking about this pasta for a while now…sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I think about some new recipes, and this one has been occupying my mind lately. I love colors everywhere, and I love especially colorful and vibrant food in my plate, and this is just the right balance of colors, flavors and textures. The first time I discovered spirulina was in France, it was a dried store bought pasta with spirulina. I had no idea what spirulina was until then.

After some research, I found out that spirulina is a blue algae used as a supplement before workouts (either in a pill or as a powder), so I tried it, and I liked its boosting effect, but it tastes like a strong raw seaweed (quite unpleasant). Being high in protein and amino acid, I have been using it as a supplement. The thought of making some pasta with it, kept coming to my mind, and I had to come to an end with this recurring thought. It worked as planned. You end up with beautiful green pasta similar than spinach pasta but without bad seaweed flavor when used as a supplement in a drink.

Spirulina being a seaweed, any fish or seafood based sauce would be ideal. You can use shrimps or seas scallops as well. I have a weakness for octopus…even though, I have a little dilemma with octopus (ever since I found out about Paul the octopus), it’s an intelligent animal so I feel a bit guilty to eat it even though I like its flavor and texture.

Here I used whole grain farro and buckwheat flours but you can also use some other flours of your choice. If you use this combination, I used a ratio of 60/40 (farro/buckwheat), I would not advise to use less than 60g of farro with buckwheat since buckwheat has no gluten so the texture might end up being a bit fragile and the pasta might break in the cooking process.

For the octopus, I usually buy it whole and raw. Some Chinese or Japanese stores sell them precooked in small portions, so if you are not too familiar with its preparation, that would be an easier alternative. If you buy it raw, it needs to be cooked in water (with cloves, bay leaf, celery, carrot, onion) for about 45 min or until tender. Then you need to slice it and use it in the stew.

Ingredients for 2

For the pasta

• 60 g wholegrain farro flour
• 40 g buckwheat flour
•  1 tsp spirulina powder
• 1 egg

For the octopus stew

•  2 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 shallot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbs basil chopped
• 1 tbs parsley chopped
• 3 medium heirloom tomatoes, seedless, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 glass dry white wine
• 1 .5 cup octopus, finely sliced
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the stew

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallot and let it soften. Add basil, parlsey and garlic and cook until fragrant ensuring no to burn the garlic. Add tomatoes and cook for about 7 minutes, then add wine and let it reduce. Add the octopus and cook for an additional 10 min at low heat.

For the pasta

In a container or large wooden board, mix flours and spirulina. Add egg and mix well, kneading the dough forming a ball. Knead the dough for about 5-10 min. Add flour if sticky. Using a pasta machine, or rolling pin make tagliatelle (noodle shape pasta). Let the pasta dry for about 15 min. Bring a large salted pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook for a few minutes until the pasta comes floating at the surface. Do not overcook. Drain and serve with the sauce.

I have been wanting to make this carpaccio for such a long time, then one thing or another comes up and I end up making something else. Besides, a whole uncooked octopus is hard to find, but lately I saw them at Whole Foods.

The first time I tasted an octopus carpaccio was a few years ago in Italy, in a small restaurant around Lake Como, since then I have been thinking about it. It was such a memorable dish and special moment. The moment might be gone, but I always wanted to try to reproduce the dish.

Last weekend we went to a famous restaurant in Napa where they had an octopus carpaccio on the menu. Needless to say, I order it. I was so excited to taste a Japanese, fusion octopus style carpaccio, and get some inspiration on new flavors. Unfortunately, when the dish arrived, there were a few very tiny and thin slices of cut tentacles buried in salad, that was it. I was so bummed, thinking maybe they had no clue on what the word carpaccio meant or maybe they ran out of octopus, or who knows.

This recipe is fairly simple, yet quite delicate, and light. You just need an empty bottle of plastic (like a water bottle you would buy at the store) to stuff the cooked octopus in it. This way, it will solidifies into a thick block, easy to slice.

Ingredients for 3-4

For the octopus

• 1 large octopus (3-4 lbs uncooked)
• 1 carrot, peeled
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 bay leaf

For the dressing

• 6 tbs live oil
• 2 tbs lemon juice (preferably Meyer)
• Piment d’Espelette
• 1 tbs parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a large pot, cook octopus with carrot, celery, bay leaf until tender (about 30-40 min). Let it cool in its water. When cold drain and squeeze excess water. Push the octopus in the plastic bottle, from which you have cut the top (you need to have a cylinder with top cut off). Press hard to compress the octopus. Place in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.

For the dressing, mix all ingredients together.

Remove the octopus from the bottle by cutting the plastic. Slice very finely and divide on individual plates. Sprinkle with dressing on top and serve cold

Has anyone heard the story of Paul le poulpe, or Paul the octopus? Well my cousin came to visit a few months ago and he told me about this octopus story. Paul was a French octopus whose life lasted from 2008 to 2010, quite a short life…maybe that’s a lifespan for an octopus.

Paul was very famous, simply because he could predict the winner of the soccer games. He predicted 12 out of 14 games during the world cup. For French people, soccer is the national sport, getting to know in advance which team would win, and most of all getting scores from a mollusk whose destiny is to be in a pan along with tomatoes and onions, rather on TV with sports commentator, is something linked to the divine. I have no idea how an octopus could predict such scores, but it did, doesn’t this sound odd?

I have not met Paul, and I am sure he was quite a smart animal…now I have to admit that I love octopus in any form, shape and recipe. I do feel a little guilty to eat it, but when I eat it, I simply don’t think about this and I enjoy every bite of it.

Animals are amazing and teach us humility and kindness. My life changed since I had my dog and my parrot…all they want is to be with me, cuddle and eat. Maybe one day, I will buy an octopus to cuddle with, and will stop eating it, but in the meantime, I think I will still enjoy it. Doesn’t this sound cruel? I wish one day, I will stop eating any animal form…

Ingredients for 4

• 600 g octopus
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1 cup small creamer potatoes
• 3 tbs celery leaves, chopped
• 2 tbs kalamata olives

for the vinaigrette

• 3 tbs olive oil
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 pinches paprika
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook octopus in water for about 2 hours or until tender. Slice in small thin pieces. Set aside in a mixing bowl. Grill fennel, peppers, onions on a skillet. Add to the octopus. Add all other ingredients and mix well.

Cook potatoes in salted water, and cook until tender, cut in half and add to the octopus.

For the vinaigrette, mix all ingredients together. Add to the octopus mixture and toss. Serve lukewarm with toasted bread.

Well after about one month of no blogging, and taking a break from it, I had to come back to my old life simply because I am starting to miss it. I apologize for disappearing this way, without really no explanation. I want to send a big thanks to everyone who sent me wonderful little message asking how I was doing. That really brightened my dark days. There are truly wonderful bloggers out there whose kindness really touched me. One more time, Merci infiniment to all of you who got in touch with me and to all of you who kept reading my old posts.

I hope no one thought I was some kind of lunatic (in French lunatique, means moody) who just disappears without leaving any trace. I felt somehow overwhelmed and unmotivated and busy with some other projects and just wanted to take a little break from the blog world.

I hope everyone out there is doing marvelously, happy and in good spirit!

I have always loved octopus, but it seems like little by little, I am really getting addicted to it. Isn’t this a weird addiction? Oh well, I think we all have a weird attachment to something in particular, don’t you think?

I got somehow inspired by the Japanese cooked spinach dish, I believe it’s called ohitashi, but here I used chards instead. Chards have a stronger flavor than spinach but I really like them with octopus. The dense octopus meat goes perfectly well with the leafy texture and flavor of the chards. The whole dish being enhanced with a citrussy and ginger dressing. This is a simple dish, with true flavors that would be perfect as a seafood tapas.

The Chinese market I go to sometimes, have cut and pre-cooked octopus, so you don’t have to buy a whole one, that is perfect for small portions.

Ingredients for 4

• 400 g octopus
• 4 bunches chards

For the vinaigrette

• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp shoyu
• 1 tbs orange juice
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Remove stems from chards. Add chards to boiling water. Cook for about 7 minutes, then drain and let it cool. When completely cooled, squeeze extra water with your hands and form a small oval shape ball.

Cook octopus until soft (about one and a half hours) or if you use pre-cooked octopus, just place it in boiling water and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Slice each tentacle in about 2mm thick slice and place  it on top of each chard ball.

Combine all the vinaigrette ingredients together, mix well and spoon some of it on top of the octopus and around the spinach.

Not that I am starting to deviate into Mexican cuisine, but since I just got back from Cabos San Lucas last night, I wanted to pursue my Mexican and seafood adventures with this refreshing and delicious cocktail. The abundance of avocado, seafood, lime and hot peppers is what I loved most about Mexican cuisine. I knew the traditional Mexican dishes you get in California, such as quesadilla, tacos, burritos and fajitas, but never really explored further their more delicate and fragrant cuisine.

So this small and easy dish was inspired by what I discovered in a small restaurant in La Paz right in front of the ocean, a beautiful and fresh octopus cocktail served in a glass. In France, we do use avocado shell to serve avocado based appetizers, the only problem is that you need a large haas avocado or you won’t be able to fit a lot of the stuffing. You can of course use a large cocktail glass to serve this, or two avocado halves per person.

I had never been to Mexico before this trip just because usually during the summer vacation I go back home. For many reasons, I could not go home this year. So I had to find a place close by where I felt I was completely “dépaysée” (away from my natural environment) and recharge my batteries.

Los Cabos, in Baja might not be the typical Mexican city but I loved it.  You can find Starbucks and Costco which I thought were somehow out of place, selling American fruits to the locals at outrageous prices. We get Mexican mangos and they get American peaches.

La Paz was a lot more Mexican than Cabos and a lot cheaper too. The warmth and hospitality of the locals, the cuisine, the burning sun, the ocean and everything else that makes Baja very special. That long and narrow peninsula has so many wonderful assets ;its where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez, where the desert meets green plains, where you can relax and pamper yourself in the amazing spas, or get more adventurous and drive along the coasts and discover tiny and colorful Mexican villages.

The beach… I am not really a beach maniac, and did not lay down to get a tan, but even with a 100 sun block and in the shade, you get burnt…I was lucky enough to not have a bikini incident, so everything was perfect.

I have never met people so adorable and hospitable, people would go out of their way to help you with a genuine desire to do so and sincere smile. I will be back!

Now that I am back to real life, I will have to catch up with everyone and see what’s cooking and what everyone has been up to during this last month. I apologize for being such a terrible “supporter”, but I will get back in touch with everyone very soon.

Ingredients for 4

• 4 ripe avocados, cut in half
• 1 lemon
• 12 medium size shrimps, deshelled
• 150 g cooked octopus, cut in small pieces
• 1 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs lime juice
• zest of 1 lime
• 1 tbs mixed herbs (cilantro, chives, tarragon, etc…)
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 tsp red onion, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook octopus for a few hours in salted boiling water. Let it cool and cut in small pieces. Saute shrimps in olive oil and add to the octopus.

Cut avocado in halves, using a teaspoon, scoop some of its flesh, leaving about 5 mm of avocado on the shell. Cut the scooped avocado in small pieces. Coat the avocado halves with lemon juice to prevent them from darkening.

In a mixing container, add all other ingredients and mix well.

Mix diced avocado with seafood, and pour vinaigrette on mixture. Spoon into the avocado halves. Decorate with lime slice and serve.

One of the greatest gentleman in the food blogsphere, Lazaro Bernal form Lazaro Cooks kindly requested me if I could guest post on his blog. Of course, I accepted with great enthusiasm and excitement. I think it’s an honor to be a guest post on someone’s blog. Usually, it doesn’t take me forever to find a recipe to post, but this time I wanted to find the perfect recipe that would fit Lazaro Cooks and that would be a combination of creativity, flavors, colors and that represents exactly what I love, and what Lazaro’s blog is all about.

I love all kinds of cuisines but I tend to go towards light and flavorful tastes with a Mediterranean flair. Here they’re combined with Asian flavors (because I do love Asian cuisine too, did not have the time to become an expert in it, but I do love to combine Asian ingredients to more Western ones) and the result is a perfectly balanced soba dish with amazing flavors and textures.

For this dish, I got inspired by one of Alain Ducasse‘s recipe, people who have been reading my blog, must know that I am a huge Ducasse fan. I changed a few items and twisted it around but the theme of combining Eastern and Western flavors is there and since Lazaro is a huge “connaisseur” of French cuisine, I knew he would approve my choice.

Go check out his blog for the recipe!

From what I’ve seen and heard, I have found very few people crazy about octopus…unlike me, I love it, like every thing else that lives in an ocean. The thing with octopus is that it needs to be well cooked, and prepared the right way or it can get hard to chew, and rubbery. I have tasted an octopus carpaccio in a small restaurant in Como Lake, Italy, where the octopus was cut in paper thin slices, then marinated and topped with rucola, lemon juice and olive oil. Octopus is very popular in Mediterranean cuisine and despite its strange prehistorical aspect, has an extraordinary delicate flavor and can be prepared in many different ways.

For this recipe, you can cut the octopus in smaller pieces if you don’t like to have big chunks of tentacles in your plate. I wanted to make octopus pieces as big as the mangoes. Don’t get intimidated by this strange animal with its long legs and tentacles, you’ll be surprised by its delicacy.

I found this recipes couple of years ago on a tagine recipe book (I forgot its name, I only remember it was a purple book), the little twist is the addition of the spice mixture you can buy at some specialty counter at our Nancy’s market. You can make it as well, keep it in a air tight container and use it in fish dishes, it’s really a great mix. Every year when I come home, my mom makes this tagine for me, she knows I am crazy for octopus, the only problem is that she used a whole octopus this time, this one weighted 5 lb, so there was enough octopus for an army. How much octopus can you eat?

Cooking octopus in clay tagine pot makes it very flavorful and tender, the addition of mangoes 20 minutes before removing it from the oven adds a sweet touch that gives this dish an exquisite exotic touch. I use my tagine very often and cooking in clay pot makes a big difference in terms of flavor. I even bought another clay pot here, that will need to fit in my suitcase and arrive in San Francisco in one piece. That will be my last day challenge.

Ingredients for 4-5

• 2 lb octopus
• 1 1/2 onions, sliced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp spice mix
• 2 firm mangoes, not too ripe
• salt and pepper

Spice mix for a small jar

• 2 tbsp turmeric
• 1 tsp anise seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbs parsley flakes

Preparation

Clean octopus under running water, remove beak, eyes, etc…

Cook octopus in boiling water for about 30-45 minutes. Remove from water, drain and let it cool. Cut in small pieces about 1 inch thick.

Heat olive oil in your tagine, and brown onions. Add octopus, paprika, spice mix, salt and pepper. Mix well. Cook in a pre-heated oven for 1h30 hour at 375-380F. 20 minutes before removing from the oven, add mangoes, cover and cook until the mangoes are cooked but still firm and not mushy. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with white rice, steamed potatoes or herbed quinoa.