There is something quite delicious about the flavour of fresh octopus which goes well with fresh tarragon. Here, Geoff Scott has made a savoury whipped cream "dressing" to go with the octopus salad. "On the night, we will finish garnishing each plate with an artist's brush stroke of octopus ink," he says.
Ingredients
| 500 ml | Olive oil |
| 400 g | Octopus, or squid, fresh (Main) |
| 3 | Garlic cloves, peeled and sliced |
| 1 | Bay leaf, fresh or dried |
| 1 | Red chilli, fresh, sliced with seeds |
| 8 | Black olives |
| 1 | Orange, zested and segmented |
| 1 | Fennel bulb, sliced |
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Directions
- Cook octopus in boiling salted water for 1 minute then plunge into iced water for 1 minute. Repeat two more times; this will help to tenderise the octopus.
- Peel off the skin and suckers. In a saucepan bring the olive oil, garlic, bayleaf, chilli and olives to the boil. Add the octopus and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and allow the octopus to cool in the oil. It is best left overnight.
- The next day, remove the octopus from the oil, slice finely and mix with peeled orange segments, orange zest, fennel bulb and slices of the black olives.
- Drizzle with a little of the octopus oil and season with sea salt flakes and white pepper to taste. Serve with tarragon creme.
- For the tarragon creme - whisk 1/3 cup of cream, then gently fold in 2 tsp of finely chopped fresh tarragon, a pinch of fine salt and ½ tsp of lemon juice.
