Australians love seafood and we often choose to eat it for special occasions. Oysters, prawns, crabs and lobsters are the favourites as the cash registers at fish markets over the Christmas period and Australia Day will attest. And yet there is a wealth of other seafood. Think Balmain bugs, abalone, mussels, clams and scallops to mention a few. And that’s not even considering all the species of fish available.
Octopus and squid are also fantastic and work well in a variety of cooking and preparation methods. I recently tried two less familiar ways of preparing them and the results were well received. Octopus baked with tomato and a dish of pickled spiced squid. Both can be prepared a day or so before required, leaving more of that all-important time to spend with your friends and family, whether it’s a special day or not.
Caren
TOMATO BAKED OCTOPUS
Serves 4 as an entrée or serve it as part of a seafood selection.
750 gm cleaned medium octopus
50 gm tomato puree
400 gm tinned tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons red or white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Tabasco, plus extra
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra
1 teaspoon sugar
4 sprigs marjoram
Lemon wedges
Separate the heads from the bodies of the octopuses.
Cut away the stem of the head, which includes the eyes and beak, and discard.
Remove as much skin as possible from the tentacles.
Mix all the other ingredients together in a ceramic oven dish and place the octopus pieces in the mix. Marinate for 3-4 hours in the fridge.
Oven preheated to 220°C.
Bake the octopus for 10 minutes but no longer as it will tend to toughen. Remove from the oven and rest for at least 20 minutes. Add additional sea salt and Tabasco to taste. Cut the octopus into smaller pieces and serve with lemon wedges.
The dish can be covered and refrigerated for a day. Then it can either be served at room temperature or covered with foil and gently reheated in the oven until warm.
PICKLED SPICED SQUID
Serves 4-6 as an entrée with some salad or serve it as part of a mixed seafood selection.
1.5 kg medium squid
60 ml olive oil
80 ml white wine vinegar
125 ml dry white wine
80 ml water
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon coarsely ground white pepper
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
4 garlic cloves, sliced
½ jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced, seeds removed
2 lemon slices
Clean the squid and separate the top parts from the bodies. Discard the guts, quill and head parts but keep the tentacles.
Skin the body parts and cut them down one side. Open them up so you have flat pieces of flesh. Scape off all the attached inner bits until you have clean pieces of squid. Cut each flat piece into four even shapes and score the inner sides in a crosshatch pattern.
Combine the liquid ingredients, salt and pepper, seeds and garlic in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile sterilise a glass jar that is large enough to hold the squid and the pickling liquid.
Add the tentacles and squid pieces and continue to simmer for no longer than one minute. Pour the mix into the glass jar and then add the jalapeno slices and the lemon slices. Allow the mix to cool for half an hour, seal and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.