Pine Nut Coated Octopus and Tomato Tapenade

Art Culinaire, Spring, 2001 by Todd English

For the octopus in a large sacuepan over medium heat, combine the octobus tentacles red wine water tomatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, black pepper corns, and basil. Bring to a boil reduce the heat, and summer for four hours. Remove from the heat, transfer the tentacles to a bowl, and discard the cooking liquid. Place the tentacles in the refrigerator to chill.

For the tomato and eggplant chips, prehea the oven to 200 degrees. Arrange the tomato and eggplant slices in a single layer on a silpat-lined sheet pan. Place in the oven and dry until crisp. About 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, season, and set aside.

For the eggplant, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Liberally coat the inside of the eggplant halves with oil. Place cut side down on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Place in the oven and roast and soft about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. Using a sharp paring knife and a soup spoon, remove the seeds in the center and discard. Season and set aside keeping warm.

For the tomato tapenade, in a small bowl combine the anchovies and milk. Set aside to soak for 10 minutes. Strain, discarding the milk, and finely chop. In a medium bowl, combine the anchovies, tomatoes, olives, capers, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, and olive oil. Toss to combine, season, and set aside.

For the olive puree, place the olives in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade attachment. Puree until smooth, about two minutes, and set aside.

To finish the octopus, preheat the fryer to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl combine one-and-a-half cups of the flour, salt, and pepper and mix to combine. Place the eggs in a medium shallow bowl. Place the remaining flour, pine nuts, and breadcrumbs in large, shallow bowl. Coat the tentacles in the flour, patting off any excess. Dip in the eggs and coat liberally with the breadcrumb mix. Place in the fryer and cook until golden brown, about four minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a paper towel-lined sheet pan to drain. Season and set aside keeping warm.

To serve, set an eggplant half in the center of a plate, spoon some olive puree in the center and top with tomato tapenade. Set two octopus tentacles on top and arrange some tomato chips and eggplant chips around the dish. Drizzle some basil oil, fried capers, orange zest, sea salt, and parsley over the dish.

For the octopus:

12 5-inch octopus tentacles

2 cups red wine

1 quart water

1 6-ounce can chopped tomatoes

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1/4 bunch basil, stemmed and chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

4 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cup pine nuts

3 cups panko bread crumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

For the tomato and eggplant chips:

1 large tomato, peeled and thinly sliced

3 Japanese eggplants, thinly sliced lengthwise

Salt and pepper to taste

For the eggplant:

3 white eggplant, halved

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

For the tomato tapenade:

6 anchovy fillets, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons whole milk

10 plum tomatoes, roasted, peeled seeded and chopped

1 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and chopped.

Juice of 1 lemon

1 Glove garlic peeled and minced

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

For the olive puree:

1 cup pitted kalamata olives

For the dish:

Basil oil

Fried capers

Orange zest

Seat salt

Minced parsley

Parsley springs