my favorite recipe
CHEF ARIEL CONTRERAS-FOX
Landry’s Dos Caminos and Del Frisco’s CHEF ARIEL FOX HOLDS MANY
first executive chef roles in
1 clove garlic
TITLES: vice president of
New York. It was definitely
1 small shallot, minced
culinary at Landry’s con-
a fan favorite among regu-
1 t. honey or agave
cepts Dos Caminos and Del
lars, and I have been doing
2 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
Frisco’s, 2018 winner of
a variation ever since at
“Hell’s Kitchen: Rookies vs.
most of my restaurants.”
½ c. extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil
Veterans,” and author of Spice Kitchen: Healthy Latin & Caribbean Cuisine.* Here, she shares her recipe for Warm Octopus Salad, which she says “brings back such fond memories of travel throughout my life. Octopus or squid dishes in general are very reminiscent of island life throughout the Caribbean and coastal towns of South and Central America…I remember putting a warm octopus salad on the menu in one of my
Warm Octopus Salad Makes 4 servings
The Octopus:
2 bay leaves 3 parsley stalks 3 sprigs thyme 1 lemon, halved Sea salt
¼ t. sea salt The Salad: ½ ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and diced into ¼-in. pieces 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, seeded and minced 2 red Fresno chile peppers, sliced into ⅛-inch rings 1 small white onion, peeled and very thinly shaved
1 (2½ lb.) octopus, or 2 lbs. tentacles only
¼ c. fresh cilantro leaves
Coconut oil for grilling
2 c. baby arugula
The Dressing:
Fresh lime wedges, for garnish
1 T. coriander seeds, dry toasted and ground fine
To prepare the octopus, fill a large pot with water, enough to cover octopus when added. Add bay leaves, parsley stalks, thyme sprigs, lemon halves, and a generous amount of salt.
1 poblano chile pepper, roasted, peeled, and seeded
Bring to a boil and allow to cook for 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Gently pound octopus’ tentacles with smooth side of a mallet or any smooth, heavy object to tenderize the meat. Holding octopus by its head, dunk body in and out of water 2 or 3 times for about 5 to 10 seconds each time. Then carefully submerge octopus into water. Cook 45 minutes to 1 hour, until tentacles are tender. You should be able to easily
insert a fork into octopus. Immediately remove from cooking liquid and dunk octopus into ice water 4 to 5 times. Cut tentacles off the body and place in a bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate while preparing dressing and salad ingredients. Preheat grill, or a cast-iron grill pan on your stove, to 400°F. To make the dressing, combine the coriander, poblano, garlic, shallot, honey, lime juice, oil, and salt in a blender. Pulse until combined and uniform. When dressing is done, toss octopus with coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of prepared dressing to marinate. Grill octopus about 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until crispy. While octopus is grilling, combine all salad ingredients except arugula in a salad bowl. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of dressing and toss to combine. On a platter, arrange the baby arugula. Sprinkle salad mixture over bed of arugula. Once octopus is crispy, remove from grill and immediately slice on a bias into ¼-in-thick slices. Arrange warm octopus on top of salad bed and spoon a generous amount of coriander dressing all over the top. Garnish platter with lime wedges all around. *Kingston Imperial; publication date August 23, 2022
