MY FAVORITE RECIPE — Chef Ariel Contreras-Fox

CHEF ARIEL CONTRERAS-FOX Landry’s Dos Caminos and Del Frisco’s

CHEF ARIEL FOX HOLDS MANY

TITLES: vice president of culinary at Landry’s concepts Dos Caminos and Del Frisco’s, 2018 winner of “Hell’s Kitchen: Rookies vs. 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 first executive chef roles in New York. It was definitely a fan favorite among regulars, and I have been doing a variation ever since at most of my restaurants.”

Warm Octopus Salad

Makes 4 servings The Octopus: 2 bay leaves 3 parsley stalks 3 sprigs thyme 1 lemon, halved Sea salt 1 (2½ lb.) octopus, or 2 lbs. tentacles only Coconut oil for grilling The Dressing: 1 T. coriander seeds, dry toasted and ground fine 1 poblano chile pepper, roasted, peeled, and seeded 1 clove garlic 1 small shallot, minced 1 t. honey or agave 2 T. freshly squeezed lime juice ½ c. extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil 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 ¼ c. fresh cilantro leaves 2 c. baby arugula Fresh lime wedges, for garnish 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. 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

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