PULPO

Despite my adoration for minimalism in all of its various incarnations, I have been repeatedly disappointed by Mark Bittman's,ny times columnist, stab at streamlined recipes.

His recent attempt at "accessible" octopus was no exception. On the other hand the hours of preparation and search for large pulpo purveyors in ny (sea breeze has fresh octopus in stock) provided novel enjoyment and more then compensated for the lack of flavor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/dining/05mini.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=pulpo&st=nyt&oref=slogin


There has been much speculation in cooking circles on the best means of tenderizing the notoriously tough octopus. Another article in the times last week dispelled some of the myths:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/dining/05curious.html?scp=1&sq=octopus&st=nyt

Bittman's recipe is remarkable, in that simply boiling the octopus in heavily salted water, provides sufficiently tender results. No cork or beating of octopus needed.

Unfortunately, the remnants of webbing on the octopus had a peculiar and slightly rancid taste. Next time I will definitely remove all webbing instead of simply cutting through it.
Second, the pulpo would have benefited from additional seasoning and perhaps a second cooking technique. I am envisioning marinating the boiled octopus in some garlic, lemon, olive oil and fleur de sol. Either serve as a cold salad or grill the octopus for a nice charred effect. Sprinkle either with the smoked pimentón.

.................................................

As requested by the birthday boy, red velvet cake with a white chocolate orange cream cheese frosting was served. Lastyear, the times recipe for red velvet cake proved to be dry and jarring. Felix's recipe with cayenne and cinnamon was quite god :

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/105-02042008-1482270.html