Recipe: Saffron braised octopus

One of the benefits of living on the coast is fresh local seafood.

That’s the specialty of Lukas Gurtner, executive chef at Sonora Resort, who is here with a recipe for saffron braised octopus.

Ingredients

• 4 lbs. Octopus, cleaned
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 bulb garlic, halved
• 1 stalk celery, large dice
• 1 large carrot, large dice
• 1 pinch saffron
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• 2 sprigs tarragon
• 400ml White wine
• 100ml Pernod
• 4 L Fish/Veg Stock

Method

1. Over high heat in a Dutch oven large enough that you can lay the octopus down flat, heat a 1/8 inch film of olive oil until smoking hot.
2. Carefully place the octopus in the pot and sear, moving it around to brown evenly. Reduce the heat to medium, remove your tentacles and then add everything except for the alcohol and stock.
3. After the vegetables have had a chance to sweat down, deglaze with your alcohol and cook until mostly dry.
4. Now add your stock and bring up to a simmer. Place your octopus back into your pot. Don’t worry if there is not enough liquid. You will notice the octopus will start to release its natural juices and will cover everything during the cooking process.
5. Now place your octopus in a 275-300 F oven. After an hour of cooking, pierce the thickest part of the tentacle with a knife. It should be extremely tender and the knife should release and slide out by itself. If not, cook for another 15 – 20 minutes and check again.
6. When cooked, remove off the heat and let cool in its own liquid overnight. After cooled overnight in its own liquid. Cut the tentacles into different size pieces, easily to handle and eat.