Since a lot of people seem to be adopting sous-vide cooking at home with Sous Vide Supreme I’m going to post some easy recipes for the kitchen Indiana Jones out there. Sous-vide cooking is a method that was developed in France in the 1970’s but that has gone mainstream only  in recent years. I think where sous-vide excels is at maintaining the integrity of ingredients in a way that was once impossible, and that’s achieved by cooking food in air-vacuumed bags for an extended period of time at relatively low but tightly controlled temperatures.

Octopus is a notoriously tricky ingredient, one wrong step can lead you to chew on a cephalopod chewing gum – and it’s just as bad as it sounds. When you get it right though, it’s pure bliss. Sous-vide is a great technique to use on octopus as it produces perfectly tender tentacles without the hassle. You can then finish them up on the grill for a little bit of char just before serving. Get ready for some serious octo-goodness, my friends.

The octopus for this dish was blanched first, then vacuumed-sealed and cooked for 4 hours at 180’F (85’C). Grilled octopus served with corona beans is a classic preparation in Mediterranean cooking which I paired with crispy chorizo, black olives and a lively aged Sherry vinaigrette spiked with smoked paprika. I could eat this everyday. Muy delicioso!

• Grilled Sous-Vide Octopus w/ Corona Beans, Chorizo & Sherry-Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette

• Serves 4

• • For the sous-vide octopus:

  • 1 medium-sized octopus
  • 1 carrot, roughly chopped
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorn
  • 1/2 cup white wine vinegar

  • For the corona beans, chorizo and sherry-smoked paprika vinaigrette:

  • 2 cups corona beans, cooked
  • 1 6-inch link of Spanish chorizo, sliced
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup Niçoise olives
  • 1/4 cup aged sherry vinegar
  • 1/2 cup Spanish olive oil
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 anchovy filet, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste

• • For the sous-vide octopus:

  • Place 8 cups of water and the carrot, onion, celery, bay leaves, parsley stems and black peppercorn in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Add the white wine vinegar and keep at a simmer. Wash the octopus in plenty of cold water and remove the tentacles with a sharp knife. Blanch the octopus for about 45 seconds and remove from the poaching and into an ice bath to cool rapidly. Drain. Cool the poaching liquid.
  • Place the octopus in two separate sous-vide bags. Add a few tablespoons of the poaching liquid to the bags and vacuum-seal on high.
  • Place the bags in the sous-vide machine for 4 hours at 185’F (85’C). Cool in an ice bath.
  • Open the bags, discard the liquid and the bags. Remove the slimy membrane. Place the octopus in a new bag with olive oil and seal again. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
  • Grill before serving.

  • For the corona beans, chorizo and sherry-smoked paprika vinaigrette:

  • Make a vinaigrette with the sherry vinegar, garlic, shallot, anchovy, smoked paprika and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  • In a sautee pan over medium heat crisp up the chorizo in a little olive oil. Drain on paper towel.
  • In a small bowl, toss the corona beans, the olives, parsley  and chorizo with some of the vinaigrette. Check seasoning. Serve with the grilled octopus and some more vinaigrette drizzle on top. Sprinkle with smoked paprika.