octopus carpaccio with Honeybell orange, confit fennel and black garlic aioli
Recipe courtesy of Robert Goodhue, Executive Chef of Hunters Run Country Club (Boynton Beach, Fla.)
Ingredients
- Ingredients for Octopus:
- octopus - 4 lb., fresh
- water - 2.5 gallons
- bay leaves - 3 ea., fresh, bruised
- peppercorns - 1 Tbsp.
- Chablis - 2 quarts
- Ingredients for Fennel:
- fennel bulbs - 2 ea., cored and julienned
- olive oil - 1 quart
- fresh thyme and lemon peel - 1 bouquet garni
- red pepper flakes - 1 tsp.
- Pernod - 4 oz.
- Ingredients for Black Garlic Aioli:
- garlic - 4 bulbs, fresh
- rice cooker - 1 ea.
- egg yolks - 2 ea.
- lemon juice - 1 lemon
- water - 2 oz.
- grapeseed oil - 1 pint
- extra virgin olive oil - 1 cup
- salt - to taste
Instructions
Procedure for Octopus:
- Soak octopus in heavily salted cold water for 2 hours.
- Remove and rinse.
- Bring water, bay leaf, peppercorns and white wine to a simmer.
- Add the octopus and simmer covered for 1 hour.
- Cut a piece off and chew it to see if it is tender. If not, add back in and check every 10 minutes until tender.
- When finished, remove and let cool to room temperature.
- Cut legs off of octopus and place in freezer for about half an hour, or until par frozen but not frozen solid.
- Slice thin on a slicer but thick enough that it holds together, and you see the features of the octopus.
- Layer the sliced octopus on your plate and chill in the refrigerator.
Procedure for Fennel:
- Heat olive oil in sauce pot 160°F with bouquet garni and red pepper flakes.
- Add fennel and let slow cook for 45 minutes; it should be tender but not mushy.
- Drain fennel and save oil for later.
- In a sauce pot, heat Pernod slightly to cook off most of the alcohol.
- Add fennel and toss with Pernod.
- Set aside at room temperature
Procedure for Black Garlic Aioli:
- Lightly scrub any dirt off the outside of garlic bulbs; do not cut or peel.
- Place bulbs in a rice cooker; don’t let them touch.
- Turn the rice cooker on low or warm setting, and let sit for 16 days to ferment.
- When done, store tender bulbs in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- To make the aioli, cut tops off bulbs and squeeze black garlic into a robot coupe.
- Add 2 egg yolks, water and lemon juice.
- Purée mix and slowly pour both oils in a steady stream.
- The aioli should have a brownish-gray color to it and a deep, earthy flavor.
- Add salt to taste and put the mixture in a squeeze bottle.
Assembly:
- Remove your chilled octopus plate from the refrigerator.
- Season octopus with sea salt and cracked pepper.
- Squirt dots of the aioli on the octopus to ensure every bite gets a little aioli.
- With tweezers, lay fennel confit on octopus in between aioli dots.
- Garnish with several Honeybell orange segments that are cut into 1-centimeter wedges.
- Drizzle a little fennel olive oil on the octopus to give shine and flavor.
- Garnish with micro greens, preferably something a little spicy like micro cress or micro arugula.