Oktopodi

In preparation for my Chinese New Year Reunion dinner, I went to the shops to get some chicken and fish. Three whole chicken for $9.99 and about $18 a kilo for a whole Ocean Perch. I think. I can't even remember, but I don't think it was too expensive. Anyway, I couldn't help but notice some gleaming octopus at the Island Markets. Hm. I LOVE octopus. I pay freaking $20 odd dollars to have some  pickled octopus at the greek stores and when I was at the Estia festival last (Estia? I'm unsure of the spelling), all I ate was grilled octopus on the barbeque with some Ouzo. $7 a plate, and let me tell you - I can eat about 10 plates! :)

SO, I thought it would be a good idea to get some octopus. Some greek salad with some greek styled BBQ octopus (without the BBQ of course). The lovely people at Island Markets gutted and scaled the fish for me, but when I asked them whether they were willing to clean the octopus, it was a no go. No matter, I could totally clean and gut an octopus. I tuff.

I was so NOT.

I brought the octopus and dunked it in the sink. The whole time, I was psyching myself up "It's ok Ness,you can do it Ness, it will be fun Ness". Didn't work. I turned the water on and reached to grab it, but the minute I touched its head, I squealed like a little piglet. It was DISGUSTING. More than anything, it was the eyes that were STARING at me and the head was just ALIEN. *shudder* No deal.

So Luke came running into the kitchen and agreed to cut out the eyes, remove the beak and the ink sack. After that it was all on me. And to be honest - after the eyes were removed, it was a lot easier.

After I cleaned the octopus, I took a stab at attempting to marinate it Greek style, so in the same bowl, I added four cloves of chopped garlic, oregano, salt and olive oil.

Word to the wise - if you are attempting to cook BBQ octopus, use a freaking barbeque.

Well, I didn't have one, so I thought that I would pan fry it. Bad idea. The octopus was swimming in its own juices.

The end result? The meat was sweet, tender and juicy. Completely worth the work and the squeals. However, I think that the recipe could be improved tenfold with the use of a barbeque. Might give it another go when we finally get one.