Marinated Octopus Salad

I made this recently and it was really good.




New York Times Cooking's Marinated Octopus Salad.

14 to 16 ounces cooked, cooled octopus (recipe follows) [no, it didn't!]*
1 small red onion, sliced thin
½ cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon drained capers
2 tablespoons sliced pitted calamata olives
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons good-quality red wine vinegar**
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, coarsely chopped
1 bunch arugula, rinsed and dried

Slice the octopus into one-inch pieces and put them in a bowl. Add the onion, celery, capers and olives and mix.  Mix the oil, vinegar and salt and pepper together. Pour over the octopus mixture and toss lightly. Allow to marinate at room temperature at least an hour. Just before serving, fold in the parsley and check seasoning. Serve on a bed of arugula.

*Oh, here it is. I didn't do this because I had a bag of frozen, partially cooked octopus. I thawed it, sauteed it very briefly in olive oil until it started to get pink. It released a lot of liquid. I added the juice of one lemon and refrigerated it for a few hours, then drained it and proceeded with the recipe.

** Since I was craving a lemony flavor I used the juice of one lemon instead of vinegar.

Fish Chowder

When visiting Boston, we always try to go to the No Name for their fish chowder.

UPDATE: Here is the real recipe! Leave out the potatoes!

I haven't tried to make it at home, but this recipe seems pretty close. (The last time I also spotted a few shrimp in my bowl.)



Deseret News' Potato-free New England Fish Chowder


2 ounces salt pork, diced

1 large onion, minced

4 cups fish stock or clam juice

2 pounds filet of haddock or cod

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 cup cream

1 cup milk

4 tablespoons butter

Paprika

Soda crackers if desired

In a small skillet, cook salt pork until it is crisp and fat is rendered. Set aside pieces of pork and place 2 tablespoons of rendered fat in a soup kettle. Saute onion in fat over low heat until onions are limp. Stir in fish stock or clam juice.

Cut fish into large bite-size hunks and toss in soup kettle. Partially cover and simmer 3 to 5 minutes or until fish flakes. Add thyme, cream and milk. Stir well and heat through, but DO NOT BOIL. Float butter atop each individual serving, and dust each serving with paprika to taste. For starchier chowder, crumble crackers on top, too.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.