Octopus and Lamb Shoulder Chops
Sunday with Chef Char/Octopus and Lamb shoulder Chops
**When people ask what makes someone a Chef Vs. a Cook:
Some would say you must be classically trained BUT this is no longer neccessarily true.
Plenty of self taught Chefs can cook just as well as some of the classically trained.
What is true tho is the following, it is the absolute rule of thumb.
A COOK NEEDS AND RELIES UPON RECIPES, OR HAS JUST A FEW THINGS THEY ARE GREAT AT COOKING.
A CHEF CREATES DISHES, CHANGES AND PERSONALIZES RECIPES, AND KNOWS WHAT WORKS WELL TOGETHER AND EXPERIMENTS.. WITH
THE END RESULT BEING A GREAT AND DELICIOUS CULINARY EXPERIENCE.**
Greetings everyone!
So these are both “tough” meats.They require tenderizing to the max.
They also require proper sauces and flavors,full of lots of herbs and love.
I like to keep pushing my limits.I feel as a Chef it is important to try,learn,study
and conquer new dishes and tastes all the time.
Lots of cooks get stuck in the realm of just what they specialize in or just what they feel
one certain demographic will like. To me that would bore me and it also limits the money I can and will make
someday.
Of course I have my one main menu.(Those are on the specialty items section of this site) But I definitely
want to be able to offer an array of requests also should they come in.
The menu this past Sunday consisted of:
Vanilla Brioche bread pudding, served with a Dragonfruit and caramel glaze
Sicilian eggplant w heirloom carrots and olive oil broil
Mushroom ,green onion, olive oil, pesto and fresh parmesan cheese warm spaghetti salad dressed in Balsamic and Mojo
Octopus served with a rich and lemon infused, pesto, tomato sauce made fresh here at home
Lamb shoulder chops marinated in Buttermilk to tenderize
Homemade Fried Polenta Cakes ( Made from corn meal)
I also test drove my Emeril Pasta and Beyond Machine. At first I loved the pasta but it didn’t hold up well while waiting to cook.
I’d suggest taking the pasta straight to your boiling water when using this machine. I ended up scratching it from my dish and using store bought.
I will use it again though, It is a great machine just didn’t serve me well that day.
There are also two bonus Breakfasts added here:
Cheesy eggs with fried Italian Sausage with caramelized onions
Breakfast Pizza topped with Scrambled Eggs, ( the crust made from the gone wrong dough left from the Emeril Pasta machine test drive)
HOW TO COOK OCTOPUS:( THE CHEF CHARLENE SAUCE METHOD)
- I am still testing varying methods myself but I am loving this one so far*
My first cook only got the Octopus 3/4 of the way to where I wanted it.
So here is what I learned:
Let the octopus get to ambient room temperature before the cook.
Remove the head and cut off the legs and beat the Octopus tentacles to help with tenderizing the meat.
Have your pot of boiling water already going. Have salt, and vinegar in that pot.
Next on the high heat with it boiling dip the Octopus in for 40 seconds, about twice.
Then place it in and leave it. Turn the heat down and just let it simmer now for about 30-40 min.
Remove from water let it come back to room temp.
At this point I grilled it… but that didnt produce the level of tender I wanted.
So next I took the tentacles placed in a tin baking pan.
Covered in the tomato sauce I made (tomato and its acids work great as a tenderizer and also keep the tentacles hydrated)
Also drizzle in Olive Oil
Cover tightly in foil. Place the oven temp between 250-300 degrees for a low and slow cook.
Cook this way checking ever so often for 2 and 1/2 hours.
PERFECT AND TENDER… MY VERSION.
Enjoy the videos and photos
And please subscribe to my youtube Channel.
LIST OF INGREDIENTS PER DISH: ( REMEMBER WATCH THE VIDEO AND SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL)
Octopus:
Sazon
Tomatoes
Lemon
Lemon Juice
Rosemary
Cilantro
Red Onion
Shallots
Red Peppers
Basil
Bay leaf
Red Cooking Wine
Balsamic
Tomato puree
Olive oil
salt
Mojo Marinade
Pesto
Lamb:
Slap yo momma seasoning
Lemon Pepper
Black Truffle Salt
Dale Liquid Seasoning
Fresh Dill
All Spice
Cardamom Powder
Coriander
Star Anise
Chop Chop
Mushrooms
Thyme
Rosemary
Buttermilk
Fennel root
Celery seeds
Carrot Stalks
white and green onion
( You will need a meat tenderizing mallet)
Bread Pudding:
Molasses
Light Karo
2 cups sugar
Egg
Vanilla Brioche
Cinnamon Extract
Vanilla Extract
Nutmeg
Heavy Cream
For the sauce:
Dragonfruit
Molasses
Sugar
Butter
cream
Warm Pasta Salad:
Spaghetti
Chopped Green onon
Lots of mushrooms
Fresh Parmesan cheese
Balsamic
Mojo Marinade
Very little sugar
A little lemon juice
Olive oil
Cilantro
The Octopus dish is also served with room temperature Buratta Cheese with Olive Oil and Italian herbs on it.
FRESH DILL SPRIGS ALSO USED AS GARNISH
Enjoy!
Chef Charlene Sauce
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