The age of Covid 19 has brought with it significant changes to the food supply industry. Suppliers catering mainly to restaurants have been forced to seek new customers, and retails stores are ramping up their delivery capabilities. The end result is that slowly and surely it is becoming much easier to have food delivered to you home even if you do not live in the Tel-Aviv area.
And on a personal note, there are more of us at home for more meals. the number of cooks has grown, so we have started to prepare new types of food. Every delivery requires a minimum order, so we often (purposely) find ourselves with new ingredients that we have not yet cooked.
Sous vide octopus
Cut the octopus head below the level of the eyes and remove the beak. Cut off the top part of the head and clean it too (there is an abundance of clips on the web).
Blanch the octopus in boiling water for 30 seconds and remove to a bowl of ice water. Chill and dry off.
Place the octopus in a sous vide bag with a little salt and cook at 77⁰C for 5 hours.
Remove again to a bowl of ice water and transfer to the fridge.
At this stage you can freeze the octopus or keep it for quite a few days in the fridge.
Remove the octopus from the bag and dry it. Cut it into portions – 2 legs per person, or 1 if it is large.
Char on a coal barbecue, griddle, frying pan or whatever takes your fancy.
Sprinkle with a little salt, drizzle some olive oil and add a few drops of lemon juice, and voilà- a restaurant dish has arrived at your table 🙂
Smoked jack mackerel
Being a type of mackerel, it is treated in a similar manner.
I was hoping for medium sized fish, but received a collection of tiny ones (at least there were gutted).
Place in a pan, sprinkle with coarse salt and place in the fridge for 3 hours.
Wash and transfer to the smoker for approx. 1 hour until they are ready (above 60⁰C internal temperature). Tasty hot or cold!
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