From westher@xs4all.nl Sun Dec 30 18:35:44 2001 Date: 23 Dec 2001 03:23:25 GMT From: Esther Westerveld Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes Subject: Greek Octopus and Red Wine Stew (Greece) Followup-To: rec.food.cooking, rec.food.recipes GREEK OCTOPUS AND RED WINE STEW This rich, dark red wine and octopus stew begins with the slow cooking of octopus in its own juices, progressing on to simmer it with tomatoes and wine. The end result is marvelously tender octopus in a voluptuous sauce. An ideal dish for anyone who is a little nervous about eating octopus. I bet you they will end up asking for more. 1 kg (2< lb) octopus, cleaned 1 onion, chopped 4 tablespoons olive oil 2 garlic cloves, chopped 400 g (14 oz) tin of chopped tomatoes 1 tablespoon tomato puree 1/2 - 1 tablespoon caster sugar 1 bay leaf 250 ml (9 fl oz) red wine salt pepper Cut the octopus up into 2.5 cm (1 -inch) pieces. Put them in a pan, cover and place over a very low heat (a diffuser mat is a great help here). Leave to cook gently. Raise the lid after a few minutes for a quick peek; you will be surprised to see the octopus simmering gently in a pool of its own purple-red juice. Cover it again quickly and leave it alone. Check again after about 20 minutes and give it a stir, then stir every 5 - 10 minutes. Very gradually, the octopus juices will begin to diminish and become quite dense and syrupy. In a clean pan, cook the onion gently in the olive oil until tender. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 - 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, = tablespoon of sugar, bay leaf, salt and pepper and the cooked octopus. Set over a moderate heat. Pour the wine into the pan you cooked the octopus in and bring up to the boil, stirring to make sure that not one little drop of the sticky residue from cooking the octopus is wasted. Tip into the pan of other ingredients. Bring back to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for about 50 minutes, until the sauce is voluptuously thick. Taste and stir in the remaining sugar if it is on the tart side. Adjust the seasoning. Serve warm, with rice or mall pasta shapes. Serves 6 generously. country : Greece source : Fish / Sophie Grigson and William Black Nieuw bij Yahoogroups : EUROPESErecepten Meld je aan door een mailtje naar EUROPESErecepten-subscribe@yahoogroups.com of kijk op http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EUROPESErecepten -- Rec.food.recipes is moderated; only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting. Please send recipes, requests, questions or comments to Moderator Patricia Hill at recipes@rt66.com Please allow several days for your submission to appear.