Octopus N Cheese Recipes

GRILLED OCTOPUS, GREEK STYLE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the octopus for 90 seconds. Remove the octopus and let it drain on a colander.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300°F. Line the bottom of a brazier, a Dutch oven or other large, ovenproof pot with the herbs and bay leaves. Lay the octopus on the nest of herbs, cover the pot and cook in the oven until tender, which will be somewhere between 90 minutes for small octopus to 4 hours for a really gigantic one. Two hours is about normal.
• When the octopus is tender, cut it into chunks. Leave small octopi whole. Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and chile and marinate the octopus in this for at least 1 hour, and as much as a day or two.
• To finish, get your grill blazing hot. Make sure the grill grates are clean. Grill the octopus over high heat until you get a little bit of charring here and there; they're already cooked, so you are just adding flavor. Drizzle your grilled octopus with really good olive oil, grind some black pepper over them and serve with a wedge of lemon -- and a shot of ouzo.

OCTOPUS MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• For the mac and cheese: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, Cheddar, Jack, onion powder, garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until creamy.
• Meanwhile, cook the macaroni to al dente in a large pot of salted water. Drain and add to the sauce. Pour into a 2-quart baking dish and top with the mozzarella. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• For the octopus: Fill a large Dutch oven about halfway with oil and slowly heat to 350 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer. Meanwhile, clean the octopus by running a knife under the outer skin and removing it; you should only see the white. Cut the octopus into small pieces.
• In a bowl, stir together the cornmeal, chili powder, onion powder and salt and pepper. Roll the octopus pieces in the spiced cornmeal until well coated. Deep-fry until golden and crispy, then drain on paper towels.
• Divide the mac and cheese among 4 bowls and top with octopus. Sprinkle with bacon and cilantro, and serve.

MINI HOT DOG OCTOPUS MAC 'N' CHEESE

Steps:

• Cut wieners lengthwise in half, starting each cut about 1 inch from 1 end of each wiener. Roll each wiener one-quarter turn and cut a second lengthwise cut, again starting about 1 inch from uncut end. (This will form the 4 legs of each octopus.) Use sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut each leg lengthwise in half, about 1 inch from uncut end, creating a total of 8 legs in each wiener. Poke 2 holes into the uncut portion of each wiener for the eyes.
• Prepare Dinner as directed on package. Meanwhile, add wieners to separate saucepan of boiling water; cook as directed on package, watching each wiener turn into an octopus right before your eyes.
• Spoon Dinner into 4 serving bowls; top each with a wiener octopus.

OCTOPUS-N-CHEESE

Steps:

• Cut hot dogs in half lengthwise with sharp knife, starting each cut from the middle of the hot dog. make about 4 cuts in each hot dog. (This will form 4 "legs" of the "octopus.")
• If you would like you can make additional cuts to form 8 legs.
• Use mustard and/or ketchup to create the "eyes.".
• Add hot dogs to pot of boiling water and cook as directed on package, watching each hot dog turn into an octopus right before your eyes.
• Meanwhile, prepare macaroni as directed on pkg.
• Spoon macaroni into 4 small bowls; top each with an octopus.
• and now you have "octopus-n-cheese".

MACARONI & CHEESE AND HOT DOG OCTOPUS RECIPE

Steps:

• Cut wieners lengthwise in half, starting each cut about 1 inch from one end of each wiener. Roll each wiener one-quarter turn and cut a second lengthwise cut, again starting about 1 inch from uncut end. (This will form 4 legs for each octopus.) Use sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut each leg lengthwise in half, about 1 inch from uncut end, creating a total of 8 legs for each octopus. Poke 2 holes into the uncut portion of each wiener for the eyes.
• Prepare Dinner as directed on package, using the Light Prep directions. Meanwhile, add wieners to separate saucepan of boiling water; cook as directed on package, watching each wiener turn into an octopus right before your eyes.
• Spoon Dinner into 4 serving bowls; top each with a wiener octopus.