Blackberry Sage Granita - Grilled Octopus with Chorizo and Mashed Potatoes
Recipe, Food-Styling, Photo: Oliver Schwarzwald
#BerryRich
Yes, that's a nice tag for all those who still confidently reach for fresh berries even in the coldest season. Season? What is it? Flavour? What's the point of that! And the price? Who cares anyway! At the moment, however, you can use the term without any negative connotations. Mother Nature is ultra BerryRich at the moment! The bushes are bending, the displays are full of fruit from the surrounding countryside. And besides berries, grilled octopus is an important cornerstone of special summer cuisine for me. If you don't have a grill available at the moment, a grill pan will do (it just has to be really hot). You can also use frozen blackberries if necessary. This means that you're not actually bound to summer, but still, the perfect time for this dish is now! Octopus and chorizo are a perfect duo. The Spanish raw sausage, is seasoned with garlic and lots of paprika, and brings the necessary spice to the dish. On the one hand in the sauce and on the other in the breadcrumbs. I deliberately avoid the word crunch, .... but it is... .
The mashed potato is dressed with crème fraîche and lime and is summery, fresh and therefore much lighter than the version with butter and cream. The blackberry granita with sage is the perfect accompaniment. Fruity, and tart due to the grapefruit juice. The special herbal notes of the sage, which develop slowly on the palate, add a nice touch to the glass. I serve a lot of granita and gradually top it up with non-alcoholic sparkling wine. That way, the drink changes over the course of the meal. Besides, it's very communicative when the bottle "wanders" across the table. Like, who still knows it. This pairing is guaranteed to make it into your top ten summer dishes!
Cheers, sober buddies!
Important: Prepare the granita 24 hours in advance.
Granita
8 servings, depending on the size of the glasses
450 gr blackberries
200 gr sugar
150 ml water
1 grapefruit juice and some peel
1 lemon juice
15 gr sage (one bag)
1 pinch of salt
Optional: 1 grapefruit and some mint or sage for the garnish
Put the blackberries, salt, sugar, water, juice and zest in a saucepan and simmer for 15 min. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Roughly chop the sage, add to the saucepan and leave to cool, covered. Pour everything through a sieve and also press the fruit mixture through the sieve. Place in a container and put in the freezer.
Preparation:
The night before, defrost the frozen octopus arms in the refrigerator.
One arm per person as a main course. As an appetiser, depending on the size, half an arm and cut into slices after grilling. This way you can mix the thin parts with the thicker ones so that everyone gets similar portions.
Mashed potatoes
4 servings
600 gr. peeled potatoes
1 cup of crème fraîche 250gr.
1 lime
Salt
Peel the potatoes. Boil them with plenty of salt until they are soft. Drain and allow to steam. Use a potato masher to mash them and while they are mashing, fold in the crème fraîche. Season with a squeeze of lime. Set aside.
Sauce
4 servings
Olive oil
2 red onions
250 ml red wine (1 small bottle)
2 chorizo
Demi-glace 1 tbsp
1 tbsp cold butter to bind
Remove the intestines from the chorizo and cut into slices. Fry in a pan with a little olive oil and leave to drain. When the chorizo is golden brown, add the onions and continue to fry until everything has a strong dark colour. Now deglaze with the red wine. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 20 minutes until the sauce has a strong flavour. Add the demi-glace and season with salt.
Remove from the heat, the sauce should no longer boil. Now add the cold butter until the sauce has thickened.
Crunch
Olive oil
2 chorizo
4 tbsp breadcrumbs.
1/2 clove garlic
Remove the intestines from the chorizo and chop finely. Heat a frying pan with a little olive oil. Fry the chorizo until it is crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the garlic clove to the fat and fry briefly. Now add the breadcrumbs and fry until the fat is completely absorbed and the crumbs are coloured. Remove the garlic clove. Chop the fried chorizo again and mix with the breadcrumbs.
Grill and serve the octopus
4 Servings
Octopus arm defrosted / 1 arm p.person as main course
12 blackberries washed
2 tbsp sage chopped
1 tbsp parsley smooth, chopped
Rinse the defrosted octopus, pat dry and place on the hot grill. On the side, lightly fry the mashed potatoes in a Teflon pan over a medium heat. You can take good care of the grill while you do this. The mashed potatoes fry slowly. It is enough to turn the whole thing once after a few minutes. Remove the octopus from the grill and arrange everything. Divide the mashed potatoes between the plates, place the octopus on top, add the sauce and sprinkle with blackberries, sage and parsley.
The Drink
Scrape the granita with a tablespoon and divide among the glasses. Garnish with grapefruit, sage or mint balt and top up with non-alcoholic sparkling wine.