Octopus In Ranchero Sauce

Total Time: 3 hrs Preparation Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 2 medium onions
• 2 heads garlic
• 4 1/2 lbs octopus (i used baby ones)
• 2 bunches parsley
• 2 bunches cilantro
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 4 fresh green serrano chilies
• 16 cups water
• 2 cups light beer
• 6 cups water
• 16 medium plum tomatoes
• 1 1/2 medium onions (peeled and sliced)
• 6 garlic cloves (peeled)
• 14 fresh green serrano chilies
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaf
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (to taste)

Recipe

• 1 first roast 2 medium onion and 2 heads garlic in the oven (at 425 for 20 minutes or so until they start to caramelize). alternately you can pan roast them in a cast iron skillet.
• 2 in a large pot place roasted onion and garlic, octopus, 2 bunches parsley & cilantro, peppercorns, 4 serrano chiles (whole), 16 cups water and beer.
• 3 boil for 1 1/2 to two hours.
• 4 remove from heat and let the octopus cool in the liquid while you start the ranchero sauce.
• 5 bring 6 cups of water to boil with 16 plum tomatoes, 14 serranos, 1 1/2 sliced tomatoes and 6 cloves of garlic and simmer for 30 minutes.
• 6 strain out the solids (saving the ranchero broth), puree the solids in a blender or cuisinart with 1 1/2 cups or the retained broth.
• 7 now, heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a tall thick pot and add 6 cloves of garlic. simmer the garlic until it turns golden, remove them with a slotted spoon and carefully pour in the ranchero sauce. this will cause splattering so i strongly encourage long sleeves. stir like mad for the first few minutes until it's a gentle simmer. cook for 30 minutes.
• 8 now strain the liquid from the simmered octopus and in a separate pan cook down to 3 cups. this should take about 30 minutes. meanwhile separate the octopus from the veggies and toss the veggies.
• 9 while the ranchero sauce and octopus are simmering down take the final 6 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup of cilantro and salt and either in a pestle or a blender puree into a smooth paste.
• 10 add the paste, octopus and reduced octopus stock to the ranchero sauce and cook for a final 20 minutes.
• 11 i sometimes split this recipe over two days (make the octopus one night and the ranchero the next).