Octopus and Cheesecake

My husband and I have been trying to eat a low-carb and grain free diet, mainly so he loses weight and keeps his blood sugar and cholesterol under control.
So no potatoes or his much beloved rice is on the menu, but once in a while I have to relent.
On Friday we went past a fish shop that had an amazing choice of frozen fish and we bought 2kg of octopus, something I don't easily find in my shopping area.

It would be for Saturday's dinner, and my husband suggested I make an Octopus salad, but that's very much a summer dish for me, so I suggested "Polvo a Lagareiro" - Grilled Octopus and potatoes in olive oil - just the right recipe for the colder nights we're having.

Since it would be a special dinner I invited our son and daughter in law to dinner, and they were surprised that we were having real potatoes and not a "potato substitute" like cauliflower.

Try it out, I'm sure you will love it, even though you might think octopus is weird.

Polvo à Lagareiro

Ingredients:

• 2 kgs frozen octopus (mine were just the long tentacles, all cleaned)
• 2 onions
• 2 bay leaves
• salt
• 1 kg small potatoes 
• 5 or 6 garlic cloves
• Parsley or coriander
• olive oil (plenty)

Preparation:
Boil the frozen octopus in a pot with one peeled onion. No water needed, as the octopus will shed water). I used the pressure cooker and as soon as it started whistling I removed it from the stove.

Let cool and then cut up into small pieces.

(If not using a pressure cooker, cook in an uncovered pot with water and the onion until the octopus is tender). Octopus shrinks a lot after cooking.

Warm the oven to 180C. 

Wash the potatoes (I used normal potatoes suitable for roasting as I couldn't find small ones), put them in an oven tray, prick with a fork and add salt. Cook them in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove tray from oven, and if potatoes are soft give them a punch with your fist. I used a wooden spoon over the potatoes to punch them so as not to burn my hands. (These are called "Batatas a Murro" or Punched potatoes).

Next, put the octopus pieces with the potatoes, a bit of salt over the octopus, add a chopped onion, and minced garlic. Drizzle with olive oil. Put back in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve. You can sprinkle the tray with chopped parsley or coriander if you wish. Serves 6 to 8 people. I accompanied with boiled broccoli.

PS - "Lagareiro" is the man who produces olive oil.

Octopus tentacles already boiled

Polvo a Lagareiro

We couldn't finish the meal without a dessert of course - but this one was a low carb one!
No bake Cheesecake with a berry syrup. Yummi!!

Here is the link for the recipe - I made my syrup with raspberries instead of blueberries.
Note - I used powdered stevia as a sweetener and used less quantity in both the cheesecake and the syrup.

http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2015/04/low-carb-no-bake-blueberry-cheesecake-pie.html

No bake cheesecake with raspberry syrup