Grilled Octopus requires some preparation, but the final cooking is fairly quick.

Stephanie Alexander, in her Cook’s Companion recommends tenderizing octopus with a meat mallet until the flesh looses its bounciness.

Cut the tentacles away from the body. If the head is not too large, say more than 20cm in diameter, you can use it as well. Turn it inside out and remove the beak and internal organs. Remove the suckers from the tentacles and skin them under running water. If you are using the head score it well or cut into strips similar in size to the tentacles.

Marinate the octopus for a few hours or preferably overnight in olive oil along with some garlic, dried oregano and bay leaves.

To cook drain off the olive oil and grill for a few minutes on a hot barbecue plate or under your kitchen grill. Don’t bother about a dipping sauce, just serve with lemon or lime wedges.

Grilled octopus can be served as a tapas dish (just add toothpicks) as part of a seafood platter, or as a dish in its own right.

A crisp aromatic white wine can be served with octopus. Why not try an albarino

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Imma’s Stuffed Mussels - Mejillones Rellenos [Tigres]

My friend Imma is a Tapas freak. She runs the Tapas recipes website which is full of authentic recipes for the most delicous little Spanish snacks.

Imma says In Bilbao, these stuffed mussels are called Tigres because of their fieriness. I fondly remember the crowded little bars in the old part of Bilbao, where orders of tigres would emerge by the dozens from the tiny kitchens. We devoured these mussels and everyone dropped the empty shells right onto the floor, where periodically they would be raked up. This tapa is not as popular today in the bars as it once was, but I like it so much that I make it whenever I find fresh mussels.

* Servings: Makes 18 pieces

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 dozen mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
* 3 tablespoon water
* 2 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 tablespoon minced onion
* 2 tablespoon flour
* 3 tablespoon white wine
* 1/2 cup mussel liquid
* 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water
* 4 tablespoon fine dry breadcrumbs
* Olive oil for frying

Preparation

Steam open the mussels. Put them in a deep pan with the water. Cover the pan and put over a high heat, shaking the pan, until the shells open. Remove from heat and discard any mussels that do not open.

Mussels can also be opened in a microwave. Place them in a microwave-safe bowl, partially covered, and microwave at full power for one minute. Stir and microwave one minute more. Remove any mussels that have opened and microwave one minute more. Again remove open ones. Repeat twice more. Discard any mussels that have not opened.

When mussels are cool enough to handle, remove and discard the empty half shells. Loosen the mussel meat from the bottom shell and arrange the mussels in their shells on a tray in a single layer. Strain the mussel liquid and reserve it.

Heat the two tablespoons of oil in a saucepan and sauté the minced onion until it is softened, without letting it brown. Stir in the flour, cook for a minute, stirring, then whisk in the wine and the mussel liquid. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is thickened and smooth. Put a spoonful of this white sauce onto each mussel and smooth it level with the top of the shell.

Refrigerate until the sauce is firmly set, at least one hour. Place the beaten egg in one dish and the bread crumbs in another. Dip the mussels, open face down, first into egg, then bread crumbs. Arrange them on the tray in a single layer. (The mussels can be prepared up to this point, then frozen. Freeze them in one layer, then pack them carefully in a freezer bag or plastic container. Let them thaw at least one hour before continuing with the preparation.)

To fry the mussels, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a frying pan. Fry them in two or three batches, breaded side down, until golden brown. Drain briefly on paper towels and serve hot.

Food Pairing with Mussels

These mussels would be an ideal dish to serve with a bottle of Albarino, or if they are part of a larger platter of tapas perhaps with a bottle of Tempranillo

If you enjoy these mussels you can find more Tapas recipes on Imma’s Tapas site

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This simple recipe for Baked Fish has been supplied by Rob Gillespie from Rusty Fig Wines.

The winery is situated near Cobargo in the South Coast Zone of New South Wales. Rusty Fig is named after a local species of tree. The vineyard specialises in Spanish varieties Albarino and Tempranillo, they also have Chambourcin and Verdelho.

Rob says

This is a favorite recipe with sea bass in Galicia in NW Spain where Albarino is grown. We’ve adapted it to Australia by substituting blue eye which is very popular near our Rusty Fig vineyard on the south coast of NSW.

Ingredients

• 800 grams blue eye cod cutlets
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup parsley chopped
• 225 ml Albarino or another dry white wine
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 red pepper chopped
• 1 lemon sliced
• 250 ml fish stock
• extra virgin olive oil
• breadcrumbs

Method

Place fish in a roasting pan. Season with garlic, salt and parsley.
Add Albarino and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
Place onion, lemon and pepper around fish and add fish stock.
Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C.
Serve with fried potatoes.

The suggested wine for this dish is Rusty Fig Albarino.

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Albarino white wine variety

Albarino is a white wine variety whose home is the region of Galicia in North-West Spain.
It has also been used in nearby Portugal, under the name “alvarinho.”

The wines tend to be light and crisp; an ideal food pairing with seafoods that are so
abundant in this region of the world, where the Atlantic washes the Spanish shores.

Over the past couple of years the variety has become of interest to Australian winemakers and there are a few already on the market. Australian Albarino wines are a work in progress, but showing considerable promise.

More about Albarino in Australia

Food pairing with Albarino

The wines are light but slightly aromatic. The obvious choice is with seafood cooked in a Spanish way, either marinated with herbs,
garlic and olive oil then grilled, or in Zarzuella, a Spanish style fish stew. However the Albarino wines are quite versatile, perhaps you could try them
with roast chicken or veal dishes, and a chilled glass of albarino could be just the thing for a platter of tapas.

Some recipes for pairing with Albarino