I got an invitation from my buddy Nathan asking if I wanted to come to an octopus BBQ. Um. DUH! I am SO there, I was there yesterday! Actually, I was there yesterday…
Nathan greeted us with his take on a Manhattan- Rebel Yell bourbon, muddled cherries and bitters over smoked ice (!). Way to start it off right mister! Where there is bourbon, there is a party.
Everyone brought a dish, a record to play or wine. Or all 3! I, of course, brought wine and one of my favorite food groups- corn pudding.
And then these little suckers came out- smoked baby octopi…
When deciding what to bring to a summery-octopus heavy-nautical inspired bash, I thought of one thing and one thing only: Domaine Breton‘s Vouvray moustillant (2009)
I love this stuff something fierce! All chenin blanc goodness in a slightly creamy, baby bubble-filled package.
Thank you for your pour skills Joy. PS- love the nails.
It really was delicious with the octopi. Especially the big mama spicy octopus that came out later.
Tentacle on a stick…
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what is SMOKED ICE!? impossible, i say! impossible, see!
i was totes into that tentacle.
Yay! So glad you came out and did this right with us! La Dilettante = Amazeballs! But what about the dessert pairing? Hmm??
the dessert pairing! alas- i had no pics. but for those reading: i brought a frantz saumon gamay moelleux (imported by selection massale) to go with joy’s peach and blackberry cobbler! delish!
SO much fun, and love the pictures…sigh. What a perfect day. Wish we had been able to stay longer!
xoxo
‘But smoked ice? That’s how Daniel Shoemaker, an owner of the Teardrop Lounge in Portland, Ore., sneaks smoke into his drinks. A block of ice goes into a perforated pan set above another, unperforated pan inside a smoker. Three hours and a whole lot of cherrywood smoke later, the melted ice emerges as smoke-infused water in the bottom pan, which is refrozen into a block, then hand-cracked for cocktails. In September Mr. Shoemaker introduced his ice in an autumnal mixture of bourbon, lemon juice, sherry and roasted pecan syrup. “But it works really well in a Hemingway daiquiri,” he added.’
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/fashion/30shake.html
Haven’t tried it myself, though I’m surprised Extebarri hasn’t. Or maybe they have.
Laurelhurst Market in Portland Oregon is where I first experienced smoked ice in a drink titled ‘Smoke Signals’. They take a block of ice place on pan within pan of water as mentioned above and let it melt, approximately 3-4 hours, then re-freeze in large squares, then the bartender tediously picks away until it becomes a perfect circle fitting in the tumbler just so, the most amazing cocktail I have ever had. What I learned, re-freezing as small cubes of ice not as smokey, larger blocks that are then broken down right before cocktail prep, perfection. Served with a Cherry Old Fashioned, even better. Thanks all for coming it was a delight to share my experiments with such lovely people.
Further proof that there were WAY too many cool people at the party I did not get to speak with! Nice post!
I was dreaming about grilled octopus recently. Wrangling a “Champagne + Sea Creatures” cookout this weekend. Thanks for the inspirato!
Just had Le Dilettante the other day at this amazing gastropub in south London! Tried it with Gazpacho but think it’d go better with your octopus!
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