Ingredients Seafood Shellfish Octopus Octopus Turnovers with Spicy Creole Mayonnaise Be the first to rate & review! Octopus can be tough, but it becomes amazingly tender when it's cooked for a long time. It's quite delicious in Jose Enrique's irresistible pastries. Plus: More Best New Chefs By Jose Enrique Jose Enrique Won Best New Chef At Jose Enrique, San Juan, Puerto Rico Why He’s Amazing Because he’s elevating Puerto Rican cooking, using ingredients from the vast market across the street from his restaurant. The chalkboard menu changes frequently during the evening, based on what the purveyors might bring in during dinner service. Born 1977; San Juan, Puerto Rico Culinary School The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY) Background Riche (New Orleans), Bili (Vieques, Puerto Rico), San Juan Water Beach Club (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Café Centro (New York City) Quintessential Dish Crispy fried yellowtail snapper with mashed batata (sweet potato) and papaya-avocado salsa How He Got Into Cooking “A lot of people cook in my family. My grandmothers, my dad, my mom; everyone does a couple of great dishes. My uncle would make Thanksgiving—huge turkeys stuffed with blood sausage. It was always fun.” Beloved Cooking Equipment “My dad made his own Caja China. Picture a metal square oven with the heat coming from the top. He’d cook pork. The first few hours the pork is belly up, so all the fat drips down and confits the belly. Then he flips it over and the skin gets blown up and crispy. Kids fight over it. My dad’s Caja China is on wheels, it’s portable, he’ll set it up anywhere.” Bringing It Home Enrique cooked around the world, in Belgium, France and the US, before returning to the neighborhood where he was born, to open his flagship restaurant. Other Projects In San Juan, Enrique also runs Capital, a popular brasserie, and the coffeehouse Miel. In late 2013, he’ll open a restaurant in the eco-minded El Blok hotel in Vieques.Story of Discovery “Until recently, I’d never been blown away by Puerto Rican food; the dishes I’d tried were always a little heavy and a little bland. But Jose Enrique and his bright, sharp, fresh flavors have changed my mind. At his restaurant—a casual place in an old house where weekend parties erupt on the street outside—he writes his menu on white boards, which allows him to add dishes in the middle of service. When I was there, he listed grilled thin swordfish steaks, from a fish that had been delivered just hours before, pairing it with his outstanding hot sauce made from chiles that he confits in oil for hours with garlic and tomatoes. Blood sausage also appeared on the menu. It was deep black and porky, speckled with chunks of delicious fat. Even better were the blood sausage spring rolls I had another night, baked in crisp spring roll wrappers with a serious swath of cream cheese, which melts into a rich sauce. That’s what a Best New Chef does: takes a cuisine you don’t think you like and turns you into a convert.”—Kate Krader Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on January 16, 2018 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Marcus Nilsson Active Time: 1 hrs 30 mins Total Time: 3 hrs Yield: 16 Ingredients octopus 3 pounds octopus, cleaned 1 head of garlic, halved horizontally 1 onion, halved 2 celery ribs 1 carrot 2 bay leaves 12 parsley sprigs 1 1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns 1 cup dry red wine 2 tablespoons kosher salt creole sauce 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 large onions, 1 finely chopped 2 red bell peppers—1 finely chopped, 1 quartered 2 small cubanelle peppers—cored, seeded and finely chopped 1 small yellow bell pepper—cored, seeded and finely chopped 1 carrot, finely chopped 1 medium tomato, chopped 1/4 cup drained capers (from a 2-ounce jar) 1 garlic clove, chopped 1 fresh bay leaf One 6-ounce can tomato juice 1 tablespoon tomato paste dissolved in 1/2 cup water 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cilantro Salt 2 fresh hot red chiles, stemmed 1 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice dough 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 4 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening 1 large egg, beaten 1 1/4 cups ice water 1 quart vegetable oil, for frying Directions prepare the octopus In a large pot, combine the octopus with all of the remaining ingredients and add enough water to cover by 1 to 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to moderate and simmer until the octopus is tender, about 45 minutes. Let the octopus cool in the liquid, then drain and pat dry. Separate the head and tentacles and discard the hard beak. Thinly slice the octopus. meanwhile, make the creole sauce In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the finely chopped onion, cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped red pepper along with the cubanelle peppers, yellow pepper, carrot, tomato, capers, garlic and bay leaf. Cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the peppers are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato juice, dissolved tomato paste and the cilantro and cook partially covered over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Set aside 1/2 cup of the Creole sauce and discard the bay leaf. Add the sliced octopus to the Creole sauce in the skillet and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and let cool completely. Scrape the octopus filling into a bowl and refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°. Cut the remaining onion half into wedges and place in a small roasting pan. Add the quartered red pepper and the hot red chiles and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Roast for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are softened and blistered in spots. Transfer the vegetables to a blender and let cool. Add the reserved 1/2 cup of Creole sauce and puree until smooth. Add the mayonnaise and lime juice and pulse to blend. Season the sauce with salt and refrigerate until chilled. make the dough 5. make the dough In a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the 3 1/2 cups of flour with the salt and vegetable shortening at low speed until evenly combined. Add the egg and ice water and mix until the dough is evenly moistened. Knead the dough briefly until smooth, then divide it into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and transfer to a lightly floured baking sheet. Cover with a lightly moistened paper towel and plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. On a barely floured surface, roll out each ball of dough to a 6-inch round. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the octopus filling onto each round. Fold the dough over the filling, press out any air bubbles and pinch to seal. Using a round pastry wheel to trim the pastries, cut off any excess dough. Transfer the turnovers to a lightly floured baking sheet. In a large, deep skillet, heat the vegetable oil to 350°. Cover a rack with paper towels and set it on a baking sheet. Working in batches, fry the turnovers over moderately high heat, turning once, until golden, about 4 minutes. Drain on the paper towel–lined rack. Let cool slightly, then serve the turnovers with the Creole mayonnaise. Make Ahead The turnovers can be refrigerated overnight. Reheat in a 325° oven. Suggested Pairing Crispy fried dishes, like these turnovers are spectacular with sparkling wine. Try these with Prosecco from Italy’s Veneto region, like the NV Sorelle Bronca Extra Dry or the NV Drusian Extra Dry. Rate it Print