The Chef And The Drink - Surviving The Storm

Hurricane Irene.  What can I say?  They put the fear of God in us and sadly, some people are still dealing with her wrath. Before she came, there was a god deal of preparing that many of us undertook. Fearing that we would lose power at work, we cleared a few key things out of the freezer.  My big score was a large frozen octopus.  I had previously begged Chef Michael Psilakis into revealing some of the secrets of his octopus.  (See my previous entry "the suburbs" to learn more about him.)  I figured even without power, I could pull off his recipe, or at least, something close. His technique, which sadly, I will keep secret, as I do not have his approval to share with you, worked perfectly.  The octopus was meltingly tender and full of flavor.  I threw a quick marinade on it, and sure enough, the power went out right after it went into the fridge. But, it was destined for the grill in a few hours, so I had no concerns about it. Now without power, it was time to quickly rip through the fridge and assess what needed to be cooked or dealt with before it spoiled.  Way too many bell peppers - some went into salad, the rest hit the grill and became romesco sauce, which also went with chicken that would be cooked later.  We lit candles and set the table.  The octopus got a quick char on the grill.  (Yes, I am obsessed enough to grill in what had at that point been downgraded to a tropical storm.)  The octopus was too magically tender and too delicious to be a part of this storm.  The candlelight also made things feel a little too romantic!   The wine for the octopus, was the brand new "entwine" Pinot Grigio, which was ice cold and needed to be drunk before it warmed up.  It went perfectly with the lightly acidic marinade and the brininess of the octopus.  The power remained off for two days, as we awaited road repair, tree removal, and the power guys to work their magic.  There was plenty of go fish with my 5 year old, Scrabble with the adults, and cooking, eating, and drinking, but nothing quite as memorable as the octopus and entwine. Live To Eat, Love To Drink!