GREEK SALAD
Serves 6
This is a two-part dish based on the iconic Greek salad. You can’t have a Greek salad without olives, so we take Kalamata olives and puree them, steam them, dehydrate them, and finally fry them into a chip. The olive chip is served alongside tender grilled baby octopus and a fresh parsley and feta puree. This is served with a Greek salad shooter made by juicing cucumbers, red onions, and tomatoes—the other elements of a classic Greek salad. At Moto the juice is run through a centrifuge to clarify the liquid. At home you can strain it through a coffee filter.
This pairing evokes a sense of déjà vu, as the diner experiences the familiar taste of Greek salad in distinctly different ways. The dish is meant to be clean and simple, and relies on the seasonality of the ingredients used. In fact, this dish helped spark our imaginations to try indoor farming. But more on that later.
KALAMATA OLIVE CHIP:
100 grams Kalamata olives
100 grams Kalamata olive brine
0.5 gram salt
200 grams tapioca starch
Canola oil for frying
BABY OCTOPUS CONFIT:
680 grams (1½ pounds) cleaned baby octopus, heads and beaks removed
10 grams salt
1700 grams (2 quarts) olive oil
½ head of garlic, sliced horizontally
1 shallot, sliced
50 grams fresh rosemary leaves
Grated zest of 1 lemon
PARSLEY AND FETA PUREE:
25 grams parsley leaves
100 grams feta cheese
13 grams milk
0.5 gram salt
GREEK SALAD SHOOTER:
100 grams tomatoes
40 grams cucumber
12.5 grams red onion
5 grams fresh lemon juice
0.5 gram salt
1 gram ground black pepper
TO FINISH:
Micro cucumber leaves
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Dehydrator (optional)
Steamer (stovetop or electric)
Masticating juicer
KALAMATA OLIVE CHIP:
Put the olives, olive brine, and salt in a blender and puree on high for 1 minute, until smooth. Put the tapioca starch in a large mixing bowl and pour the olive puree into the bowl. Use a rubber spatula to mix the two together to make a paste.
Weigh out 150 grams of olive dough. Put it between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap and roll the dough out into a 13-by-8-inch rectangle—it will be very thin. Set up a large steamer. You can cut the dough in half and wrap each piece separately if you need to do that to fit it in your steamer. You may have to steam the sheets in batches. Put the sheet of dough in the steamer, laying it flat on a rack or sheet pan, put on the lid, and steam for 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can use a bamboo steamer set over a pot of water, cutting the dough to fit and working in batches. Once the dough is cooked, lay it out on a sheet pan and let it sit at room temperature for 4 hours to cool and set.
Cut off the edges of the plastic wrap and peel it away from the steamed dough. Put the dough on a cutting board and cut it into thirteen 8-by-1-inch strips. Put the strips of dough on a dehydrator rack and dehydrate for 12 hours at 90°F, until completely dehydrated. Alternatively, you can lay them out on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and dry them at the lowest setting of your oven for 9 to 12 hours, until completely dry and crisp.
Preheat a deep fat fryer or pot of oil on the stove to 400°F.
Line a sheet pan with paper towels. Fry the chips for 1 minute, until puffed and crispy. Remove from the fryer and transfer to the prepared sheet pan to drain and cool. Store in a dry place until ready to plate.
BABY OCTOPUS CONFIT:
Preheat the oven to 200°F.
Season the octopus with salt. Pour the olive oil into a large saucepot. Add the octopus, garlic, shallot, rosemary, and lemon zest. Set over medium heat and bring the oil to 200°F. Once hot, cover and transfer the pot to the oven. Cook for 3 hours, or until the octopus is completely tender. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
PARSLEY AND FETA PUREE:
Fill a medium saucepot with salted water. Set the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath. Once the water is boiling, add the parsley and blanch it for 30 seconds. Transfer the parsley to the ice bath to cool. Once cool, put the parsley, feta cheese, milk, and salt in a blender and puree for 1 minute, or until completely smooth. Strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve and keep cool until ready to plate.
GREEK SALAD SHOOTER:
Run the tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion through a juicer. Mix the juices together and then season with the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Let the mixture marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator. The next day, line a fine-mesh sieve with a coffee filter, set it over a pitcher, and refrigerate for several hours to let the juice drip through. This should remove most of the color from the juices. Taste the drained juice and re-season if necessary. Keep chilled until ready to plate.
TO FINISH:
Set a grill pan over medium heat. When it’s hot, grill the octopus for 1 minute on each side to char. Keep warm until ready to plate.
Place several dollops of Parsley and Feta Puree on the bottom of each plate. Top the puree with 75 grams of grilled octopus. Place a fried Kalamata Olive Chip on top of the octopus. Pour 30 grams of the Greek Salad Shooter in each of 6 shot glasses to be consumed after the octopus. Garnish the octopus with micro cucumber leaves and serve the shooters alongside the plates.
