Chargrilled baby octopus

I love seafood. Every time I eat it, I wonder why I don't eat more of it. We use to eat fish at least once a week but I am afraid we have whittled it down to once every three weeks, or when I remember to change directions and walk down the hill to the fish monger instead of up the hill to the butcher, baker (and candle stick maker!).
 I mean lets face it we are creatures of habit, and as I have read, habits are hard to break. Thank god for divine interventions I say!
My Tapas class last week was a great excuse for us to change our eating habits and also remind 95% of my family how much they really do love octopus.
Dinners have been a bit all over the place lately, Nic teaches late, I have a class or am running out the door for something, so sitting down to the same meal at the same time of night has been very hard. I have managed to only cook one meal each night, however I did make an exception on octopus night and let Alex have a ham, pickle and mayo sandwich seeing as he ate two big serves of fried rice at school and couldn't bare to put a tentacle in his mouth....he has a few years to go unlike his brother.
I placed a big plate of octopus in front of Max and watched as he gobbled it up within minutes, I ate mine on the fly and Nic got his as it came flying out of the pan just before I ran out the door. This was a  week I am hoping won't repeat itself for a while.
If you'd like to give this a try, please do. I love the simplicity of this dish and the flavours the char grill bring to the end result are wonderful.


Char grilled baby octopus
Preparation for octopus:
500g baby octopus
4 chat potatoes, pre boiled and cut into ¼’s
Remove beak and set aside.
Bring 2 litres of water to the boil and add the juice and whole skin of a lemon.
Once water has boiled place octopus in a bowl and pour over boiling water, leave for 60 seconds and then strain off water.
Add lemon pieces to octopus in strainer then continue to pour over boiling water for a further 30 seconds.
Leave to cool in the strainer while you prepare the garnish and cook your potatoes.

Preparing garnish:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
chilli flakes
½ tomato, seeded and diced into chunks
2 sprigs of spring onions, cut into 3cm pieces
3 olives, halved
lemon
To serve:
Heat char grill, place octopus and potato into a bowl with a splash of olive oil, season and then place on char gill and leave to colour, turning only when coloured on the sides.
Whilst octopus is grilling, warm extra virgin olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
Add garlic and chilli flakes, wait until garlic starts to sizzle then add tomato, spring onions and olive halves.
Toss to combine and sauté for 60 seconds.
Add octopus and potato, toss to combine then remove from the heat and serve with a wedge of lemon.