MY SEARED OCTOPUS with a SHITAKE MUSHROOMS ORZOTTO SIDE!

I told you this story before. I was born and grew up in Puerto Rico, where I learn to eat all kinds of seafood as a little girl; conch, oysters, crabs, sword fish, octopus and the such. We passed the tradition to our son, (my twins weren’t born yet) whom as a little boy could easily eat 1 dozen plus of oysters by the ocean dock, where fishermen came with fresh oysters from the Caribbean Sea and open them for him.  I love to buy this kind of seafood in the markets, then run home to cook it. My daddy, (who loved to fish as a hobby,) brought me fresh octopus but I did not touch it, he had to put it in the boiling water pot, smile. Sweet!
 
Category:  Entrée  
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:    30 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $17.13 or $8.57 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free     
Servings: 2+
 
Ingredients for the Sautéed Octopus ($13.44)
½ lb. of cooked octopus, (2 large tentacles) cleaned (Costco sells it @$21.99) ($10.99)
1 tsp. Angie’s dry seasoning (.25)
1 tsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.40)
1 lemon (.50)
1 avocado ($1.30)
 
Ingredients for the Orzotto ($3.69)
1 c. Orzo (.99)
2 c. chicken stock ($1.35)
4 dried shitake mushrooms (.70)
1 tsp. Angie’s dry seasoning (.25)
1 tsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.40)
In a saucepan over medium heat add the basting olive oil, 1 c. of orzo, the dry seasoning and sauté briefly. Then add the shitake mushrooms and carefully, add the 2 c. beef broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes to soften the grain. It will be moist, not dry at all.
 
Meantime, in spite of the fact that the octopus is already cooked and clean, I still like to rinse and pat dry it before seasoning it and sauté it in a skillet, with 1 tsp. of my basting olive oil. I sauté the octopus’s tentacles until golden brown. DONE!
 
Angie’s Dry Seasonings: http://www.angieslifehacks.com/family-life/oven-roasted-bacon-chicken-and-angies-seasonings
Angie’s Basting Olive Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil