I GOT DENNIS' DRIED TAKO RECIPE!!!

My cousin Dennis makes the best dried tako. Yesterday he gave me the "recipe".

It's not really a recipe . . . it's more like "instructions". I tried my best to focus on his explanations, and here's what I got. You rub Hawaiian salt on the tako. My mom said to "pound it to death" to soften, but I think it's more to get the slimy stuff off. Then you're gonna boil the tako in Heineken. Dennis said to cut the head off and strip off the skin so that what remains is whitish. He advises that you boil the head separately from the legs otherwise the legs will get discolored (something like that). He couldn't give me any cooking times because he said it varies with the size of the tako. He said you can tell when the tako is done though 'cause it'll curl up. After boiling you're gonna bake the tako to dry it. You slice the tako so that you have eight separate legs. You cut off the tips and throw them away. Then you cut each leg in two. You put the skinnier parts together 'cause they're gonna get done faster. You slice the fatter part of the leg lengthwise, but not all the way through. You open them up and place them flat side down on your pan. Now you BAKE them at 250 degrees. The skinnier parts of the legs will take about an hour and the fatter legs about 2 hours. Dennis said you gotta watch though 'cause the time varies. He said you'll be able to tell when it's done.

I think we have some tako in the freezer so maybe the next chance I have I'll give it a try. Should be good for a few laughs at least.

THANKS DENNIS!!