To make this delightful dish, sauté the bright white squid - the tubular body cut into rings and the tentacles kept whole - and toss through a robust salad of flat parsley, shallot rings and diced crispy black pudding "croûtons" with wisps of fluorescent yellow English mustard cream "painted" around to complete the picture.
Ingredients
(Serves four)
2 baby squids, about 400g each
For the velouté
175ml white wine
50ml fish stock
100ml cream
1tbs English mustard
1tbs flat-leaf parsley, chopped
For the black pudding
100g black pudding, in 1cm dice
A little olive oil for frying or grilling
For the parsley salad
50g flat-leaf parsley
10g shallots, thinly sliced into rings
A little mixed herb salad with 5ml of house vinaigrette and a dessertspoon of 1cm-diced bread croûtons
1/2 lemon
Method
First, clean and prepare the squid. Clean out the tube or body sac. Remove the quill and also the ink sac, depending on the age and size of the baby squid. Cut the tentacles from the body and divide in half, keeping them all intact for presentation. Slice the body or tube into rings, wash thoroughly and keep refrigerated.
To make the velouté, reduce the ingredients by two-thirds or to coating consistency, set aside and keep warm.
Next, grill the black pudding on an oiled tray for 3-4 minutes until crispy. While this is cooking, put a pan on a high heat with a little oil. Dress the parsley salad with vinaigrette. Mix in the sliced shallots, herb salad and croûtons. Place two small piles of salad on each of the gently warmed plates.
Put the sauce on a slightly higher heat and add the chopped parsley. Carefully put the squid into the hot oiled pan. Season, and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Arrange with the hot diced black pudding on the salad and lightly spoon around the mustard velouté. Garnish with garden herbs and a squeeze of lemon over each salad. Serve immediately.
Andrew Pern, chef-patron, Star Inn, Harome, taken from his book Black Pudding & Foie Gras (www.blackpuddingandfoiegras.co.uk)