Seared scallops with roasted garlic cream sauce and black pudding mash

An appetiser’s purpose… stimulate your appetite and leave you wanting more. The rich and complex flavours in this dish certainly had people hungry for more. The roasted garlic cream sauce was simply divine. The black pudding spiked mash – delectable! And seared scallops are great any time anywhere.

The three components of this appetiser, the seared scallops with the roasted garlic cream sauce and mash spiked with black pudding make a truly delicious combination. But the star of this show is the roasted garlic cream sauce. I love it, but more importantly, my daughter does as well. This tells me it is something exceptional, her being my harshest critic!

The dish is a lot more than the roasted garlic cream sauce though….

A black pudding primer

Black pudding is also known as black sausage or blood sausage. It is usually associated with Western European countries, including Ireland, the UK, France (boudin noir), Spain (morcilla), and Germany (blutwurst). However, very similar sausages are also popular in Africa (mutura), Korea (soondae), and Vietnam (dồi huyết).

Whatever name it goes by, this ingredient has a wonderfully complex and rich taste. It is a great addition to a wide range of dishes. And no surprises today, I am not the only one who thinks scallops and black pudding go so well together.

The mash

Until I read this article, I hadn’t paid much attention to which potatoes I should use for mashing or making gnocchi. It turns out though that Yukon Gold potatoes really do excel for this purpose. I can get them at my local market in Saigon so chances are they will be easy for you to find too.

If black pudding is not your thing, or not something you feel inclined to even try, or perhaps you cannot buy it in your locality, no problem. Substitute it with chorizo, or some finely diced spring onions for a pescatarian version. The seared scallops and roasted garlic sauce are so amazing that a substitution in the potato mash will not seriously impact how enjoyable this dish is.

Wine suggestion… an oak aged chardonnay or a very dry riesling would go very well with this seared scallops dish and especially the roasted garlic sauce..

Seared scallops with roasted garlic cream sauce and black pudding mash

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mediterranean Inspired

Keyword: black pudding, roasted garlic, scallops

Servings: 4 people

Author: Steve Paris

An appetiser's purpose… stimulate your appetite and leave you wanting more. The rich and complex flavours in this dish certainly had people hungry for more. The roasted garlic cream sauce was simply divine. The black pudding spiked mash – delectable! And seared scallops are great any time anywhere.

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

• 8 scallops large

Mash

• 4 medium potatoes Yukon golds
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp crème fraîche
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 150 g black pudding aka black sausage or boudin noir

Roast garlic cream sauce

• 2 heads roasted garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp crème fraîche
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese finely grated
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Mash

• Remove the skin from the black pudding and dice into smallish (5x5mm) pieces.
• Heat a skillet, add a little oil, and sauté the black pudding pieces until crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
• Peel and cut the potatoes into 20x20mm pieces, as consistently sized as possible to ensure they cook evenly.
• Add diced potato to a pot of cold water, add a tsp of salt, and bring to a simmer. Cook until tender but not mushy.
• Drain and return the potato to the hot pot. Return to the heat for a minute or two. The intervention is to evaporate off any remaining water.
• Use a potato ricer or potato masher to mash the potatoes. A potato ricer is preferred as it gives a fluffier more aerated mash.
• Stir in the butter, 1/2 tsp salt, and crème fraîche. Carefully fold in the crispy black pudding.

Roast garlic cream sauce

• Roast the garlic heads as described here.
  
• Finely dice the onion.
• Bring a skillet to a medium high heat and add the Tbsp of butter.
• When the butter is melted, and the diced onion. Sauté until soft but not browning.
• Add the Tbsp of flour and stir into the onion and butter. Cook for a couple of minutes.
• Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly. When the mixture has thickened, add some more milk.
• After adding all of the milk, reduce heat to low.
• Squeeze the cloves of garlic from the heads, being careful not to get any garlic skins mixed in.
• Add the roast garlic, crème fraîche, grated parmesan, and 1/2 tsp salt and stir in.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit.
• Blend the sauce until smooth. Check seasoning.
• Add a bit more milk if the sauce is too thick.
• When ready to serve, reheat over a low heat, or in a microwave.

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