Nathan Outlaw - Restaurant

Writing, words, space,

I don’t so much like Nathan Outlaw, it’s more of an adoration thing.  How lofty he is, how lowly I am.  He’s not actually lofty, in fact he’s very down to earth.  But his food is lofty as in aspirational, reachable but beyond comparison.  Honest, crafted, simple, subtle, complex, beautiful, rewarding, bringing joy.  Like a new girlfriend you’ve just fallen in love with (back in the day) surprising, sensuous, sexy, a bomb shell really, something, someone who’s always on your mind.  That’s Nathan’s food.

I’m reading his book, ‘Restaurant Nathan Outlaw’ on the quayside in Lower Town, Fishguard, an appropriate spot with the gulls screeching overhead and lanyards slapping the masts of the yachts in the harbour.  Fishing boats, half afloat, waiting for the tide to take them out to sea.

I’ve opened on page 24 and am looking at a divinely presented dish of black cuttlefish fritters on a vivid green, wild garlic soup, topped with white, wild garlic flowers.  And that’s enough, I don’t need to turn another page, it’s a dish I have to cook immediately, for now is the season and the urge is in me.

Although there are two pages of instructions and five stages, a lot of the work can be done well in advance, even the day before.  Leaving you plenty of time on the day to finish it off and present it, beautifully to your guests.  But it takes effort and dedication to bake fresh black bread with squid ink, just to slice it up, dry it out and blitz it into breadcrumbs.

Effort amply rewarded by the grins on your guest’s faces.  That almost sad look of disbelief, trying to understand what they have just tasted, the combination of flavours cascading through their taste buds, like a symphony, Rachmaninov perhaps, or more likely Elgar’s ‘Sea Pictures’ sung by the indomitable Janet Baker.

Cuttlefish

fritters and

wild garlic soup

Serves: 6

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID LOFTUS

INGREDIENTS

For the black bread

125g white bread flour

30g fermented starter dough (see page 290)

50ml water

7g fresh yeast

10g unsalted butter

5g sea salt

50ml squid ink

For the cuttlefish fritters

1kg cuttlefish, cleaned

light olive oil for cooking

2 white onions, peeled and chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

2 red peppers, cored, de-seeded and finely

diced

3 teaspoons smoked paprika

600ml dry cider

450ml fish stock

150g unsalted butter

120g plain flour plus an extra 50g for coating

2 large eggs, beaten

sunflower oil for deep-frying

Cornish sea salt and freshly ground black

pepper

For the wild garlic soup

light olive oil for cooking

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 medium potato, peeled and finely sliced

1 litre vegetable stock 

250g wild garlic, plus a few flowers for the

garnish (if available)

For the lemon and garlic oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 lemons, finely zested

400ml light olive oil

METHOD

•First prepare the lemon and garlic oil – if

possible, do this a day ahead.

•Put the garlic, lemon zest and olive oil into

a blender and blitz for three minutes.

Pour into a container and leave to infuse

in the fridge for  at least six hours, ideally

overnight.

•To finish the oil, decant it into another

container or bottle, leaving the sediment

behind. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

To make the black bread

•Put all the ingredients, except the salt and

squid ink, into a stand mixer fitted with the

dough hook and mix on a high speed for six minutes.

Add the salt and squid ink and mix

for another two minutes.

•Transfer the dough to a floured bowl,

cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise in a

warm place for 30 minutes.

•On a floured surface, knock back the

dough and shape into a loaf. 

•Place on a baking tray, cover with a damp

cloth and leave to prove in a warm place

until doubled in size

•Meanwhile heat your oven to 230°C/ Fan

220°C/Gas Mark 8.

•Sprinkle the surface of the loaf with flour

and bake for 25 minutes, or until it sounds

hollow when tapped on the base.

•Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool

completely.

To make the breadcrumbs

•Slice the bread and lay on a tray in a warm

place to dry out. Once dry, blitz in a food

processor to rough breadcrumbs. Set aside

ready to use.

To cook the cuttlefish

•Cut the cuttlefish into 2cm slices, pat dry

and season with salt and pepper.

•Heat a large frying pan and add a drizzle

of olive oil. When the oil is hot, fry the

cuttlefish in two or three batches to avoid

overcrowding the pan, for one minute,

turning occasionally.

•Add the onions, garlic, peppers and

paprika to the pan and cook, stirring often,

for two minutes.

•Return all the cuttlefish to the pan, pour

in the cider and fish stock and bring to a

simmer.

•Cook gently for one hour until the

cuttlefish is tender.

•Remove the cuttlefish from the pan with a

slotted spoon and set aside on a plate; strain

and reserve the liquor.

To prepare the cuttlefish fritter mix

•Melt the butter in a saucepan over a

medium heat.

•Stir in the flour to make a roux and cook,

stirring, for five minutes.

•Gradually whisk in the reserved liquor,

keeping the mixture smooth.

•Continue to cook for a few minutes until

you have a smooth, thick sauce. Remove

from the heat.

•Chop the cooked cuttlefish into smaller

pieces and stir into the sauce. Taste for

seasoning, adding salt and pepper if you

think it needs it. Spread the cuttlefish

mixture out on a tray and leave to cool, then

cover with cling film and place in the fridge

to chill thoroughly for at least two hours.

•To shape and crumb the fritters spoon

the cuttlefish mixture into 18 equal-sized

mounds on a tray or plate and then, using

wet hands, roll the mounds into balls. Place

the balls back in the fridge to firm up.

•Put the extra flour into one bowl,

the beaten eggs into another and the

breadcrumbs into a third bowl.

•Season the flour with salt and pepper.

Take the cuttlefish balls from the fridge.

Pass them, one at a time, first through the

 flour, then into the egg and finally into the

breadcrumbs, turning to coat thoroughly all

over, then place on a tray.

•Once all the cuttlefish balls are coated,

place the tray in the fridge if preparing

ahead, or leave to one side if you’re cooking

the dish straight away.

To make the wild garlic soup

•Heat a medium saucepan and add a

generous drizzle of olive oil.

•When it is hot, add the onion and cook for

one minute, without colouring.

•Add the potato and then pour in the

vegetable stock. Simmer for about 10

minutes until the potato is cooked. Tip the

contents of the pan into a blender.

•Place a frying pan over a medium high

heat and add a little olive oil.

•When it is hot, fry the wild garlic in  a few

batches for about one minute until wilted

and add to the blender.

•Blitz everything together until smooth,

then season with salt and pepper to taste.

•Unless serving straight away, chill the soup

over ice to retain its vivid green colour.

To cook the fritters

•When you are ready to eat, preheat your

oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6.

•Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep-fryer

or other suitable deep, heavy pan to 180°C.

•When it is hot, deep-fry the cuttlefish balls

in batches for two minutes until crisp. Drain

on kitchen paper and place on a tray in the

oven for one minute.

To assemble and serve

•While the cuttlefish balls are in  the oven,

tip the soup into a saucepan and reheat over

a medium heat.

•Taste for seasoning again and adjust if

necessary.

•Share the soup equally between six

warmed soup plates and place three

cuttlefish fritters in the centre of each.

•Drizzle some lemon and garlic oil around

the soup and finish with a few wild garlic

flowers if you have them. Serve at once