Boudin

[Dana]

All the gumbo talk on the cooking thread has inspired me to think about making my own boudain. Anyone have a recipe?

[fifi]

I don't have a recipe but I think you need to know that I was in a total incapacitation event because I first read the title and then your post as BouRdain. As in Tony...

[Gifted Gourmet]

I first read the title and then your post as BouRdain. As in Tony...

Well, it happened to me too, fifi, until I realized what was being asked for was boudin

in which case, let me offer you this recipe:

Boudin Recipe .. red or white

better? No recipe for Tony Boudin unfortunately ....

[fifi]

Don't feel bad, Dana. I took a lot of flack for mirlirtons, mirlatons, umm... mirlirtons...

Thanks for the recipes, Gifted Gourmet.

I (of course) have a funny boudin story. I was having some friends over for a basically Cajun inspired dinner. One of the dishes was boudin that I had gotten at the local Cajun market. I put it into the covered fry pan with a bit of water to start to cook. Well, when the steam started to subside, the signal to take the cover off and start to brown, I took the lid off...

and...

There were openings in the sausage casings and the rice had continued to swell. The whole thing looked like a dog taking a poop into the pan. As soon as I lifted the cover I screamed "OMG" and they rushed over. As we watched the sausage innards continue to ooze forth we got a huge case of the giggles. Well, giggles may be an understatement. I recall three of us sitting in the floor of the kitchen totally incapacitated. At that point, my son came in, assessed the situation, poured us each another glass of wine, and quietly went upstairs to his room. To this day we still refer to this as the "boudin pooping episode".

[davebr]

I like getting out the iron skillet, removing the boudin from the casing and frying it in the skillet. You'll need a wooden spoon to scrape the boudin every few minutes, incorporating those crispy pieces back into the mixture. Set aside, and roast in a covered pan at 375 some peeled cubes of sweet potato. When they are fork tender--35 minutes I guess, Take them out and smash with a little salt, butter, molasses or dark cane syrup, a touch of cayenne (depending on the heat level of the boudin) and a touch of cinnomen. Fold in the boudin and I have served this with pork chops, BBQ grilled tuna, crispy duck confit, warm remoulade glazed scallops, ect...

Im a sweet/spicy freak.

[Dana]

Many thanks to Mayhaw Man for fixing my misspelling!!! I guess somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind,.......maybe my dark recesses are better left alone. Anyway, thanks a lot. I let everyone know how my boudin turns out.

dave br---I think I'll buy some to try your sweet potato/boudin recipe. I live spicy and sweet as well. It sounds terrific!!!

Edited June 21, 2004 by Dana (log)

[fifi]

The touch of cinnamon in davebr's recipe got me. I don't normally like sweet in savory foods but I have been getting adventurous with cinnamon lately. How can you not want to try the marriage of sweet potatoes and boudin. It sounds like a marriage made in... um... South Louisiana.

[patti]

Davebr's recipe reminded me of my father's favorite way of eating leftover boudin. He'd have it as an accompaniment with scrambled eggs for breakfast, along with a little puddle of Steen's Cane Syrup for dipping. I'd totally forgotten about that, so thanks for the little jolt of nostalgia, dave. (And it had to be Steen's, no other syrup would do!)

[philadining]

As part of a big gumbo cooking extravaganza, I decided to also make some boudin. It was largely motivated by the fact that at that time, friends were roasting a whole pig, so I figured there would be a nice fresh liver to be had...

I did a lot of reading of recipes, which only served to confuse me, this seems to be another one of those things that everybody makes a little differently. But it's fascinating reading, some of the best info is here:

http://www.southernboudintrail.com/

So I just decided to go for the recipe in Donald Link's Real Cajun. I love the fried boudin balls at Cochon, and the steamed links at Cochon Butcher, so I figured that was a good starting point. I ended up doubling it, and making a few minor substitutions. I couldn't find both chili peppers he listed, and curing salt seemed unnecessary, given that we weren't storing these for long, but more or less it was his recipe, which has a 4:1 ratio of Pork Shoulder to Pork Liver.

So, sure enough, the day after the pig roast, I found a bag in the refrigerator:

And it was a lovely liver.

I didn't even use all of it, that would have made WAY too much boudin for this context. I used a little over a pound of it, paired with about 5 pounds of Pork shoulder.

I combined the spices and vegetables,

Chopped the meats into approx 1 inch cubes.

added the meat to the spices, stirred well, and marinated overnight. Steamed some rice for use later.

The next day, I got a pot of water going, once it was boiling, I added the marinated meats,and all the vegetables and spices, then reduced the heat, and poached the mixture for about 2 hours.

Then strained, being sure to reserve the poaching liquid.

The recipe says that the meats can then be ground, chopped by hand, or run through a food processor.

Sure enough, a few pulses got this to the perfect texture. I think a meat grinder would have been overkill.

Then, added in the cold cooked rice, and most of the poaching liquid, and stirred vigorously.

It turns out, this stirring phase is crucial for developing the right texture, and getting everything to hang together. We probably stirred it for about 15 minutes, which was surprisingly tiring, but it's good to have help!

The mixture went in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, and then we rolled the mixture into small balls, and coated them in panko. Again, it's really good to have help!

We had a couple of what we came to call "jet woks" out back, which seemed to be the perfect gear for deep frying these, plenty of space for them to bob around.

As it turns out, the first few simultaneously fell apart and stuck to one another, so we re-rolled them a little smaller, and fried them in smaller batches, manually keeping them away from one another with the skimmer. Did I mention that it's really good to have help with this?

That did the trick, and they turned out really well.

Served them with some Zatarain's mustard, and they were a big hit, even with people who made nasty faces when I'd mentioned the word "liver" earlier.

I don't think I'd change a thing, I think the 4:1 ratio of shoulder to liver is just right, at least with a nice fresh liver...

This ultimately wasn't too hard to do, it just took a while, so I'd encourage anyone interested to give it a shot. I see pig livers pretty regularly in Asian groceries, or perhaps your local butcher could get you some without too much trouble. For many of us, it's easier than making at trip to Cajun country, if perhaps not as much fun!

Edited October 12, 2010 by philadining (log)

[Dana]

I had forgotten about that thread!! Thanks for reviving it, philadining. We had the pleasure of eating at Link's Butcher in May. I've been thinking about that boudin since then. I love that he uses pork shoulder instead of ground pork. Thanks also, for the hint about the extra help.