No way I'll ever post grandma's secret boudin recipe!
But, since grandma never made boudin I'll post mine!
Now, PLEASE keep in mind that this recipe is an approximate since I measure NOTHING more than the meat... You will need to adjust to your and yours tastes...
Ingredients:
pork butt
pork liver or Braunschweiger if pork liver cannot be had
celery
onion
carrots
bell pepper
garlic
bay leaf
FRESH ground black pepper
parsley
green onions
creole seasoning
old bay seasoning
thyme
cayenne pepper
rice
Now, here comes the hard part for me since I seldom measure my spices and veggies when making boudin, I'll TRY and get close to what I do.
PORK PREP
For this you will place all of the below ingredients into a big pot and simmer until the pork is ABOUT to fall apart. AFTER browning pork in pot.
3.75 pounds of pork butt cut into 1.5 x 1.5 inch pieces
2 - yellow or white onions cut into quarters
4 - ribs of celery cut into 3-4" pieces
3 - carrots cut into 2" pieces (no need to peel)
1 - bell pepper sliced into quarters
10 - cloves garlic sliced NOT chopped... Sliced seems to permeate better than chopped
3 - bay leaves whole
3 - tsp fresh ground pepper
a little olive oil
water to cover all.
Brown pork in olive oil in pot that you plan to cook ALL of the above in... Turn the heat to HIGH, drop in the olive oil, and then dump in the pork. Cook FAST and stir often until browned. Once browned, pour in some water to stop cooking action. If using Braunschweiger leave it in the frig...IF using pork liver brown it as well at this point.
Now it's time to add the rest of the ingredients above in the PORK PREP section... After adding all of the ingredients, add water until everything is covered and then bring to a ROLLING boil. After getting to a boil, drop the heat to a simmer and let cook until the pork is ALMOST falling apart.
Turn off heat and let the pot sit until cool.
Once the contents of the pot are cool enough for you to put your hand into, it's time to remove ONLY the pork from the pot and place it onto a plate, in a bowl, or wherever you want to stage it...
Other STUFF prep
Ok, while the pork is simmering you need to do the following for the filler portion of the boudin...
chop 3 onions of choice,
chop 2 bunches of green onions and make sure to separate the greens from the onions.
chop 6 tsp of garlic
chop into FINE pieces a whole bunch of parsley
combine; 8 tsp salt, 4 tsp cayenne pepper, 3 tsp old bay, 3 tsp creole seasoning, 1.5 tsp thyme, 4 tsp fresh ground black pepper.
Also cook 1.5 cups DRY rice per 2 pounds of meat. Remember the pork liver or Braunschweiger in your calculation. Use your pork stock to cook the rice in!
Once the pork is done, strain out all of the meat and discard the veggies. Put the stock back on the stove top and let it boil down to about 1/2 in case you need a little moisture after grinding. This will also be used to cook your rice.
Now take the onions, green onion bottoms, and garlic and saute until translucent.
Grind ALL meat and green onion tops through a 3/8" plate. If using pork liver grind it now as well. If using Braunschweiger wait and add it in by hand during the mixing phase.
Now place the meat and cooked veggies into a mixing vessel of choice. Mix your spices in with a little of the stock left over from cooking the meat. Add the spices, parsley, and mix VERY well into the meat. If using Braunschweiger now is the time to add it in as well.
Mix, mix, mix... Once the meat, veggies and spices are mixed you can now add your cooked rice into the meat mixture. Mix, mix, mix again.
Now, taste the mixture. ALL of the ingredients are cooked so it's safe to taste straight from the mixing vessel. If needed you can now add more spice if you want.
Once you have the boudin mixture where you want it, it's time to stuff.
To cook, I recommend steaming over any other method. Prior to steaming take a needle and poke quite a few holes in the casing to prevent splitting.
This is a sausage that BEGS to be modified. Mine is constantly changing depending on guests and such.
Let me know if you have any questions.
If all goes well for me today, I'll do a step by step with pictures tomorrow.
Charlie
