Cajun Boudin Recipe #1
This boudin recipe is made in the Cajun style, not the classic French.
French Boudin is much more delicately flavored, and generally calls for milk and breadcrumbs rather than rice.
Boudin from France is frequently made with ground chicken or turkey, but the classic Cajun sausage is almost always pork (sometimes mixed with a bit of pork liver).
Boudin blanc (white). like this recipe, is usually not smoked. It is made from pre-cooked ingredients though, so it is not a "fresh" sausage in the classic sense.
Recipe
For the Meat
- 5 lbs 80-85% lean pork shoulder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper
- 3 medium culinary bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
For The Rice
- 2 1/2 cups white rice
- 2 large onions, chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 cups cooking liquid. I like to use the broth left from cooking the pork, extended with water if necessary.
For the Sausage
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 loosely packed cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- Cut the pork into 2-3 inch portions and combine it with the 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper, the bay leaves and the thyme in a large cooking pot and cover with water.
- Simmer the pork and spice mixture until it is done enough to fall apart. This may take up to 2 1/2 hours. Remove and refrigerate the cooked pork when done, and reserve the cooking liquid.
- While the pork is cooking, prepare the rice by sauteing the raw rice with the 2 teaspoons salt and the chopped onions in the 2 tablespoons of butter. More butter can be added if there doesn't seem enough to do the job well. Saute the rice and onions, stirring often, until the onions are translulcent. Take care not to burn.
- Once the saute is complete, cover the rice with the 4 cups of cooking liquid, bring it to a boil, cover and immediately reduce the heat to low. Continue to simmer the rice for 16 to 20 minutes until done
- Grind the cooked pork through the coarse plate of your meat grinder. Then mix it with the rice and the rest of the spices (the pepper flakes, cayenne, and parsley. This boudin recipe should have a pudding-like consistency. so add water if the mixture seems too dry.
- After the pork and rice are very well combined, stuff the sausage into casings. I like to use natural 35-38 mm pork casing.
As I said before, this is not considered a "fresh" sausage because the
ingredients are pre-cooked, but make sure to keep it refrigerated (or
frozen) until use.
The most common way to prepare boudin for eating is to steam or simmer it for about 15 minutes. Enjoy!
