Boudin is a name given to a family of sausages that have their culinary roots in French/Belgian cuisine. As more Europeans left the Old World to try their fortunes in the Americas, boudin traveled with them and gained a foothold in communities with large French populations, such as Canada and Louisiana. Boudin sausage comes in a variety of different styles, including a New World take on the dish made with alligator instead of the traditional pork. The most common variety of boudin is "boudin noir", which is a sausage made with pig's blood and other ingredients.
Instructions
1. Find a source for fresh pig's blood in your area. Most grocery store butchers do not carry blood, although some can order it for you. Contact local farmers in your area to see if any have plans to butcher their pigs soon. Barring that, you may have some success tracking down frozen pig's blood at an ethnic farmer's market. Because this part of the process may get drawn out, wait to purchase the rest of your sausage-making ingredients until you have obtained the blood.
2. Mince the onions and "sweat" them in a pan for 30 minutes with the lard. Sweating the onions simply entails cooking them over very low heat, covered, and stirring only occasionally. You want to make the onions fragrant and translucent, and do not want them to take on any color. When finished, drain off the excess fat (reserved for sweating the apples later on) and allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Repeat this same mincing and sweating process for the apples, heating the apples for just 10 minutes. Since the apples have a higher sugar content, they may take on a little more color than the onions did as the sugars caramelize. After 10 minutes, drain and set aside to cool to room temperature.
4. Trim all excess fat and sinews from your pork loin. There should be no white parts on the meat when you are done.
5. Slice the pork loin into long strips about an inch wide. Cut across the grain of the meat about every half of an inch to create small chunks.
6. Cut up the fatback in the same fashion as the loin. Toss the two together in a large bowl, cover, and place in the freezer while assembling the rest of the ingredients. Chilling these components now will prevent them from being "cooked" by the friction created during the meat grinding process later on.
7. Send the loin/fatback mixture through the meat grinder.
8. Soak the sausage casings in warm water for 15 minutes, then rinse with cold water.
9. Cut the casings into the desired lengths, if you are not creating one large length of sausage and would prefer several smaller sausages.
10. Break up the pig's blood. Because the blood will coagulate the longer it sits around before cooking, you will need to break it up with an immersion blender before proceeding.
11. Combine the apples, onions, ground meat, and spices in a standing mixer. Once combined, slowly add in the pig's blood and the remaining ingredients.
12. Stuff this mixture into the cleaned casings, tying off the ends.
Cooking Boudin
13. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer, and poach the sausages in this water.
14. Test sausages for doneness by inserting a probe thermometer into one end. The sausages are ready when they reach an internal temperature of between 165 and 170 degrees Farenheit. You should test the sausages for doneness when they change from a bright purplish color to a brown/grey color.
15. Rinse the sausages in cool water, and refrigerate.
16. Freeze any portion of the sausage you will not be consuming within 24 hours to ensure the best flavor.
17.Sear the sausages in a hot pan until golden brown. Serve with sauteed apples, onions, and saurkraut, or with a side of buttery mashed potatoes.
Tags: apples onions, cool room, cool room temperature, made with, pork loin, room temperature, sausages doneness
