Boudin Time!!! Step by step...and pics.- recipe added

[73saint]

Yes...and the moisture is not water-it's the gelatin packed stock.

Inda, nowadays I grin when I end up with skin. Last week I skinned out 13 jowls. That skin will be for my boudin!
I found some boudin balls in the freezer last week. We fried 4 up w some fresh bass I caught. That recipe is fire. If you get the texture right it’s hard to beat, I can’t wait to do another batch.

 

[indaswamp]

The skin is the real secret to great boudin...so much flavor! And makes the perfect texture! Smooth as silk!

 

[mike333h]

Awesome step by step, and the finished links looked amazing.

 

[callmez]

Made this Saturday (I'm not set up to stuff casings yet, so no links this time... next time I hope.) OMG, this is spot-on boudin, a really great balance of flavors. I suspect that the devil is in the details and Indaswamp has provided ALL the details here to make a killer batch of boudin.
For a trial run (and since the rest of the family won't eat much of it) I adjusted the ingredients to half a pork shoulder, about 4 lbs. No access to pork skins so we got a trotter at the local Mexican market instead. *Mental note, Mexican markets are great for critter parts the local supermarkets don't stock... the regular supermarkets were out of chicken livers too, but they had 'em.* I was concerned about the trotter falling apart if tossed in with everything else so I boiled it separately in a saucepan and added the reduced liquid towards the end of the cook. It didn't fall apart and I wouldn't do it next time, but that worked out fine. After adding the reduced liquid I took the skin from the trotter, chopped it up fine and added it into the mix. When I mixed everything together at the very end, I thought it looked a little dry so I added a bit of water. Mistake. It didn't need it.
Didn't even get the grinder out for this recipe, just a knife. A full size batch might be different.
So far we've fried up some boudin balls (tasty but a little softer than they should be: too much moisture.) Fried up as patties too, really tasty but still too soft. Tonight we are going to stuff some big button mushrooms with the boudin -- should be great!
Thanks for a killer recipe InDa. I have wanted to make this for a long time. There are recipes all over the web but I was looking for one that seemed to have cajun street cred. You da man!

 

[indaswamp]

You may be able to buy pork skin at a mexican grocer too....

 

[stevenau281]

when would be the best time to ball it up into boudin balls? Should I let it sit in the fridge for the night and ball it up the next morning?

 

[indaswamp]

when would be the best time to ball it up into boudin balls? Should I let it sit in the fridge for the night and ball it up the next morning?

Yes, I would ice it and let it firm up, then shape into balls.

 

[Spacemanspiff]

Foamy's recent thread reminded me that I'm out of boudin. So time to make some!

I pulled two 7# butts out of the freezer early this morning to thaw. Started cooking around lunch. Pulled the old 5gal. cast iron heirloom pot out and fired her up. First seasoned butt inda pot...
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about done on the first one. You want a really good sear on all sides. Don't worry about the charred seasoning, it's suppose to do that as it adds to the flavor.

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Browned the second one the same way then set both roasts in the SS pan while I browned the onions, bell pepper, garlic. Forgot to snap a pic. as a rain shower popped up and I scrambled for cover under the carport.

While the onions were braising down and deglazing the pot, I put 1.5# of pork liver in the food processor to puree...
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Once the veggies get a little color on them and pull the drippings off the pot, time to add the liver and brown it a little.
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Hello Swamp! I know this is sorta an old thread, but hopefully you still check this. Looks like a killer recipe! I saw your recipe for pork bone stock as well, and was wondering how much stock you would add to this boudin recipe? The full 1.25 gallons? Next level flavor and depth! It’ll be a while until I get enough bones saved up, but want to be prepared when I do.

My dads whole side of the family is from Carencro, Lafayette. So I know what good boudin should taste like. I’ve been messing around with my own boudin recipes, but haven’t been able to get it quite right yet. Think this recipe is really gonna help with a few fundamentals I’ve been missing. I live on Maui, and can’t get no boudin..lol.. also sadly can’t get fresh pork liver, but I can get chicken livers. So I’ll just rock with that since frozen pork liver is pretty terrible. Thank you for posting! And I hope that all is well with you and your family : )

 

[indaswamp]

Maui Eh??? Wow. Cool to see this recipe circle the globe.
The last batch I made I used 1 gallon of stock. I liked it better. With the large volume of liquid, it can get a little runny when reheated. The pork skin is a MUST though. the collagen is what binds the liquid, along with the rice starch. Boudin should be wet enough to slide out of the casing easily, yet firm enough so that it will not ooze out when reheating. BTW, do not reheat over 175-180*F or casing could pop.

Do be careful not to scorch the bottom of the pot...If using a full flavor concentrated stock, the gelatin will tend to stick to the bottom of the pot. simmer on low and stir often.

 

[indaswamp]

Also, one more tip...

I thought I had already posted this, but looking back through this thread I do not see it. If you are using par-boiled rice, use 1/2 the liquid. Par-boiled rice is already cooked so it does not soak up as much liquid as raw rice. I recommend raw rice for boudin.

 

[Spacemanspiff]

Also, one more tip...

I thought I had already posted this, but looking back through this thread I do not see it. If you are using par-boiled rice, use 1/2 the liquid. Par-boiled rice is already cooked so it does not soak up as much liquid as raw rice. I recommend raw rice for boudin.

Thank you for all the tips. I’m actually making a small 5# test batch right now : ) I’ll let ya know how it turns out. Seriously, the pork skin was my missing ingredient. I couldn’t figure out how to get that texture that good boudin has. My batches taste good, but it was just missing a certain something. Think that’s gonna do it. Also I wish I could get fresh pork liver, but it’s sorta a non option here : ( I’ve spent all of covid trying to get this recipe nailed, and tried allot of different combos of spices, and cooking techniques. Asked my family down there in Carencro, but they were only helpful up to a point, and nobody mentioned the pork skin. I even have a cousin that used to work at Don’s meat market, but she didn’t know how they made it other than a few spices..lol.. I think stumbling across your thread is going to put me right on track. I’ll post later hand let ya know how it turns out : )

 

[indaswamp]

Some of the big processors cheat and use short cuts... they have to for the obscenely large volume of boudin they make. Now it's good-don't get me wrong, just not applicable for the home cook. I have even seen kitchen bouquet in some store recipes....

 

[Spacemanspiff]

Some of the big processors cheat and use short cuts... they have to for the obscenely large volume of boudin they make. Now it's good-don't get me wrong, just not applicable for the home cook. I have even seen kitchen bouquet in some store recipes....

The skin definitely makes all the difference in the world : ) I didn’t use quite enough for this batch, but I can tell the difference for sure. A smaller grind would probably be good too. The smallest I had was the 4.5 plate. I assume the bigger it is the longer it takes to break down right? Have you tried just grinding the skin raw, instead of cooking it then grinding? I’m still missing something in the flavor profile, but I’m guessing it’s the pork liver. Chicken just isn’t the same : (

 

[indaswamp]

Have you tried just grinding the skin raw, instead of cooking it then grinding?

It's just hard to grind raw skin... It gets bound up around the auger too easily. Someone else might know a trick to get it done, but I find it way easier to soften it up first by boiling/simmering.

 

[ddufore]

I have a vita mix that I used to process the skin after cooking. Turns it into a gelatinous slurry that blends very well.

 

[indaswamp]

Another tip: You can substitute chicken skin in place of the pork skin. Might be easier to source for some people, just start saving up raw chicken skins and freeze until needed to make boudin. Though I would recommend to thoroughly puree the cooked chicken skins in a food processor into an emulsion.