Cajun Style Boudin Sausage Food

LOUISIANA BOUDIN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Chop the meats, liver and fat into chunks that will fit in the grinder. Mix the meats, liver and fat with the onion, celery, poblano peppers and garlic, then the salt, curing salt (if using) and either the Cajun seasonings or the spice mix you made from this recipe. Put it all in a lidded container and set in the fridge at least an hour, and up to a day.
• Put the contents of the container into a large pot and pour in enough water to cover everything by an inch or two. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until everything is tender, at least 90 minutes and up to 3 hours. Strain the cooking liquid (you'll need it later) and spread the meat, fat and veggies out on a sheet pan to cool.
• When everything is cool enough to handle, grind it through the coarse die (6.5 mm) on your grinder. You can also hand chop everything.
• Put your meat mix into a large bowl and add the cooked rice, parsley and green onions. Mix well, and add up to 4 cups of the reserved cooking liquid. Mix this for 3 to 5 minutes so you make a more cohesive mixture to stuff into a casing. You now have boudin.
• You can just shape the mixture into balls and fry them (they're awesome), or use your boudin as stuffing for something else, like a turkey. Or you can case it. Stuff the boudin into hog casings, and while you're doing it, get a large pot of salted water hot -- not simmering, just steaming. You want the water to be about 165ºF to 170ºF. Poach the links for 10 minutes, then serve. If you are not serving them right away, no need to poach the links yet.
• Boudin does not keep well, so eat it all within a couple days. It does freeze reasonably well, however.

CAJUN STYLE BOUDIN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• To prepare casings: Let casings soak in cool water about five minutes to remove salt on outer surface (no longer, or they will become too tender to stuff) and flush salt from the inside by placing one end on faucet nozzle and turn on cold tap water (if you see holes or water leaking, cut and discard).
• Remove casing from faucet and gently squeeze out water; cover rinsed casings and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Mix all ingredients very well in a large bowl (you're looking for a moist but not runny mixture).
• Fill the casings with the mixture and make links by twisting the sausage where you wish the links to be.
• Four inches is a good size for a regular serving, smaller links may be made for appetizer servings.
• Place the sausage in large saucepan or dutch oven in a single layer; cover and heat over high heat to a low simmer.
• Reduce heat to maintain low simmer (sausages may burst if cooked at too high a heat) until the sausage is heated through, approximately 15 minutes.
• Drain and let rest for about 15 minutes before slicing; serve while warm.

CAJUN BOUDIN

Steps:

• Combine the pork shoulder, liver, and 4 cups of water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the pork cubes are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Bring the rice and 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside.
• Once the pork is tender, remove from the saucepan with a slotted spoon and allow to cool a bit. While the pork is cooling, stir the green onion, chopped onion, celery, bell pepper, parsley, cilantro, and garlic into the simmering pork broth. Season with salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the onion is tender. Meanwhile, grind the meat using the coarse plate of a meat grinder. Stir the ground meat into the vegetable mixture, and cook, stirring frequently until the water has nearly evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked rice, and set aside to cool.
• While the meat mixture is cooling, rinse the sausage casings inside and out with plenty of warm water. Keep the casings in a bowl of warm water until ready to stuff. Once the sausage mixture is cool enough to handle, stuff into the prepared casings using a sausage stuffer. Prick the sausage with a needle every 4 to 6 inches.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to keep the water at a very gentle simmer. Add the sausage and cook gently until the sausage is hot on the inside, firm to the touch, and has plumped, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

RED BOUDIN - BOUDAIN ROUGE - CAJUN BLOOD SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Combine 2 quarts of the pork stock with the pork steak, onions, 2 1/2 teaspoons red pepper, minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon of the salt in a Dutch oven or large saucepan.
• Bring to a boil over high heat; continue boiling for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally (turn the meat periodically if not totally submerged in the liquid) and adding more stock or water near the end if needed to keep the meat covered with liquid.
• While the meat is cooking, assemble meat grinder and prepare the casings: Choose long pieces of the casings so that you have more control over the size of the links that you wish to make.
• Soak the casings in cool water about 5 minutes (more soaking will make the casings very tender and prone to bursting) about an hour in advance of stuffing to remove the salt on the outer surface.
• Rinse under cool running water.
• To remove excess salt from the inside, hold one end of a casing in place on a faucet nozzle and turn on cold tap water to fill the casing with liquid.
• If you spot any holes in the casing at this time, discard or cut the damaged bit off.
• Remove from faucet and squeeze out water; cover the rinsed and drained casings and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Transfer cooked meat to a bowl to cool, leaving the pot with the boiling stock over high heat.
• Add the liver to the pot and cook about 3 minutes, turning meat once if it's not completely submerged in the stock.
• Remove pot from the heat, remove the liver and set aside.
• Strain the stock, reserving it and the strained onions and garlic separately.
• Cut the pork meat and liver into about 2" cubes, discarding the bones.
• Grind the meat and fat in a meat grinder, using coarse grinding disc (about 3/8" holes).
• In a large bowl or pan, combine the ground meat, rice, reserved onions and garlic, green onions, parsley, garlic powder, 1 cup of the reserved stock and the remaining 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt; mix thoroughly (mixture should be moist and taste peppery. If red pepper taste is not clearly present, add a little more. If not moist, a little more stock or water may be added, but take caution that the mixture isn't runny).
• Stir in pork blood, mixing well.
• While the mixture is still hot, fill the casings and make links by twisting the sausage two or three turns at the points where you wish them to be (a 4-inch link is a good snack or lunch size, but smaller ones make good hors d'oeuvres).
• Carefully place the sausages in a large saucepan or Dutch over.
• Cover with reserved 2 cups stock, adding water if necessary to cover.
• Heat over high heat until water reaches 180F (just below a simmer, keeping at that temperature to prevent the sausages from bursting) and continue cooking until the sausage is heated through and the flavors blend, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Drain and let rest about 15 minutes before slicing; serve immediately.
• If you don't plan to serve the boudin right away, immediately pack it in Ziploc bags and give it a rapid cooling in an ice water bath for about 90 minutes or until a thermometer reads 40F or less.
• Poaching the boudin before the rapid cooling will give it a longer life.
• To reheat, poach in 175F to 180F water as directed above.