Boudin questions

I made some Boudin over the weekend and tried it for the first time tonight, and was under-whelmed. My recipe was a combo of Rhulman's Blanc recipe (quatre epices, but no rice?!), Saveur, and enthusiasm from the Jane and Michael Stern's Road=Food.

Onion, green bell pepper, chicken breasts, pork shoulder, ground together, mixed with cooked cheap rice (cooked short on water in the hopes they would absord juices while cooking in pork) and ground Q.E. (black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves). Poached twenty after stuffing in well rinsed natural casing, made about 16 links, then frozen for future use.

I was surprised at the dryness of the sausage when I cooked them this evening, and the surprising lack of flavor. I may have gone overboard on the nutmeg as well, as the flavoring was, just off I guess, not bad, but not something I would rant about as I've heard so many do.

So, does anyone have any suggestions? Addition's or subtractions? I think smoking them instead of boiling would be fantastic, but I wanted to start as traditional as I could, having never had boudin before. I'm also leaning towards a little salt, maybe some creole seasoning or...?

Any help or comments appreciated, thanks!

I've never had nor made boudin, so I can't speak to the specifics of it. But if the sausage came out dry, then you have to consider your original fat content and your cooking method.

Chicken breast will bring your fat content down some. I typically use straight butt to get a good amount of fat. How much chicken was added?

If I'm going to poach sausage, I'll typically leave it in the vac pack I froze it in and put it in water that is never boiling (occasionally I do the poach with my sous vide rig). You need to think of sausage like a pork chop and cook it just to temp.

I make a sausage with the french 4 spice that I blend myself. I'll check my ratio and get back to you.

Haven't made it before but not so sure I would of undercooked the rice. Also most of the recipes I've found seem to encourage cooking the rice in the leftover water/stock the meat was initially braised in prior to grinding. If I was doing a variation that included chicken my inclination would be for BS thighs over breast.

Boudin is not made with chicken - nor with vegetables, quatre-èpices, etc. If you want to make boudin make boudin.

The ingredients are all cooked before the sausage is stuffed. It can be heated by poaching. To grill, lay the sausage(s) in very hot water to cover for 20 min. Remove, dry, then grill. One could use the same preliminary process then smoke rather low for a little bit -= jkust enough to heat and take on smoke flavor.

Boudin is pork shoulder and pork liver for the meats. The meat is simmered till tender in water to cover flavored with the typical seasonings (onion, garlic, bay, thyme, salt and pepper), then the meat, onion and garlic are ground or chopped. The rice gets cooked in the reserved broth (just enough is reserved to take care of this).

The cooked rice is cooled and folded into the ground meat-aromatic mixture and minced scallion and parsley are added. Then the mix gets stuffed into casings.

Thank you for everyone's responses.

I agree with you both j and Marc, and had thought of those issues.

Kevin, thank you for the information. I think I started with the wrong idea of what Boudin is; Based on the recipes I found, from Charcuterie (pg 143), Saveur.com, and cooking.com, they all call for at least onions, most call for green pepper as well. 1/2 say to pre-cook the meat, 1/2 say poach to cook. Ruhlman calls for Quatre Epices, Saveur Tabasco & cayenne, etc. Without any experience other than A/V, I had no idea I wasn't making the traditional version. Lesson learned.

Thank you again for all the responses.

The mistake might well be mine.

I do not have my copy of Charcuterie here so did not look but the operative issue seems to be this: boudin (i.e., the Cajun boudin) and boudin blanc are not the same thing.

Boudin blanc is usually pork shoulder though veal or chicken can be subbed for some of the pork. Dairy in the form of milk and/or cream is a must. Egg white is often included. The spicing is delicate: thyme, bay, white pepper, maybe a little nutmeg. Onion yes; green bell pepper? Not in boudin blanc. There is no place for it there. And no rice. The finish is delicate as well. (If using quatre-èpices use a blend like this. Not one with black pepper. Ruhlman misses stuff like this all the time.)

Cajun boudin is as described above.

With boudin blanc, the aromatics and herbs/spices are cooked in the dairy. The raw ground meat is combined with the flavored dairy, egg whites, if using, and the casings are stuffed then poached to cook.

In Cajun boudin the filling (meat, rice, aromatics) is all cooked ahead, separately, then combined and used to stuff casings.

No, I think this one is square on my shoulders. Charcuterie calls it Boudin Blanc, I simply assumed the Cajuns just didn't bother with the Blanc.

Explains a lot, thank you so much for the education!

Kevin is correct. Cajun boudin is quite different from what the rest of the world calls boudin.

The Cajun boudin, like the Sterns talked about on one of their Splendid Table radio show appearances, looks like sausage, but it's really not the same. It's ground pork, liver too, rice, spices and seasonings like green onions, and it's loose inside the casing. There are crawfish, gator, and other versions, but pork is the original.



You heat it up in a simmering pan of water, or you can lightly heat it on the grill. Some folks eat the casing, but many squeeze the filling out and eat it with white bread or saltines. It's usually a breakfast or lunch thing, often eaten while sitting in the truck outside the meat market or gas station where you bought your hot boudin.

You can now find commercial versions all over Louisiana, even Texas and beyond, but the real thing is found primarily in Southwest Louisiana, Cajun country, around Lafayette. You will see it a little around Baton Rouge and New Orleans (not Cajun country), but SW La is its home.

Here is where to learn about it: http://www.boudinlink.com/

The Southern Foodways Alliance has a great boudin article: http://www.southernboudintrail.com/introduction.shtml

Here is where my favorite is from: http://boudinlink.com/Dons/Dons.html or http://donsspecialtymeats.com/

Chris, thank you so much for the links, that's fantastic. I think the jury is in, I made something that was neither Boudin or Boudin Blanc, and it gave them both a poor reputation. Luckily you all seem to have set the course straight!

I'll be trying a version of the real stuff soon, that picture and the ones at Don's have me drooling again.

Thank you all!

You can now find commercial versions all over Louisiana, even Texas and beyond, but the real thing is found primarily in Southwest Louisiana, Cajun country, around Lafayette. You will see it a little around Baton Rouge and New Orleans (not Cajun country), but SW La is its home.
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Have to agree with Kevins post and Chris' quote here. It's been a few years since I've made my own.

The point about Baton Rouge and New Orleans not being in cajun country but rather Creole is something I've tried telling folks since high school (1980). But what do I know, being a SE Texan. Drinking age was 18 in LA vs 19-21 in TX so you know we headed east on I-10 Friday nights.

Grilled, in casings with Saltines!

Best boudin.

Boudin King