This recipe is a slight departure from my
original boudain recipe. I omitted the pork kidneys, pork heart and pork liver (because I couldn't purchase those particular items locally). So, without greatly compromising the original, I used the following ingredients:
- 4 lbs. pork steak, with fat
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 3 medium onions, chopped
- 4 cups cooked long grain rice
- 2 bunches green onions, chopped
- 1 cup parsley, chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
- Salt and black pepper to taste
In a 5 quart pot add enough water to cover the first 3 ingredients and boil until tender. With a spoon skim and discard the foam which will surface. Drain the liquid and grind everything together, but reserve a couple cups or so of the broth to moisten the boudain dressing later. I use a small meat hand grinder with a 3/8th inch plate.
Next, add the cooked long grain rice, salt, pepper, green onions and parsley and just enough broth to make a moist dressing. Mix together thoroughly in a large bowl and refrigerate over night. Remove from the refrigerator and roll the boudain into ping pong size balls. You can freeze them until you are ready to serve.
The reason I don't make my boudain balls larger than ping pong size is because anything larger has a tendency to stay frozen in the center during frying. Fry the boudain balls at 375 degrees until a golden-brown color is reached (around 5 or 6 minutes).
It is a good idea to thaw the balls out about half-way before frying so they don't lose their solid texture. This makes the process of coating them in the batter and dredging them in flour much easier. I prefer to double batter them by dipping and dredging twice to get a good coating before frying.
There are a variety of batters which you can use. Mine is very simple: beat together 1 egg and about a 1/4 cup of milk. I usually add a little more seasoning to the all-purpose flour, also, to suit my particular taste - like sea salt, dried basil and thyme.
Of course you can always take your boudain balls straight out of the freezer and steam them or cook them up in the microwave. It doesn't take long.
This simple recipe does not call for sausage stuffers or animal casings.
Give it try sometime and let me know how it comes out. If you have any questions post them in the comment section below and I will be happy to answer them.
Note: In the past I've tried substituting pork liver with beef liver, but it seems to conflict ... so, you are probably better off eliminating the liver ingredient altogether. You should still come out with a good tasting boudain.
Enjoy!
1 two to three pound fryer, cut into pieces
