Traditionally and, as it was difficult to keep, the French boudin (sausage) was enjoyed freshly made, or after a few days at most, during a meal with all those who had contributed to the transformation of the pig. If there are those who continue this tradition, there are also those who consume it and still appreciate it all year round.
The blood sausage (boudin noir French) is made from pig’s blood, fat, and cooked onions. It is a very old recipe. The techniques and ingredients used to date are different and change according to local uses and customs. Help yourself with a bagging machine to stuff your preparation.
How to prepare stuffed black pudding?
The boudin noir, stuffed into pig intestine gut, is presented both in necklaces and as a serving dish; the proportions between weight and size are equal.
We also mention the tongue sausage stuffed into a pig intestine, larger.
Before starting to work, two important rules must be strictly followed:
– strict hygiene,
– the exclusive use of fresh and quality of raw materials.
The recipes of black pudding vary according to the regions, but also according to who prepares it, both professionals and amateur producers. All are fine; we just think that the black pudding is basically prepared with:
– back fat
– rinds
– throat
– or with a pig’s head
All the above ingredients must be immersed in boiling broth for at least 30 minutes.
For a good broth, you need thyme, bay leaves, carrots, onions with cloves, garlic, peppercorns, and juniper berries.
The onions can be cooked in two ways: both in the broth and chopped and fried.
Method
Ingredients:
3 liters of filtered blood (fresh blood is constantly whipped to separate the fibers from the blood and then filtered and stored in a cool place, between 2 and 4 ° C, possibly salted to keep it for up to 24 hours)
– 1 kg of head and pork throat cooked in broth
– 1 kg of cooked onions
NB
The blood must absolutely be fresh during the day for the recipe to be successful.
The dough
Seasoning per kg (as an indication, it depends on your taste).
Do not hesitate to taste before stuffing. Take a spoonful and cook it in a pan, taste, and correct if necessary.
– 3 g of ground pepper
– 2 g of spices for black pudding
– 20 g of salt
the choice of the caliber of the casings affects the creaminess of the boudin. With a 30/32 caliber pig intestine, consider about 5 m and for the 28/30 about 5.50. That is, 1-1.10 m per kg of dough with the 30/32 gut and 1.40-1.50 m per kg for the 28/30 one (all this can be modified according to the pressure transmitted by bagging).
Preparation of the casings
Carefully rinse the pork casings making sure there are no holes or tears. You can find out how to do this by reading our sheet on how to prepare casings.
Immerse them in freshwater making sure they are well immersed.
Peel and finely chop the onions then brown them in a little lard, cover, lower the heat and let them simmer.
In the meantime, remove all the meat from the cooked head, taking care to remove the bones and cartilage. Cut it into 1-1.5 cm cubes and do the same with the throat.
Filter the blood with a Chinese strainer and make sure it has been salted.
When the onions are ready, with the heat off, add the meat and the blood quickly so that it does not cook in contact with the hot onions. Stir often to avoid blood clotting and until you get a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
The stuffing:
The vertical stuffer is ideal for this operation. Slip one end of the casing onto the stuffer funnel and tie a double knot at the other end. Fill the bagging machine being careful to take both flesh and blood so as not to end up with only flesh or blood. Stuff slowly by distributing the mixture in the casing; it must be compact but not too much to prevent it from bursting. Make necklaces of about 2 m or 150 g portions (pinch the gut to the desired length, turn it to create a portion, and alternate the sense of each section).
Cooking the black pudding:
Immerse it in boiling water, mix it gently so that the cooking is homogeneous, and avoiding the appearance of stains. Cover, lower or turn off the heat and maintain a temperature of 80/85 ° C for 40 minutes for good conservation.
Be careful
because after 20 minutes the boudin will be cooked, but to ensure better taste and conservation it is better to cook it more.
At the end of the time, check the cooking by slightly piercing the black pudding with a needle or a sausage pincer: no trace of blood should appear but only a little cooking liquid.
Once cooked, pass it carefully in cold water then drain and let it dry on a clean towel or grill.
Before storing it, check that there is no humidity: the formation of a layer of gelatin on the boudins would alter its conservation. The black pudding should be eaten quickly, it can be kept in the lower part of the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Vacuum packed freezes perfectly.
