Boudins Noirs à l’Anglaise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1-quart (1-litre) saucepan for the rice
• •Wide 5-quart (4.7-litre) pot for poaching
• •Sausage stuffer, wide funnel, or heavy piping bag
• •Fine sterilized needle
• •Digital instant-read thermometer
• •Cast-iron grill pan
• •Food mill or sturdy potato masher

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the rice firm

   Put the rice and consommé in a small saucepan and bring them to a gentle simmer. Cover, lower the heat, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until the grains are tender outside but retain a small firm core. Drain any consommé that remains, then spread the rice over a cold tray and chill it completely. The grains must stay distinct inside the boudin. If they have gone softer than intended, ça se rattrape: spread them very thin, chill them uncovered until dry, and use three-quarters of the cooked amount so excess starch does not smother the farce.

2. 2

   Soften the onions

   Warm 2 tablespoons of the rendered pork fat in a wide pan over low heat. Add the onion and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until completely tender and translucent without browning. Colour would make the onion sweet and assertive; here it must melt quietly into the blood and fat. Spread the onion on a tray and chill it completely.

3. 3

   Mix the farce

   Set a large bowl over ice. Combine the cold onion, diced back fat, rice, black pepper, quatre-épices, and half the salt. Pour in the strained blood gradually, folding with a sturdy spoon until everything is evenly suspended without crushing the rice. Keep the mixture cold and loose. Fry a tablespoonful in a small pan until fully cooked, then taste it before adding the remaining salt; blood sold for cooking is sometimes already salted, and raw farce must never be tasted.

4. 4

   Fill the casings

   Slide the rinsed casing onto a sausage funnel or a wide piping nozzle and tie the far end securely. Fill it only three-quarters full, guiding the fluid farce gently so the fat and rice remain evenly distributed. Tie the casing with kitchen string into eight links about 5 inches (13 cm) long, leaving a little softness in each for expansion. Prick only visible air pockets with a fine sterilized needle. A tightly packed boudin is already planning its escape from the casing.

5. 5

   Poach without boiling

   Heat a wide pot of water to 176 to 180°F (80 to 82°C). Lower in the boudins and hold the water between 172 and 180°F (78 and 82°C) for 25 to 30 minutes, adjusting the burner before so much as a simmering bubble appears. The links are cooked when the centre reaches 160°F (71°C); insert the thermometer lengthwise through a tied end to limit leaking. If a casing splits, lower the heat at once, lift the filling into a buttered ramekin, cover it, and finish it in the hot-water bath to the same internal temperature. You will have sliceable boudin instead of a link. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Cool the boudins

   Transfer the cooked boudins to ice water for 10 minutes, then dry them carefully and set them uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Cooling is part of the method, not a pause for convenience: it sets the blood and fat so the links can be cut and grilled without collapsing.

7. 7

   Make apple purée

   Put the apples, water, and salt in a covered saucepan over low heat. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the fruit collapses under the spoon. Pass it through a food mill or mash it thoroughly, then return the purée to low heat and stir until it holds a soft mound. Beat in the butter a piece at a time. If the purée is loose, cook it uncovered for another minute; if it is too stiff, loosen it with a spoonful of water. Keep it warm.

8. 8

   Ciseler and grill

   Ciseler the chilled boudins, meaning make close, shallow diagonal cuts through the casing only, about 1/2 inch (1 cm) apart. Heat a cast-iron grill pan over moderate heat and grease it lightly with the remaining rendered pork fat. Grill the links for 8 to 10 minutes, turning carefully with a broad spatula, until their skins are mahogany-dark, lightly crisp, and the centres reach 165°F (74°C). If a cut opens, turn that side upward and finish the link over gentler heat rather than squeezing it with tongs.

9. 9

   Serve very hot

   Spoon a generous bank of warm apple purée onto each plate and set two grilled boudins beside it. Serve at once, while the ciselés are crisp at their edges and the filling is soft within. Each forkful wants sausage and fruit together. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy pig's blood only from a butcher or supplier selling it specifically for cooking, and ask whether salt or anticoagulant has been added. Keep it very cold, use it promptly, and settle the final seasoning only after frying a test spoonful.
• •A clear canned or jarred beef consommé is the honest home equivalent to the stockpot the original kitchen kept ready. Ordinary broth is weaker; if that is all you have, reduce it by one-third and cool it before measuring.
• •Ask the butcher to cut fresh back fat into 5 mm dice. Ground fat disappears into the farce, while the small cold dice give the boudin its characteristic richness without making the filling greasy.
• •Reinette, russet, Braeburn, or a mixture of one sharp apple and one sweeter apple makes a better purée than a single aggressively sour variety. Do not perfume it with cinnamon. Apple against blood and pork is already the complete argument.
• •Serve with a dry cider or a light, brisk red wine. Both have enough acidity for the sausage and enough fruit to meet the purée without bullying it.

Advance Preparation

• •Poach and cool the boudins up to 1 day ahead. Keep them covered and refrigerated, then ciseler and grill them only when the table is ready.
• •The apple purée can be made up to 2 days ahead. Chill it promptly and reheat it over low heat, adding a spoonful of water if it has tightened.
• •Cooked homemade boudins should be kept below 40°F (4°C) and eaten within 3 days. Freeze any extra links as soon as they are fully chilled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 420g)