Don’t feel you have to make your own boudin blanc. You can buy it, and if you struggle to find it, just use good quality regular sausages!
Learning to make sausages is an important part of the training for our professional Diploma students at Tante Marie, and we teach a number of versions. Boudin noir is better known as black pudding. Boudin blanc would traditionally be very similar but made without the blood. This version is a little more ‘friendly’ since it does not include the traditional heart and livers.
For the boudin blanc:
1 shallot, finely chopped
40g butter
4 slices white bread, crusts removed and chopped into cubes
125ml milk
400g chicken breast
200g pork backfat
500ml double cream
3 eggs
50ml sherry
20g cornflour
50g brioche crumbs
1 pack of sausage casings (soaked)
Pomme mousseline:
300g dry mash (Maris Piper)
400ml double cream
100g butter
Salt and pepper
Beetroot Port Jus:
1.2ltrs veal/beef stock
200g banana shallot, thinly sliced
200g white mushroom, thinly sliced
500ml red wine
300ml ruby port
1 red beetroot
For the Boudin Blanc:
Sweat the shallot in the butter until soft, do not allow to colour. Once soft add the milk and the bread, , and leave to soak for 15 minutes
Blend the chicken, back fat and 1 egg white together, push this mixture through a fine sieve to remove all the sinew and tendons
Return the smooth mixture into a blender and add the soaked bread mix, blend in the remaining eggs and with the machine running pour in the cream in a steady stream and mix until it thickens slightly
Place the mixture into a bowl and stir in the sherry and cornflour and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg
Pack into a sausage stuffer or piping bag with a long ridged nozzle and put the sausage casings over the nozzle
Carefully pipe the mixture into the sausage casings, making sure there are no air-pockets. Be careful not to overfill the casing or they may burst during cooking
Twist the sausage skins into 8cm sausage links. Once all the sausages have been shaped, tie the casing with a knot at both ends
Poach the sausages in a pan of hot water (80°C Max) for 15/20mins until firm to the touch. (A mirepoix and bouquet garni can be added the pan for extra flavour) Do not boil or the sausages will burst
Once poached, carefully removed the sausages from the pan and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking
When cool remove from the ice water and leave to firm up in a fridge for 6 hours or overnight
Cut the boudins into their separate sausages and remove the skin from the boudin. Roll the peeled boudin in the dried brioche crumbs to completely cover it
Using a small none stick frying pan heat the butter and oil until foaming, add the boudin, reduce the heat and carefully cook until golden brown all over. Once you have a good colour place the pan in an oven, at 180°C for 5-6mins, to heat through
For the pomme mousseline
For the dry mash: bake the potatoes and scoop out the cooked flesh and measure 300g
Pass the potato through a fine mouli, cover and keep to one side
Bring the cream to the boil and reduce by ½
Transfer the mash into a pan and stir in the cream a little at a time, heating through gently. Beat the butter into the mixture gradually until you obtain a soft smooth consistency
Keep the mousseline warm until required. Do not allow boil or you will split the butter from the mash
For the sauce
Neatly dice the beetroot into 1cm cubes and simmer gently in the veal stock until tender
Strain the beetroot cubes from the stock and reserve both for the sauce
Sweat the onion and mushroom in a little oil and cook until the shallots are golden brown. Deglaze the pan with red wine and reduce by half
Add the port and reduce by half, finally add the reserved stock. Bring to the boil and reduce to an almost syrupy consistency. Pass the sauce through a fine chinois into a clean saucepan and stir in the cooked beetroot, season to taste
To serve:
Remove the boudin blanc from the oven and leave to rest for a minute on some kitchen paper
Warm through the pomme mouseline and spoon into the centre of a bowl, use your spoon to make a little trench in the centre for the boudin to sit in
Place the boudin on the mousseline and spoon over a little of the jus