A poultry and pork boudin blanc, scented with porcini, for festive meals
Creamy white flesh, a mild flavor, then the woodsy aroma of porcini: this boudin blanc has everything it takes to make lovers of fine charcuterie drool. Made at home in one big batch, it keeps vacuum-sealed for meals to come.
What Is Boudin Blanc with Porcini?
Boudin blanc with porcini is a refined specialty that pairs the mildness of white meat with the delicate, woodsy aroma of porcini. This version combines chicken breast and pork shoulder, bound with cream, eggs and fresh breadcrumbs soaked in milk.
A Festive Charcuterie
Boudin blanc is part of traditional French charcuterie. It’s served mostly during the year-end holidays, or for any other special occasion.
The Main Ingredients in Boudin Blanc with Porcini
The quality of the ingredients is essential. Choose free-range chicken breasts, fresh pork shoulder and in-season porcini for the best flavor.
The filling is bound with the milk-soaked breadcrumbs, cream, eggs and a little cornstarch. Sautéed onions and shallots, salt, pepper and nutmeg season it, along with a splash of white port if you like. The whole mixture is stuffed into hog casings.
Technical Pointers
Soak the casings in cold water the day before to soften them and make them easier to handle, then rinse them thoroughly to remove any odor.
The grinding must be even to ensure a uniform texture: a first pass through the coarse plate, then a second through the finest plate for a delicate finish.
When stuffing, fill the casings without leaving any air bubbles: they should be well filled but still supple. Pinch and twist the boudin at regular intervals to form equal portions.
Cooking is done at a low temperature to keep the boudin tender. Keep the water between 70 and 75°C, never letting it boil: boiled boudin turns dry and grainy.
For storage, vacuum-seal the boudin: allow one week in the refrigerator with home vacuum sealing, and use the freezer beyond that. Vacuum sealing also preserves the freshness and flavor of the porcini.
A recipe contributed by Arnaud Bernard
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg chicken breast
- 1.5 kg pork shoulder
- 1 kg crustless bread
- 150 cl milk
- 150 cl cream
- 12 eggs
- 10 medium onions
- 6 shallots
- 250 g cornstarch
- 500 g porcini mushrooms fresh
Seasonings
- 76.5 g salt
- 9 g pepper
- 4.5 g nutmeg
- hog casings soak in cold water the day before
- 25 cl white port or something else, or nothing at all, to taste
Instructions
- Soak the bread in the milk.
- In a frying pan, sauté the porcini with a little shallot and let cool.
- Grind the onions and shallots using the coarse grinding plate, sauté them, then let cool.
- Grind the chicken and pork using the coarse plate.
- Drain the bread, reserving the milk, and grind it using the coarse plate.
- Grind the cooked porcini using the coarse plate and set aside.
- Mix the ground chicken, ground pork, ground bread, the ground and sautéed onions and shallots, and the seasonings, then run everything through the grinder again using the finest plate.
- Now you can add the coarsely ground porcini, eggs, milk, cream and cornstarch, and mix well.
Stuffing the Casings
- Use a sausage stuffer to fill the casing.
- Thread the entire hog casing onto the stuffer’s nozzle and tie a knot in the casing.
- Fill the casing well, but you should still be able to pinch the sausage without it bursting.
- Fill 15 cm of casing, pinch at 10 cm and twist the sausage 3 times, then repeat until you reach the end of the casing. Set the sausages aside in a tray lined with a cloth (this makes them easier to handle when lowering them into the pot and lifting them out).
Cooking
- Heat a large saucepan or stockpot of water with chicken bouillon cubes, or use homemade broth.
- Bring the water to 85°C and stir well before adding the sausages.
- Take the 4 corners of the cloth and lower the sausages into the broth.
- Cook for 30 minutes at 70 to 75°C.
- Lift the sausages out with the cloth, plunge them into cold water for about 10 minutes, then let them drain and cool for 24 hours.
