Smoked, Shrimp Boudin

Fresh boudin (pronounced "boodan") is so good and packaged boudin is just passable. Most boudin is made with pork and pork liver, but this is different. It's a seafood boudin made with shrimp and if you want to add even more flavor, you can smoke it. It's perfectly fine either natural or smoked. Lastly, you can make this with long grain rice or parboiled (converted) rice. Parboiled rice can handle the pressure of the sausage stuffer as individual grains of rice a bit better while the long grain rice does not. Ultimately the taste is the same but the presentation is a little different. I prefer parboiled

5 lbs	peeled and headed shrimp (if you can get them, 90-100 count shrimp are good, if not larger shrimp work just as well but they cost more)
3	onions, chopped
4 cups	uncooked rice (long grain or parboiled)
½ gal	crab, shrimp, or chicken stock
1 stick	butter
2 tbl	salt, total
4 tsp	freshly ground black pepper, total
1 3 oz bag	crab boil seasoning
1 bunch	green onions, green and white parts, sliced into ⅛" pieces
1 bunch	parsley, chopped
32-35 mm	natural hog casings

Cook the onions in the butter in a Dutch oven over low heat, stirring occasionally, until they are caramelized, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the shrimp, 1 tablespoon of the salt, and 2 tsp of the black pepper. Cook until the shrimp are pink and completely cooked, about 3 to 5 more minutes. Turn off the heat and let the shrimp and onion mixture cool. When the shrimp and onion mixture has cooled, run the shrimp and onions through a meat grinder with the coarsest grind you have. Set this aside.

In a second pot, add the stock, bag of crab boil seasoning, 1 tbl salt, and 2 tsp pepper and bring to a boil. When the stock comes to a boil, drain and remove the bag of crab boil, add the rice, and stir well. Lower the temperature to a simmer, cover the pot and cook until the rice is done, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, mix the cooked rice together with the reserved shrimp mixture and the green onions and parsley. Stuff this into the casings using a sausage stuffer. Do not use the blade in meat-grinder when stuffing as it grinds the rice into mush.

Now you've got some decisions to make. Serve it now without smoking it, freeze it now, smoke it and serve it, or smoke it and freeze it. If you want to serve it now, add about ¼" of water to a frying pan and heat the boudin over medium heat until the water evaporates then turn the heat down to low. Brown the boudin on both sides and serve. You can also grill boudin over indirect heat on your grill.

If you decide to smoke the boudin, heat your smoker to 200° F. Smoke the sausages using a mild wood like pecan, apple, or other fruitwood for 2 hours. Smoked boudin can be served straight out of the smoker or frozen for later.

To save the boudin, place the links on wax paper on a tray without touching. Put the tray in the freezer until the links are frozen solid. Put the frozen links in a zip top or vacuum sealed bag and back in the freezer.

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