Almost every Saturday, I am at the Franklin Farmer’s Market and I have my appointed rounds. But the first stop, where money is exchanged for goods, is at West Wind Farms. It is there that I approach slowly, looking at the sign of what’s available that day and hope against hope that there is boudin.
I am a West Wind Farms boudin (that’s pronounced “boo-dan”) junkie. Boudin is a pork, liver and rice sausage iconic in Louisiana. I have eaten it many times. But this boudin is different. It’s not as loose as regular boudin, the flavor is more subtle. If you do not like liver, just check out now. But if you do, I am going to tell you how to order this God-given sausage and the completely odd and totally satisfying way Mark and I fix it.
So I think we totally mystify Ralph Cole, the proprietor along with his wife, Kimberlie, of West Wind Farms. We buy all kinds of sausage from him every week – hot sage, Swiss and mushroom, chorizo – we love them all. He must think we exist on sausage. And I don’t think he understands our boudin obsession. When we were there Saturday, he had exactly one package for sale. Ours, OURS! We practically climbed over the counter to get it. When we told Ralph how we prepare it, he looked at us quizzically. I don’t think Ralph eats a lot of his own boudin. Hopefully, our procedure for preparing it will fix that.
Mark reserves his biggest smiles for boudin night
We bring it home, thaw it out and saute it in a skillet with a little oil. Then, and here’s the genius of this thing, we take it out of the casing and mix it with Durkee Famous Sauce. We’ve also done it with dijon mustard, but Durkee’s is the best. You can find it in the supermarket where they sell the mayonnaise. We slather it on toasted bread, in this case my homemade wheat, and just devour it.
You can order any of Ralph’s sausages on their website, including the boudin. Here’s the link. I am telling you this sausage will change your life.
