The One Year Later Post: Super Bowl Sunday and Chorizo Boudin Balls

In anticipation of this year's Super Bowl, I asked Maconda about the wonderful Boudin Balls we made for last year's big game. Being from Louisiana, I absolutely love boudin in all its many delicious, fatty forms. I also thoroughly enjoy that on the drive back home from Houston I can pass through entire towns that only have billboards for their "world famous boudin".

One year later, I was thrilled to finally have the recipe in my hands. After reading the extremely long list of ingredients and steps, however, I quickly decided "screw that" and moved on to my baking adventures since I already had two things planned (see my White Mocha Caramel Frappuccino Cupcakes and Double Cheddar Beer Bread).

Even if I didn't have the energy to make them this year, they still deserve to have their story told! Now marvel at me trying to remember the details of the highlight of an event centered around overeating and drinking from over a year ago! At least we could all agree on one important detail- Maconda did most of the work.

Can the collective old minds of Maconda, Kevin and myself do justice to these fried balls of pure artery clogging goodness or will I give up as just typing the instructions makes me tired?

Chorizo Boudin Balls
From The New York Times
Servings: A whole lot of balls (or around 48)
Time: 2 hours (inactive for 1 of those)

It's the liveryest!

1 lb ground pork (or 2 lbs for less work)
3 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp red chile flakes
2 tsp chile powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp sherry vinegar
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 lb roasted pork shoulder, cut into 1" cubes (or none)

2 cups chicken stock (or 1 cup for less work)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
3 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1/2 lb chicken livers, cut into 1/2" chunks
6 cups just-cooked white rice (still warm)
1 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup egg wash (1 egg beaten in 1 cup milk)
4 cups panko crumbs
Vegetable oil, for frying

Or you could just stop here and have what probably amounts to really tasty dirty rice

Pre-fried

1. Combine the ground pork, salt, pepper, cayenne, chile flakes, chile powder, paprika, vinegar and oregano in a large bowl. Mix well. Then cover with saran wrap and let sit at room temp for an hour. If you want less work, up the ground pork to 2 lbs and ignore the next step.
2. Instead of relaxing during that hour, poach the pork shoulder in 2 cups chicken stock for about 10 minutes until just done. Reserve one cup of the poaching liquid for later. If you decided you wanted to take the easy way out and used 2 lbs of ground pork, ignore this. Neither Maconda, Kevin nor I could remember how we actually handled this, so let's all assume it was super important.
3. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet and brown the seasoned ground pork mix for 5-7 minutes. 
4. Add the onion, celery, garlic and jalapenos and cook until they are tender (8-10 minutes).
5. Add chicken livers and roasted pork pieces and cook until the livers are colored on the outside but remain pink inside (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool.
6. Chop into small, even pea-sized pieces on a clean work surface.
7. Combine with the warm rice, parsley, cilantro and the reserved poaching liquid (or 1 cup chicken stock for the easier route) in a large mixing bowl.
8. Stir well (about 5 minutes) until the rice absorbs all the liquid and becomes sticky.
9. Realize you've made a terrible mistake and this is entirely too much work but that it's too late to stop now.
10. Set up 3 bowls, one each for the flour, egg wash and panko.
11. Shape the boudin mixture into golf balls. 
12. Roll the balls in flour followed by the egg wash and then the panko. Place on parchment paper until ready to fry.
13. Fill a large (big enough to save you from splashing super hot oil) pot with 3 inches of vegetable oil over high heat. Let the temp get to 375 F then add the boudin balls. Let cook for about 2 minutes or until they turn a nice golden brown.
14. Remove the balls with a slotted spoon and rest them on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. The balls can be kept warm in the oven at 200 F until all batches are done or you can (and should) just start eating them as soon as they're safe to touch.
15. Reward yourself for all that hard work by consuming roughly your body weight.

    

    Just when you thought it couldn't get any healthier

    And now for the part where I try to remember how these tasted aside from the fact that they were frigging delicious! Fried food is always the perfect compliment to a night of drinking, and these boudin balls were no exception. They were amazingly seasoned and wonderfully crunchy, but the real highlight was that inner rice filling. It really was like one amazing dirty rice stuffed fritter. The hours of hard work and million or so steps of cooking paid off with each and every bite. Why do I find myself still drooling over these a year later? Because they were without a doubt the best thing I had that Super Bowl night. Now, if I can just find the energy and determination to make these again...
    
    
    

    

    All that effort is worth it though, the second you bite into one.