Last weekend, while walking up rue Lepic, Maxence was lured into one of the neighborhood charcuteries (a shop halfway between a butcher and a deli). The boudin antillais caught his eye, so he bought four small links. Boudin antillais, a Caribbean twist on boudin noir, is a specialty from the French Antilles. These blood sausages combine bread, peppers, milk, onions, rum, spices and pork blood for a richly spiced, slightly sweet flavor.
It took me some time to try blood sausage. My first taste came only two years ago, in the form of crunchy ravioli filled with blood sausage, pine nuts and apple — a signature starter at Les Dolomites in the 17th arrondissement. If you can move past the primary ingredient, the reward is a singular, memorable flavor.
So on Sunday, the boudins went on the menu for lunch. Maxence insisted we serve them with purée (mashed potatoes). Surprisingly, I had never made real, from-scratch mashed potatoes before — only the instant flakes. Having just reread Jeffrey Steingarten’s essay on mashed potatoes in The Man Who Ate Everything, I felt prepared, but his method felt more fussy than necessary. I decided to follow a simpler approach and relied on intuition. The method we used is described below.
About five minutes before the potatoes finished cooking, Maxence heated a skillet and sautéed the boudins over low heat. The trick is to avoid high heat, which can burst the casing; instead, warm them gently until a thin crust forms.
The boudins were superb: crisp on the outside, moist within, their interior a smooth, paste-like texture, sweet and warmly spiced with cumin, ginger and other subtle notes we couldn’t quite name. The fluffy purée provided a mellow, comforting backdrop that let each subsequent bite of boudin readjust the palate and reveal new layers of flavor. We finished stuffed and satisfied, ready for a well-earned cup of coffee.
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves 4.
Ingredients
- 800 grams (1 3/4 pounds) starchy potatoes (such as Russet or Bintje)
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) hot milk
- 55 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes.
- Cut them into 1.5 cm (1/2-inch) slices, place in a colander, and rinse under cold water to remove excess surface starch.
- Put the slices in a medium saucepan, cover with cold water and add the coarse salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook uncovered, simmering gently, for about 20 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife.
- When cooked through, reserve about 240 ml (1 cup) of the cooking liquid in a bowl. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan.
- Add the hot milk, butter, garlic, salt and pepper, and mash with a fork or potato masher.
- Stir in enough of the reserved cooking liquid to reach a creamy consistency. Taste, adjust seasoning, and serve immediately.
Notes
Mashed potatoes can be prepared a few hours ahead or the day before. Reserve extra cooking liquid and reheat gently, adding the reserved liquid to loosen the purée as needed.
https://cnz.to/recipes/vegetables-grains/perfect-mashed-potatoes-recipe/