Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Fennel Boudin with Grape Extract

Tuesday night is dull. There is nothing I want to watch on TV until Fraiser re-runs start at 8. It's a good night to cook, but nothing that requires too much effort or clean up. I found a recipe on Serious Eats that only called for 5 ingredients that I had most of, but like with most recipes I had to embellish on it a little bit. 

Part One: The Ingredients
-Olive Oil (Not extra-virgin)
-Link Dinner Sausage (Preferably fennel, but I had to use a sun dried tomato. Avoid anything spicy) 
-Grapes
-Pine Nuts (Toasted)
-Fresh Fennel. (Slice the bulb and then mince some of the leaves for garnish)
Five Simple Ingredients


Part Two: The Process

-Heat the sausage with the oil until they're a nice golden brown.
Browning Nicely with the Fennel

-Take one cup of the grapes and process them in either a blender or a food processor. 
-Once the sausages are browned strain the pureed grapes and use the juice to de-glaze; throw away the pulp. Then add another cup of whole grapes and the sliced fennel bulb to the pan.
I Used a Cheese Cloth, but a Mesh Strainer Would Work

-Continue to cook until the sausages are cooked through, remove sausage and allow the sauce to reduce and the grapes to collapse.
Let Them Cook and Fuse Flavors Together

-Garnish them with toasted pine nuts and minced fennel leaves. I served it on top of some left over polenta, but it could be served over rice or perhaps even egg noodles. You just want something there to catch the sauce. 

Part Three: The Service

The meal was light and flavorful. The grape had a great sweetness that was met and balanced the subtle anise flavor of the fennel bulb. The sausage would have been better with a deeper richer flavor meat like lamb or beef, but the light sharp flavor of the sun dried tomato in the sausage. The polenta served as the perfect medium to enjoy the sauce, but would have been better if it had been made fresh. 

Enjoy

2 comments:

  1. Looks delicious. I don't know that I've ever cooked grapes like that-will have to try.

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  2. I don't think I had either. They sweetness really intensifies when cooked. I am going to try it again.

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