Head cheese

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Constance

Master Chef
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Has anyone here ever made head cheese from a hog's head? In writing my book, Grandpa in his brother are slaughtering hogs. I would be grateful for any information you might have on this subject. I would also welcome any input on blood sausage. :sick:

Thank you in advance. :)
 
Take a look at book called 'The Foxfire book' edited by Eliot Wigginton, it's the first in a series of many book detailing the way things used to be in the Applachian mountains. There's a great story about a little old lady named Aunt Arie, she's trying to prep a hogs head for "souse meat" and can't get the eyeballs out. It doesn't sound funny here but it's an example of the kind of things in these books. There's chapters on slaughtering hogs, curing & smoking hogs & recipes for hogs.
 
Miss Connie....I've never made Souse, but I saw a recipe or two in an old book I was looking through yesterday! I'll PM it to you in the very near future. It will offer some insight into what they would have been doing!
 
I love blood sausage. It's delicious and the name is a bit misleading.

The blood sausage I know is made of ground pork and spices (sage especially), rice, etc. There's probably only a small amount of "blood" per ton of sausage. It's all packed in a natural casing and sold in rings.

I put a ring on a baking sheet and bake it at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Turn after 30 minutes. The casing gets nice and crispy and the sausage inside is piping hot and delicious.

Blood sausage was always a special treat served at Christmas and Easter. It's been a tradition in my family.

I get my blood sausage at Paul's Italian Market in Eveleth, Minnesota. See this link for information.

Don't be turned off by the name, it's delicious.
 
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I have made a ton of head cheese and souse and it is realy quite simple boil the head till the meat comes off the bone and remove meat from stock let cool over night in the frig. and the next day taste the stock and add salt and pepper to taste and bring to a simmer add meat( chopped up ) and put in loaf pans and refrig. over night for souse add vinegar to taste, and some times a little minced dill pickle. I doubt if you will have to add any unflavored gelatin as the head useually has enough by its self. As for blood sausage your on your own.
 
I was very suprised to see this. We use to be able to get something called "Red Boudin" here in Louisiana which was regular boudin made with pig blood. It is now known as "Illegal Boudin" because you can only get it directly from people who still make it below the federal radar. I am confused here. UNCLE BOB!!!! HELP ME OUT!!!! Can you still get real blood sausage from the grocery store?

Jim

I love blood sausage. It's delicious and the name is a bit misleading.

I get my blood sausage at Paul's Italian Market in Eveleth, Minnesota. See the bottom of this link for information.
 
I was very suprised to see this. We use to be able to get something called "Red Boudin" here in Louisiana which was regular boudin made with pig blood. It is now known as "Illegal Boudin" because you can only get it directly from people who still make it below the federal radar. I am confused here. UNCLE BOB!!!! HELP ME OUT!!!! Can you still get real blood sausage from the grocery store?

Jim

Yes, Jim. At least the blood sausage I have been eating all my life. My brothers and I get it from the market in the link I posted. I also order it from another Minnesota (Chisholm) market that I can't remember right now. I have the information in my Rolodex, though. I'll look it up if you are interested.
 
I
Cajun Cook said:
was very suprised to see this. We use to be able to get something called "Red Boudin" here in Louisiana which was regular boudin made with pig blood. It is now known as "Illegal Boudin" because you can only get it directly from people who still make it below the federal radar. I am confused here. UNCLE BOB!!!! HELP ME OUT!!!! Can you still get real blood sausage from the grocery store?

Jim....

You are correct that Boudin Rouge (Red boudin) is illegal to make unless you are a Federal/State inspected processing plant that slaughters it own hogs.
The Boudin Rouge can only be retailed from that location. The maker cannot wholesale the product nor can he sell the raw product (blood) to other manufacturers. Babineaux's in Breaux Bridge is the only Legal manufacturer of fresh Boudin Rouge in Louisiana that I know of. There may be a place in Abbeville (Hebert's?) I'm not sure. As you know, 99.9% of the boudin sold in Louisiana is Boudin Blanc (White Boudin) If you see Red Boudin in a small town/road side market it is indeed illegal product in Louisiana.

There are countless other "Boudins" (Blood sausages) on the world market. What their exact ingredients are (Beef blood?) or the FDA regulations on the manufacturer, sales, distribution, import, export etc. are, I don't have a clue.
I do not believe them to be the exact same product as what you and I know as "Red Boudin"
 
T-roy, my husband has the Foxfire books one through four, but he'd forgotten about them until I mentioned it. Thanks for the idea!

Bob, I would appreciate that.

Katie, I think, being German, Grandma probably made her blood sausage with oats and barley, rather than rice, which wasn't grown in Iowa. I'm interested to hear that you like it, though. It goes to show that some things taste a lot better than they sound.

Dave, it does sound pretty straight forward, except I didn't think about the eyeballs. Do you remove them? I have actually tasted homemade head cheese, years ago. Best I remember, it tasted pretty good, but was awfully rich.
 
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I remember seeing a play based on the Foxfire books, where the grandmother (Jessica Tandy, I think) was trying to get the eye out of the hog, and sprayed blood or whatever all over her country western singer nephew, who, I think, was trying to get her to sell her land. Very funny.

I have had bludkorv (Norwegian) from the relatives' farm as a kid (aweful - but, I was a kid!) More recently, had boudin noir in France, and morcilla in Spain. Not too bad!

My grandmother used to make a product called sylte, with veal shoulder and beef, spices, and, I think a veal knuckle for gelatin. Simmer for hours, take the meat off the bone, chop, and put in loaf pans with the juices. After chilling, it was sliced, and served with vinegar as a condiment. I loved it.
 
That would be great! Thank you Katie.

Boo, hiss! I just spoke with someone at Gornick's Jubilee Market in Chisholm, MN. As of a month ago they quit shipping their products. Rats.

However, I also spoke with the folks at Paul's Italian Market. They do ship, depending on the destination. Temp challenges, you know. Blood sausage is $2.29 per pound, which is a very good price. Last year Gornick's was selling it at $2.49 per pound.

The product is shipped frozen, which gives me a good chance of receiving it very, very cold or still partially frozen. I'm gonna order tons. Yeah!
 
I love blood sausage. It's delicious and the name is a bit misleading.

The blood sausage I know is made of ground pork and spices (sage especially), rice, etc. There's probably only a small amount of "blood" per ton of sausage. It's all packed in a natural casing and sold in rings.

This recipe sounds like it contains a fair amount of blood: Blood sausage or black pudding recipe Sorry, it just doesn't sound appealing to me.
 
This recipe sounds like it contains a fair amount of blood: Blood sausage or black pudding recipe Sorry, it just doesn't sound appealing to me.

The blood sausage I'm familiar with is nothing like blood pudding. It's made with ground pork, cooked rice, salt, pepper, sage, and blood. At the most there's probably only a small amount of blood per ton of other ingredients.
 
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I remember seeing a play based on the Foxfire books, where the grandmother (Jessica Tandy, I think) was trying to get the eye out of the hog, and sprayed blood or whatever all over her country western singer nephew, who, I think, was trying to get her to sell her land. Very funny.

In the book little old Aunt Arie is having no luck with the eyeballs so she hands the head to her interviewer so he can give it a try. The interview continues with occasional references to the eyeball removal process, when it finally pops out Aunt Arie tosses it out the back door onto a tin roof where it rolls of & ends up hanging off the clothesline.
 
:LOL: @ mellon baller. I have that one. I don't have all the Foxfire series yet but have been collecting them over that past year when I see them for a good price. A wonderful window to Appalachian life as well as good practical information for anyone that chooses to live that way.

Jim
 
**** It Bob! I knew I could count on you! Good information as always. Thank you friend.

Jim


I

Jim....

You are correct that Boudin Rouge (Red boudin) is illegal to make unless you are a Federal/State inspected processing plant that slaughters it own hogs.
The Boudin Rouge can only be retailed from that location. The maker cannot wholesale the product nor can he sell the raw product (blood) to other manufacturers. Babineaux's in Breaux Bridge is the only Legal manufacturer of fresh Boudin Rouge in Louisiana that I know of. There may be a place in Abbeville (Hebert's?) I'm not sure. As you know, 99.9% of the boudin sold in Louisiana is Boudin Blanc (White Boudin) If you see Red Boudin in a small town/road side market it is indeed illegal product in Louisiana.

There are countless other "Boudins" (Blood sausages) on the world market. What their exact ingredients are (Beef blood?) or the FDA regulations on the manufacturer, sales, distribution, import, export etc. are, I don't have a clue.
I do not believe them to be the exact same product as what you and I know as "Red Boudin"
 

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