Boudin

. . . technically cajun boudin blanc, but I'm going to stick with just "boudin" is a pork, pork liver, and rice sausage beloved by my husband.  It can can be eaten as a sausage, a stuffing, a dressing, or as "boudin balls" which are coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried.

I wanted to make some home-made sausage as a renal diet alternative to the sodium laced offerings from the store, and boudin stood out because it is only ~1/2 meat by weight, so a 4 ounce sausage is only 14g protein.  Plus it is yummy, and the other flavors involved compensate for low sodium.

I drew from two recipes to make my own, one of which was Emeril Lagasse's here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/boudin-sausage-recipe0.html

The other was from The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine by John D Folse.


Equipment
You need a sausage grinder and stuffer for this recipe.  I used the Kitchenaid attachment, which I found to work well.  Whatever you use, you want to grind on a coarse grind.


Ingredients
This is for 10lbs boudin.  I originally made 20, but it was too much to work with.

2lbs pork liver
4lbs boneless pork shoulder
3lbs cooked white rice (6 cups)
1/2 lb green onion
1/2 lb fresh parsley
2tbspn black pepper
2tbspn cayenne pepper
2tbspn chipotle pepper
1.5tbspn salt  (you could reduce to 1tbspn if you want to bring the sodium down farther)

1 bunch celery
1 white onion

20 - 30 feet hog casings

Instructions:
The night before start soaking your casings to remove salt.
You'll want to rinse them off, then leave them to soak over night, and then change the water 2-3 more times with an hour of soaking in between before you stuff them.  You can use warm water to soak the casings.  The more you soak, the less residual salt there will be.

Cube the pork shoulder and the pork liver and place in a pot with the celery and onion (you can also add a bell pepper, but my husband doesn't particularly like those).  Simmer together for 1 and 1/2 hours.

After that time is up, remove all the solids into a large bowl, but reserve the liquid.  Let it cool to room temperature, or even cooler.  Most grinders work optimally with very cold ingredients, though I did not have a problem grinding these warm.  You can go through and pick out the onion and celery, but I did not bother too.

Coarsely chop up the green onion and parsley and mix it together with the meat.

Grind everything up together.

Add the spices (salt and peppers) and mix thoroughly.  Then add the rice and mix thoroughly.
Lastly add reserved cooking  liquid until the mixture moistens and sticks together, but is not soppy.  I would say ~2 cups added 1/2 cup at a time with stirring in between.

Now taste the mix and make sure you like the flavor profile.
If you want to use the mix for boudin balls or stuffing you are done.

A messy business

Stuffing Links:
If you want to make sausage you will need to stuff them using a sausage stuffer.
One mistake I ran into was stuffing too tightly, which caused my links to burst upon later cooking due to the expansion of the rice.  Therefore I recommend that you avoid air bubbles and fill the casing, but not so much that it is turgid, or completely full.

The procedure I used was to load the casing onto the stuffer, then begin running sausage through to remove air bubbles.  Once sausage had begun to emerge, I tied off the casing with a simple slip not.  I then alternated pushing sausage through, and adjusting the casing to maximize fill (as noted above I was too enthusiastic about this).

Once the casing was stuffed, I twisted links alternating directions.

You can find good videos online that cover this procedure.

Both recipes I used recommend steaming or boiling the boudin before storage.  This caused mine to burst, but I think this was because of over stuffing.  Internet recipes are full of contradictions on this.
I think there are 3 viable options:

Steam for 10min in a single layer then cool and store
Boil for 5min then cool and store
Store as is and steam or boil right before use/grilling

When I make these again I will try one and update.

Delicious with mustard! (Brown mustard is better. . .)

Nutrition:
There is too much variability due to boiling, etc. for me to feel confident posting a nutrition profile, but here are the key facts:
In a 4oz link there are ~ 2oz protein, 300mg sodium, and 200mg potassium, 150mg phosphorous.
All of these are approximation, but I tried to err on the high side.
The sodium does not take into account any salt left in the casings after soaking.

Chicken Pot Pies Renal / Kidney Diet

This is a recipe for 8 mini pies I made using our breville mini pie maker.
My husband loves pot-pie, so this is a great way for him to get a kidney friendly food that also seems like a treat.  Double this for 1 normal sized pie.

I am breaking the nutrition and directions up into two parts, crust and filling, to make nutrition calculations more modular in the future.

Crust

The crust recipe I used was from a cookbook I have and is pretty standard for 1 pie crust (bottom only):

• Cut 2 sticks / 0.5lb cold butter into 2.5 cups / 312g flour, until most butter is incorporated, but some pea=sized butter chunks remain
• Slowly add ice cold water until mixing produces a dry but coherent dough ball.  I do not measure this as it really varies day to day based on humidity.  It's around 1/4-1/2 cup water
• Let sit in the refrigerator 1 hour for the water to be absorbed fully
• At this point the dough can be frozen
• Using a liberally floured surface and pin roll out the dough to 1/8 in thickness.  I did 1/2 at a time

This recipe used a LOT of butter and I found about 1 tspn or so of butter per mini pie left behind in the maker after baking.  next time I do this i am going to work on a version with whole wheat and less butter.  It is a nice flakey rich crust.

Nutrient	Unit	0.5lb butter	0.5 tspn salt	2.5"cup flour	TOTAL	Per pie
Energy	kcal	1620	0	1138	2758	344.8
Protein	g	1.92	0	32.28	34.2	4.3
Total lipid (fat)	g	183.31	0	3.06	186.37	23.3
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	0.14	0	238.47	238.61	29.8
Fiber, total dietary	g	0	0	8.4	8.4	1.1
Sugars, total	g	0.14	0	0.84	0.98	0.1
Minerals					0	0.0
Calcium, Ca	mg	54	1	47	102	12.8
Iron, Fe	mg	0.05	0.01	3.66	3.72	0.5
Magnesium, Mg	mg	5	0	69	74	9.3
Phosphorus, P	mg	54	0	338	392	49.0
Potassium, K	mg	54	0	334	388	48.5
Sodium, Na	mg	25	1163	6	1194	149.3
Zinc, Zn	mg	0.2	0	2.19	2.39	0.3
Lipids					0	0.0
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	116.092	0	0.484	116.576	14.6
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	47.507	0	0.272	47.779	6.0
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	6.877	0	1.291	8.168	1.0
Fatty acids, total trans	g	7.408	0	0	7.408	0.9
Cholesterol	mg	486			486	60.8

Filling

For our mini pie maker the filling needs to be cold, but precooked to some extent.

This was easy to make and came out very tasty:

• I made 3 cups of filling because each pie in our pie maker uses 1/3 cup
• I was able to buy frozen peas and chopped leeks, which made this very quick
• My husband dialyzed the potatoes, which cuts their potassium approximately in 1/2.  I estimated the potassium in my table because there is no USDA entry for dialyzed potatoes.

Nutrient	Unit	8oz chicken breast	0.5cup peas	0.5 cup potatoes	0.5cup leeks	½ med onion	1cup low sodium broth	0.25 tspn salt	TOTAL	1 pie
Energy	kcal	272	52	68	27	22	38	0	479	59.9
Protein	g	51	3.5	1.46	0.67	0.61	4.8	0	62.04	7.8
Total lipid (fat)	g	5.94	0.27	0.08	0.13	0.06	1.44	0	7.92	1.0
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	0	9.13	15.7	6.3	5.14	2.88	0	39.15	4.9
Fiber, total dietary	g	0	3	1.4	0.8	0.9	0	0	6.1	0.8
Sugars, total	g	0	3.35	0.68	1.74	2.33	0.31	0	8.41	1.1
Minerals				0					0	0.0
Calcium, Ca	mg	11	15	4	26	13	10	0	79	9.9
Iron, Fe	mg	0.84	1.03	0.24	0.93	0.12	0.5	0	3.66	0.5
Magnesium, Mg	mg	63	17	17	12	6	2	0	117	14.6
Phosphorus, P	mg	483	55	34	16	16	72	0	676	84.5
Potassium, K	mg	757	103	148	80	80	206	0	1374	171.8
Sodium, Na	mg	102	72	3	9	2	72	581	841	105.1
Zinc, Zn	mg	1.54	0.55	0.23	0.05	0.09	0.24	0	2.7	0.3
Lipids				0					0	0.0
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	1.276	0.044	0.02	0.018	0.023	0.43	0	1.811	0.2
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	1.562	0.022	0.002	0.002	0.007	0.658	0	2.253	0.3
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	0.961	0.117	0.034	0.074	0.009	0.302	0	1.497	0.2
Fatty acids, total trans	g	0.016	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.016	0.0
Cholesterol	mg	165		0					165	20.6

Steps:

1. Saute the diced chicken breast (8oz), chopped onion (1/2 cup) and leeks (1/2 cup) together with garlic and sage to taste (I used 2 tbspn each) as well as black pepper and herbs de provence to taste.
2. Add the 1/2 cup frozen peas and the 1/2 cup cooked potatoes
3. Dissolve 2tbspn corn starch and 1/4 tspn salt in 8oz low sodium chicken broth and pour over the mixture
4. Heat everything to a simmer to thicken, then remove from the heat.

I assembled the pies as per my makers instructions.  '

I ate one right away

the rest cooling

These are very delicious and kept well in the fridge, so they are a great food to make on the weekend for quick mid-week meals.  My only gripe is that the crust is so unhealthy, so i am going to work on an improved version.

Pesto pasta salad Renal/Kidney Diet

This is a basic pasta salad I made for a superbowl party and forgot to post up.

The creation is relatively simple.

1. I cooked 1lb bowtie/fafarelle pasta in unsalted water until al-dente
2. I thinly sliced 5 zucchini and 2 onions, sauteing them together in 1 tbspn olive oil
3. I placed 6oz. basil leaves, 1/2 cup minced garlic and 1/2 cup olive oil in a food processor to make the "pesto" (no pine nuts as they are high in potassium)
4. I then tossed all this together with 1/2 tspn salt, pepper to taste, and 3 ounces shaved romano (which is more than you think)

Overall it was pretty yummy, especially when warm, though I definitely felt it needed a bit more salt and maybe more pepper.  Maybe next time I'll add lemon juice or another 1/2 tspn salt.

Here are some leftovers:

This makes a very large amount of pasta so I listed it as 10 servings.

Nutrient	Unit	1lb pasta	6ounces basil	½ cup garlic	½ tspn salt	½ cup olive oil	3 oz romano	5 med. Zucchini	2 small onion	TOTAL	Serving (10)
Energy	kcal	1692	39	101	0	955	329	167	56	3339	333.9
Protein	g	59.46	5.35	4.32	0	0	27.05	11.86	1.54	109.58	10.958
Total lipid (fat)	g	6.89	1.09	0.34	0	108	22.91	3.14	0.14	142.51	14.251
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	340.5	4.5	22.48	0	0	3.09	30.48	13.08	414.13	41.413
Fiber, total dietary	g	14.6	2.7	1.4	0	0	0	9.8	2.4	30.9	3.09
Sugars, total	g	12.18	0.51	0.68	0	0	0.62	24.5	5.94	44.43	4.443
Minerals										0	0
Calcium, Ca	mg	96	301	123	1	1	905	157	32	1616	161.6
Iron, Fe	mg	5.93	5.39	1.16	0.01	0.6	0.65	3.63	0.29	17.66	1.766
Magnesium, Mg	mg	242	109	17	0	0	35	176	14	593	59.3
Phosphorus, P	mg	862	95	104	0	0	646	372	41	2120	212
Potassium, K	mg	1017	502	273	0	1	73	2558	204	4628	462.8
Sodium, Na	mg	27	7	12	1163	2	1219	78	6	2514	251.4
Zinc, Zn	mg	6.43	1.38	0.79	0	0	2.19	3.14	0.24	14.17	1.417
Vitamins										0	0
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	0	30.6	21.2	0	0	0	175.4	10.4	237.6	23.76
Thiamin	mg	0.41	0.058	0.136	0	0	0.031	0.441	0.064	1.14	0.114
Riboflavin	mg	0.274	0.129	0.075	0	0	0.315	0.921	0.038	1.752	0.1752
Niacin	mg	7.752	1.533	0.476	0	0	0.065	4.42	0.162	14.408	1.4408
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.648	0.264	0.84	0	0	0.072	1.597	0.168	3.589	0.3589
Folate, DFE	µg	82	116	2	0	0	6	235	27	468	46.8
Vitamin B-12	µg	0	0	0	0	0	0.95	0	0	0.95	0.095
Vitamin A, RAE	µg	0	449	0	0	0	82	98	0	629	62.9
Vitamin A, IU	IU	0	8968	6	0	0	353	1960	3	11290	1129
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	mg	0.5	1.36	0.05	0	15.5	0.2	1.18	0.03	18.82	1.882
Vitamin D (D2 + D3)	µg	0	0	0	0	0	0.4	0	0	0.4	0.04
Vitamin D	IU	0	0	0	0	0	17	0	0	17	1.7
Vitamin K (phylloquinone)	µg	0.5	705.2	1.2	0	65	1.9	42.1	0.6	816.5	81.65
Lipids										0	0
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	1.263	0.07	0.061	0	14.913	14.556	0.823	0.059	31.745	3.1745
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	0.78	0.15	0.007	0	78.798	6.666	0.108	0.018	86.527	8.6527
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	2.572	0.661	0.169	0	11.365	0.504	0.892	0.024	16.187	1.6187

Chile Relleño -- Kidney Diet / Renal Diet

This recipe is in a series of indeterminate length on kidney-healthy foods.
The goal is to cook food that takes good, and meets the following nutritional guidelines:

• <2000mg / day potassium 
• <1500mg / day sodium 
• Low to moderate protein content 

Along with each recipe, I'll post the nutrition breakdown based on the USDA nutrient database.

Chile Relleño

This is the sort of thing I would never have put on my blog before I needed to start slavishly recording nutritional content, in that it is just a straight copy of another website's recipe with very few changes.

http://www.chow.com/recipes/29565-chiles-rellenos

Ingredients:

• 6 poblano chilies (all peppers are low in potassium)
• 5oz shredded cheese (we used part-skim mozzarella cause we had some)
• 3 eggs, separated
• Cholula or another hot sauce for condiment (nutritional value not shown, as it varies wildly from sauces.  None have much potassium, but sodium can be high)

Steps:

1. Fire roast the chilies. I saw an Alton Brown comment about using a metal in-pot basket steamer placed directly over a flame, and it worked great.  Basically you want them over a flame until they looked blackened in spots, then you place them in a pot with a lid and let them steam for 15min.
2. Slice open and de-seed the chilies, using a T shaped incision, that doesn't cut all the way through
3. Stuff with cheese and close with a toothpick
4. Heat enough oil in your pan to just cover the bottom
5. Whip the egg whites until stiff, then fold in the mixed yolks
6. Dredge eat chile through the egg mixture then plop it in the pan.
7. Turn then as each side becomes a golden brown

I liked it a lot, though I am still getting used to the low-sodium flavors of things.  No picture sadly as it was late and I was hungry.  As a note:  Work quickly once you fodl the yolks into the whites as they will start to deteriorate.

I think i will use a modified version of this to make low-sodium homemade jalapeno poppers.

Nutrition

This serves two, three peppers each.  It would go well with tortillas.

Nutrient	Unit	3 large eggs	6 poblano peppers	5oz cheese	4tbspn canola oil	Total	Serving
Energy	kcal	214	76	360	495	1145	572.5
Protein	g	18.84	4 g	34.39	0	53.23	26.615
Phosphorus, P	mg	297	78	656	0	1031	515.5
Potassium, K	mg	207	672 mg	119	0	326	163
Sodium, Na	mg	213	12 mg	877	0	1090	545