Tried Scrapple?

Ingredients for Scrapple

• 2 pounds ground lean pork
• 1 pound beef liver
• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 3 cups yellow corn meal
• 4 tablespoons salt
• 4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons sage
• 2 teaspoons ground mace
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground thyme 2 teaspoons whole sweet marjoram
• 3 quarts of water

Cooking Instructions for Scrapple

• In a large pot bring the water to a boil.
• Add beef liver and boil 10 minutes.
• Remove the , either run through a chopper or use a knife and cut it in as small as possible.
• Return chopped liver to the pot.
• Add the ground pork, a little at a time, and stir.
• Simmer for 20 minutes. Mix buckwheat flour, corn meal, salt, and spices; add to meat and broth slowly, stirring constantly for 1 hour. Use lowest possible heat, as mixture scorches easily.
• Pour into two greased loaf pans.
• Bounce the pans so that the scrapple settles.
• Set scrapple in the refrigerator to cool.
• Remove the scrapple from the refrigerator cut into to 3/8 inch slices. Freeze by laying slices on sheets of waxed, place in freezer bags.
• Thaw , dust with flour.
• Fry in either bacon grease or lard until golden brown. Avoid using cooking spray.
  

Last week, while ordering breakfast at a Philadelphia hotel, found scrapple on the menu. Ordered a helping and was served two golden brown slices. Scrapple was a treat served by my grandmother, Issie passed in December 1981 so it has been over 25 years since my last taste. My co-worker, with some encouragement, tried the scrapple and had no objections. Later in the day we told a customer about our breakfast and he described scrapple as being made from pig brains and assholes. Well the asshole thing got me to thinking and on the web I found this decription for manufacture. You have to love the part about using the ears for a grip, there is only one better use I can think of for that.

First, we begin with the head of a pig (fresh is always preferable to frozen). Exactly which parts of a pig's head are included in Scrapple depends somewhat on regional preference. To begin, the head should be cut in half, or even quartered. The ears make for convenient handles while sawing the skull. While an axe or cleaver can be used to split the head, a saw is preferable in that it produces no bone fragments. Once the head is sectioned, some people remove the brains. Some remove the teeth—bashing them off with a cleaver. Yet others remove the eyes. The most nutritious scrapple contains the entire head! That said, however, special care should be taken to remove the ear drums. Left in place, they contribute a distinctively bitter taste to the Scrapple, which while popular in Pittsburgh, is generally disliked elsewhere. Next, all desirous head and non-head matter, including heart, feet and tail, are cooked in a pot with just enough water to cover. During cooking, meat loosens from bone and the skin, ears, rooter and nearly all head gristle softens. The resulting broth harbors an explosion of nutritional goodness! Bones and loosened meaty matter are strained from the broth, which should be set aside. When the meat has cooled, pick through it, removing bones and hard gristle. Grind up the skin and soft gristle, rooter and so on. Recombine the ground meats with all but about a cup of the strained broth. For each two cups of broth reunited with meat, add one cup cereal (cornmeal) to thicken. Bring to a slow boil, stirring all the time. Add salt, black pepper, red pepper, sage, onion powder, and if you're feeling adventurous, some bacon bits. Continue stirring until it arrives at the consistency of porridge. Pour into loaf pans and cool. The Scrapple is finished!"

I seriously doubt that Mr. Steve is going to have another go at scrapple. For me, as good as it tastes, I am glad that it is not common in Atlanta. My cholesterol count with benefit without this dish of fried organs bathed fat.