Scrapple
Scrapple (Pennsylvania Dutch) is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour and spices. It is similar to Pon haus, which uses only the broth from cooked meat. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then panfried before serving. Scraps of meat left over from butchering, not used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste. Modern cooks — or those without a pig carcass at hand — may use various other cuts of pork, including pork shoulder, pork butt, or even lean ground pork, to make their scrapple.
Cornmeal is almost always used for the base of scrapple, but individual cooks occasionally replace it with oatmeal or even barley. Onions, salt, pepper, sage, mace, thyme, marjoram, savory, and cayenne pepper are typically added in some combination to season the mush.
Fried scrapple is typically served as a breakfast meat. It is eaten plain, between slices of bread as a sandwich, or with fried eggs, and popular accompaniments are ketchup, maple syrup, applesauce, or butter.
A note on cooking liquid. Start out with a base of rich meat stock, and if you want a really good one, you need it--no compromise there. The reason is that, while the cornmeal and buckwheat will definitely firm up the scrapple, meat stock that's been long-cooked to extract collagen from bones will add an extra layer of "firmness".
Once the scrapple is made and cooled comes the fun part: eating. The scrapple gets cut into slices, then fried crispidity-crisp, and, if you want to be traditional, served for breakfast with maple syrup.
Scrapple
Recipe courtesy Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley, CA
There are not a lot of seasonings (onion, thyme, marjoram, etc.) in this recipe. Her recipe is different on the Food Network Diners, Driveins, and Dives show.
2 pounds pork shoulder (or pork butt)
1 whole fresh pork hock
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon cayenne [too much]
1 teaspoon sage
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
Cut up pork shoulder (butt) into 2 inch chunks. Place the pork chunks, pork hock, sage and cayenne in a stock pot and cover with water. Simmer for about 2 to 3 hours or until meat falls apart. Drain and reserve stock.
Pull meat from bone and chop all the meat with a knife or food processor, being careful not to grind it too fine. Set aside.
Measure 5 cups of stock and return to pot. Bring it to a simmer; add meat, cornmeal, salt and peppers, and stir constantly until thick and smooth, about 15 to 30 minutes.
Pour mixture into 2 loaf pans and refrigerate until completely chilled. Un-mold scrapple. Slice and fry until golden brown and crisp on both sides.
Makes 12 servings.
Scrapple
Scrapple is usually made with just pork and there are not a lot of seasonings (onion, thyme, marjoram, etc.)
2 cups (yes, cups) each ground pork and ground beef
3 cups meat broth
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons each sage and cayenne pepper
1 cup cornmeal
In large saucepan or kettle, combine pork, beef and broth; heat to boiling. Add salt, pepper, sage and cayenne, then slowly sift in cornmeal, stirring constantly. Cook 30 minutes, stirring. Pour into desired mold (such as a loaf pan). Chill until firm. Cut in thin slices and fry until well browned.
Scrapple
3 pounds boneless pork butt, or 5 pounds bone-in pork but
2 pounds bone-in pork, such as rib tips, pork hocks, or shanks
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
1 whole bulb garlic, halved crosswise
5 large dried bay leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 teaspoons fine salt, more to taste
12 large fresh sage leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, or marjoram
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more to taste
For Serving:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, more as needed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, optional
In a large stockpot or Dutch oven add the pork, onion, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt. Cover with water enough water to submerge the meat. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the meat is fork-tender, about 3 hours.
With a slotted spoon, remove the pork pieces to a large bowl and set aside.
Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl; discard the solids.
When the pork is cool enough to handle, shred it, discarding any bones. At this point, you may refrigerate the meat and broth in separate bowls and finish later or the next day.
Add 4 cups of the pork broth to a large saucepan. Add the sage, thyme, and oregano. (If you have leftover broth, put it in a container and refrigerate or freeze it to use in other recipes.) Bring the broth to a boil; reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. (For more sage flavor, add 1 teaspoon of rubbed dried sage to the simmering broth along with the fresh sage, thyme, and oregano.)
With a slotted spoon, remove the sage leaves and thyme to a cutting board. Chop the sage and remove the thyme leaves from the stems; set the herbs aside.
Gradually whisk the cornmeal into the simmering broth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently until thickened, 12 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the shredded pork in a food processor, in batches if necessary, and pulse until finely chopped. Alternatively, put it through a meat grinder fitted with a coarse disc, or chop the pork by hand as finely as possible.
Combine the ground pork, cornmeal, reserved herbs, and pepper in a large bowl. Adjust the seasonings to taste with salt and more pepper, if desired.
Line a 9 x 5-inch or 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang for easy removal later. Spoon the scrapple mixture into the pan, spreading and flattening it to form a loaf. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate until firm, 3 hours or more.
Fry the Scrapple
Gather the scrapple and other ingredients.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy-duty skillet.
Remove the scrapple from the loaf pan by the parchment handles. Discard the parchment. Cut the scrapple into 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick crosswise slices. Dredge the slices in flour, if desired.
Fry the scrapple, in batches if necessary, until crisp and golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate, and serve.
