Jan 29 2015
This version of scrapple is more user friendly! It does not contain the usual pork offal, trimmings, head meat, heart and liver that the original was made from. Some even cooked the whole head. Scrapple came from the Pennsylvania Dutch and was cooked down, cornmeal added to thicken, poured into loaf pans and left to set up. It was then sliced and fried.
Some of the old German family butchers around here still make pan pudding, similar to scrapple but thickened with steel cut oats. I buy some from my butcher Kah Meats the they call grits. I buy it a couple times a year to fry for breakfast.
I have wanted to try scrapple for a long time and looking around the net I see a lot of recipes for the scrapple made with good meat. They use cut up pork butt, along with smoked sausage or fresh hocks. You could use smoked ham hocks and I would think it would have a ham taste. I chose to use ground pork and smoked sausage to make it as easy as I could.
I used two pounds of ground pork and a pound of smoked sausage. I boiled it in water with some sage for 1 ½ hours. I had cut up the smoked sausage in short links and split one side for the fat to render out better. After the 1 ½ hours I removed the smoked sausage and chopped by pulsing in my food processor.
I added it and the seasonings back in and cooked another ½ hour then stirred in the cornmeal. It was poured into loaf pans a let set overnight in the fridge.
I saw where you could put parchment paper in the bottom leaving some on the end to make it easy to pull out after setting out. Forget that; it did not work even after loosening the sides. I ended up banging it on my cutting board as usual.
I fried a slice of it this morning along with some eggs for my breakfast. I was not too hungry so only fried one slice. It was so good after eating wished I had done two slices. I will vacuum seal and freeze most of the two loaves for later breakfasts.
Some ingredients
Meat in the pot with water and sage
Thyme, sea salt, 4 pepper corn blend and white pepper
Smoked sausage removed to chop, seasonings added
Sausage chopped
All in with the cornmeal to thicken
In the loaf pans to cool
A slice for my breakfast
With eggs and a glass of buttermilk
Smokin Don
Recipe:
My easy scrapple
2 pounds of ground pork or sausage
1 pound smoked sausage
2 cups cornmeal, I used 1 ¾ cups
1 teaspoon sage
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper, I use 4 pepper blend
½ teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1 round tablespoon each of dried garlic and onion flakes
If you want heat add some cayenne pepper
About 8 cups of water
Makes two loaves
Place the ground pork, smoked sausage and sage in a large pot with the water. I cut the smoked sausage into about 5 inch links and slit the one side to allow the fat to render out. Bring to a boil and the turn down to a slow boil and cook for 1 ½ hours. Stir often and break up the ground pork.
After the 1 ½ hours remove the smoked sausage and chop fine or pulse in a food processor 8 to 10 times. Add back to the pot along with the rest of the seasonings. Bring back to a slow boil and cook another ½ hour.
Stir in the cornmeal slowly and from this point you need to keep stirring. Mine was getting too dry and had to add some water and ended up cooking about 15 minutes. Pour it into loaf pans and let cool. When cool enough cover and place in the fridge overnight.
When ready to fix, slice in ½ to ¾ inch slices and pan fry in a little oil for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Serve with breakfast of your choice.
This is not the old fashioned scrapple that was made with pork trimmings, head and organ meat; but a version that will appeal to more people.
Note: you can use any cornmeal; I used a mix of yellow and white coarse ground.