Philadelphia Scrapple

My family is in the southwest so we have Habberset scrapple shipped to us. I wanted to try making this myself because it is only available for part of the year. I had a recipe but it only called for sage and pepper so I was very happy to find this recipe with all the spices. I used what I had: country style pork ribs bought on sale and pork neck bones (bought for red beans and rice which I never made). My other recipe called for chicken livers so I did buy that. I didn't have marjoram so I skipped it. I didn't have onion powder but I stuck four cloves in a whole onion and threw it in while the meat cooked along with a dried chile pod which the other recipe called for. I didn't have a meat grinder or food processor so I diced it up by hand, which was a bit tedious but I was glad I did because that made sure I didn't have any grisle or fat in the meat. I ended up with more meat than 2lbs ground so I upped the corn meal to 2 and 1/2 cups. And boy you sure do have to stir to make sure it doesn't burn. I used the glad lunchmeat containers as molds and the loaves set up beautifully. I thought the flavor was right on. My husband liked it alot, so much so that he wants to buy me a grinder. I said "not necessary, no thanks, I won't be making this often enough to warrant the purchase." It wasn't hard, just time consuming. He did ask for more pepper. When I increased the corn meal I should have increased the spices but was hesitant, being my first time trying the recipe.

My DH's family makes scrapple and my husband loves it. I thought I would surprise him by making some for him. I never had scrapple growing up and its a taste I have not been able to cultivate (heh, I don't like grits either), so I don't know what his mother's tastes like, nor what this tastes like. On a scale of one to five, he gave it a three. One reason he gave it a neutral score is the nutmeg. He thinks there was too much.

This was very good indeed. I made eough to share with friends who'd never tasted scrapple, and they loved it. I took some liberties with the cooking technique though. I covered the pork with water and then added all the seasonings. I let it simmer until the pork was tender then I used a sifter and gradually instroducted the cornmeal stirring all the while. It worked great, and the loaves set up beautifully. Next time I will add more seasonings because I like intense flavors, I may add a pinch of thyme too.

You never say how much liquid is "half the stock" If I just barely cover the meat with water in a skillet, that's about 2 or 3 cups. If I discard half, that has me combining 2 cups of cornmeal plus all the meat with only a cup of liquid. Plus, to be really authentic, you need to add some organ meat.

The flavor of this was absolutely perfect, but the pork wasn't the right consistency for me. Next time, I'll use the hand blender on the pork just to make sure it's really finely chopped and not so coarse. It was a nice taste of home, though. To serve, I slice thin and then dredge in flour before frying. I eat it with pancake syrup.