Breakfast report

I'm delighted to report that yesterday's scrapple is first rate! I'm still going to try new things -- after all, homemade scrapple can vary every time you make it. But certain things may be fixed, like some of the ingredients in the stock. The first batch added something to the final mix I'd never seen before and so tried it, cooked blackeyed peas, and it overtook everything. Yet the consistency, with the grinder, was perfect, more moist on the inside than the consistency of the "easy scrapple" recipe I'd been using in recent years. Grinding your own meat changes much for the better. So I knew the grinder had put me on the right track.

Next batch I'm going to try ox-tails instead of soap bones in the stock, which will give me more meat as well to add to the rest. What I am missing in the supermarket are the basic "butcher shop" ingredients, pork heart and pork liver. With this batch I dropped the liver entirely and used chicken hearts ground with pork sausage and it worked fine. I still need to do the traditional recipe, though.

The bottom line is, I think I have the confidence and experience now to make a decent batch every time as long as I don't get too crazy with the ingredients, unless it's an admitted experiment. Like I say, this batch is first rate and I am only using what works from the American supermarket. I need to check out some Asian supermarkets, too, for more "unsavory" parts of a pig.

The Scrapple King of Portland is happy.