Scrapple

Scrapple! How I have not thought to make this before is a wonder to me, as it combines all kinds of things I love - liver, bone broth, and I used wild rice along with cornmeal - all in a breakfast sausage/toast kind of thing. It is so good! Good enough to resurrect a blog post. Because of the collagen-y broth, this sets (and keeps) in the fridge, so you just slice off a piece and then fry it up.

I mostly followed Forager Chef's recipe, but Hank Shaw at Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook has a nice looking one for the more traditional pig head scrapple. I don't know if my farm could get me a pig head, but might be fun to try. Scrapple seems fairly flexible, and I almost always have liver and bone broth around, which makes this pretty easy. For this first attempt I used a pound of goat liver and 3 slices of bacon (because it is what I had in the fridge), though any bits of leftover meat would do. You could start the whole thing from scratch following their recipes if you have meaty bones/a pig head. 

Liver (or organ) Scrapple

• 3-4 slices bacon
• half small onion, diced
• 16 oz lamb/goat/chicken livers (or a mix of livers/hearts/kidneys)
  
• 4 c bone broth (you need the collagen!) 
• 1 T salt
• 1 c cornmeal (fine or course)
• 1 c wild rice flour (ground wild rice)
  
• 1/4 c buckwheat flour
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Prepare a loaf pan: I recommend using tin foil, parchment, or wax paper under/along the sides of a greased pan so that you can easily lift out the scrapple. Or, just grease the loaf pan and have at it. 
   
2. Cook bacon slices and render out the fat. When bacon is done, brown the onions in said fat.
3. In a food processor, process the liver (or offal) with bacon and onions and grind to a paste. (This is kind of weird b/c the offal is raw.) Put this mix into a small saucepan and cook for several minutes to sweat off the excess moisture. It will probably stick to the bottom of the pan, so stir as you go. 
4. Whisk the flours and spices in a large bowl.
   
5. In a large saucepan or pot, heat the bone broth and whisk in the flours. Keep whisking until it starts to thicken. Turn heat to low, and stir regularly for 15 minutes, then add the meat mix and cook another 30 minutes, stirring regularly so it does not stick OR put the whole thing in the loaf pan and cook in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes. **I was too afraid of all the sticking, being as my mixture was so thick after 5 minutes with just the rice and cornmeal. So I added everything in then and there and stuck it all in the oven for 40 minutes. Alan Bergo says to bake it covered, but I found mine needed to be uncovered halfway through.
6. When the scrapple is fairly solid and the cornmeal/wild rice is well cooked, "pour" (more like spoon) the mixture into the greased loaf pan. Chill the pan, uncovered on the counter until room temperature, then refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, until completely set before slicing.

Serve with eggs and whatever you like. Many people eat this with maple syrup, a la bacon and pancakes. I thought it was delicious as a conduit for runny eggs.