1880. BACON SCRAPPLE

makes 4 to 6 servings


½ pound maple-cured bacon slices
1 cup yellow cornmeal
4 cups cold water
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf, crumbled

In a large skillet, fry the bacon till crisp, drain on paper towels, and chop into small pieces. Reserve the bacon fat.

In a small bowl, stir the cornmeal into 1 cup of the cold water. In a heavy saucepan, bring the remaining 3 cups of water to a boil and add the salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in the cornmeal and 4 tablespoons of the reserved bacon fat, reduce the heat to moderate, and cook, stirring often, till the mixture is thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the bacon pieces.

Grease an 8½-by-4½-by-2½-inch loaf pan and scrape the scrapple into the pan. Let cool, cover with plastic wrap, and chill till set and firm, at least 4 hours.

Cut the loaf into ½-inch slices. In a skillet, heat a little of the bacon fat over moderate heat and fry each slice of scrapple till browned and crisp around the edges, about 5 minutes on each side. Serve hot.


bacon recipe courtesy of: The Bacon Cookbook: More than 150 Recipes from Around the World for Everyone's Favorite Food by James Villas. Wiley, 2007