Pennsylvania Dutch Scrapple

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lb bone-in pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 lb pork neck bones or trotter
• 8 oz pork liver
• 10 cups water
• 1 medium yellow onion, halved
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 2 tsp rubbed sage
• 1 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 3 tbsp lard or bacon drippings, for frying
• All-purpose flour, for dredging

Before you cook

• Rinse the pork shoulder chunks and neck bones.
• Trim any large membranes from the liver and cut it into 1-inch pieces, then keep it covered in the refrigerator.
• Whisk the cornmeal and buckwheat flour together in a bowl so they do not clump later.
• Line two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans with plastic wrap, leaving overhang on the long sides.

Steps

1. Put the pork shoulder, neck bones, water, onion halves, bay leaves and 1 tablespoon salt in a large heavy pot.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat until the surface barely trembles.
3. Skim off the gray foam that rises in the first 10 minutes.
4. Simmer partly covered for 3 hours, until the meat pulls away from the bones with no resistance.
5. Add the liver pieces to the pot and simmer 30 minutes more.
6. Set a colander over a large bowl and pour the contents of the pot through it, saving all the broth.
7. Let the meat cool 20 minutes, until you can handle it.
8. Pull the meat off the bones with your fingers and discard the bones, onion, bay leaves, gristle and any hard fat.
9. Grind the meat and liver together through the coarse plate of a meat grinder, or pulse it in a food processor until it looks like coarse crumbs.
10. Measure 6 cups of the reserved broth back into the clean pot and skim most of the fat off the top.
11. Bring the broth to a boil and stir in the ground meat, sage, black pepper, marjoram, coriander and cloves.
12. Rain the cornmeal and buckwheat mixture into the boiling pot in a thin stream while whisking hard, so no lumps form.
13. Reduce the heat to low and cook 30 to 40 minutes, stirring down to the bottom every 3 or 4 minutes with a wooden spoon, until the mush is so thick the spoon stands up in it and it plops rather than pours.
14. Taste and add salt until the mixture tastes slightly too seasoned, since it will mute when chilled.
15. Scrape the hot mush into the lined loaf pans and smooth the tops.
16. Cool on the counter for 1 hour, then fold the plastic over and refrigerate at least 8 hours, until the loaves are cold and firm.
17. Turn a loaf out and cut it into slices a scant 1/2 inch thick.
18. Dredge each slice lightly in all-purpose flour and shake off the excess.
19. Melt the lard in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat and fry the slices for 5 to 6 minutes per side, moving them as little as possible, until a dark brown crust forms and holds together when you lift them.
20. Serve hot with maple syrup, apple butter or ketchup.