Duck Scrapple

Chef: Rich Freedman
Sidecar Bar & Grille

Yield: 12 lbs

Ingredients:

5 lbs pork snouts & ears

2 whole ducks

2 onions, quartered

2 stalks celery, quartered

3 bay leaves

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 TBSP black peppercorns

4 cloves garlic peeled

6 cups reserved stock from cooking the meats

2 lbs white corn meal

2 TBSP minced onion

5 TBSP kosher salt

1 TBSP white pepper

1 TBSP ground sage

1 tsp marjoram

1 tsp cayenne

Day 1

1. With a disposable razor, shave off any remaining whiskers on the snouts & ears as closely as possible against their grain. If there are any heavily bearded areas, shave them off a little deeper with a sharp knife.

2. Place the pork and ducks in a large pot with water to cover. Bring just barely up to a boil and shut the heat off. Skim any impurities from the top, and remove the meats. Discard the liquid and fill the pot again with the meats and fresh cold water to cover. Add the onions, celery, bay leaves, thyme, peppercorns, and garlic.

3. Bring just up to a boil, and turn down to a bare simmer. Remove the ducks after 30 minutes, and let the pork poach another 2 hours. Remove all the skin and meat from the ducks after they are cool enough, while the pork cooks. Remove the pork and save 6 cups of the stock, strained through a fine mesh. Cool all the duck skin, duck meat, stock, and pork, and refrigerate overnight.

Day 2

1. (Notice how the pork is extremely firm now, compared to how soft it was when you pulled it from the hot liquid.) Dice all the meat & skin to 1 inch or smaller to fit the grinder. Mix together and grind through a fine die. Keep well chilled. (For a superfine texture, pass the meats through the fine die again after chilling thoroughly to almost semi-frozen.)

2. Put the salt & seasonings, onions and stock in a pot and bring to a boil. Slowly add the corn meal, stirring constantly to prevent it from clumping together. When it is smooth, about 10 seconds of vigorous mixing, turn off the heat and add the meats. Mix thoroughly to a smooth paste (very sticky).

3. Heavily grease 4 terrines with duck fat or lard, or line with plastic. Slap the scrapple into the corners to avoid air pockets, and fill all the terrines, smoothing the surface with wet fingers or a wet spatula.

4. [This is truly the hard part.] Refrigerate overnight.

Day 3

To ease unmolding, set the terrines in hot water for a few minutes if necessary, and free the scrapple around the sides with a thin spatula or thin plastic knife to avoid scratching the terrine. Unmold, slice, pan-fry, and eat with sunny side up eggs, toast, and a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce- or even ketchup if you must.

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