scrapple, by jess. photo © anita aguilar for phoebeworks productions/piym.the first time i had scrapple was at a no-name diner in philadelphia about 15 years ago. a molded slab of quasi-meat composite that had been burned to nearly black on the griddle, presented on a lonely, off-white ceramic plate. if i closed my eyes, i could imagine i was eating a shingle.
which made jess' version unrecognizable. her take on it thrills me---eggy, sausage-y, akin to a frittata, but with terrific fried bits and an interesting juiciness from...apples. yes! apples. i would have loved to eat "my" whole piece, but cute, hungry cat, john brown, got to it when i wasn't looking.
anyway, 6 more weeks of winter is not at all inspiring, but on the bright side, it's a good reason to stay in and cook. jess, in her inimitable sassy way, will give you the scoop on scrapple. it sounds sort of labor-intensive, but the cooking will keep you warm, and in the end it will be worth it.
