He Who Made Cooking Cool

We did it!! Holly and I made the pilgrimage to Atlanta to see the great hero of all culinary minded nerds. Alton was the same delight in person that he is on television.



When contemplating a new cooking show, AB sought to combine Monty Python, Julia Child and Mr. Wizard. Ten years and a packed theater later, it has proved a winning formula. The night was a rambling medley of favorite recipes, puppets, costumes, and guest appearances while Alton reminisced about the last decade. There was some good natured poking of other Food Network personalities: Rachael and her sammies and Giada and her...'characters'. Yes, you know what I'm talking about.
The best story had to be The Tale of the Haggis. Clad in their manly skirts, Alton and his assistant were supposedly rockin it true "Scottish style" and had the misfortune to build their little camp over a hornets' nest. He also admitted that his performance was one of the worst accents in not only Good Eats but possibly television history. All the more hilarious.



For one of the night's highlights, Alton was challenged to transform the kitchen's only UniTasker. The fire extinguisher, a water cooler and a tennis racket were employed to create a literal explosion of freeze-dried fruit. Whatever bits weren't sprayed all over the stage and the poncho-clad audience went for a spin in the blender and the resulting umm....smoothie?...was consumed by a triumphant AB.



For a splendid finale, beloved "sister" Marsha produced a 20 foot stack of pancakes which were blasted with glow in the dark icing by AB and Ted Allen with devices akin to flame throwers. The summit was set aflame to create a gigantic birthday candle. I'm afraid samples were not available. We did get an autographed postcard however, and I finally got to see my best Food Network buddy. I can't wait for the 20th anniversary special!



What fun would any of this be without having great friends to share it with? Thanks Holly!

Why I am the Scrapple King

I was watching "Guilty Witness" on “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” a week or two back and to my delight one of the characters was served a plate of scrapple, one of my all-time favorite foods (my mom’s homemade cheese blintzes and my wife’s home-made split pea soup are right up there at the top of the list too). It reminded me that I needed to fulfill a promise to foodie blogger extraordinaire Jessica Porter, to explain my rather elegant title of “The Scrapple King” to this blog’s readers.

I know that the countless readers of this excellent blog wonder why I chose that moniker rather than, say the “Meister of Meatloaf” or "Baron of Bacon" (both of which, by the way, I wouldn’t mind owning as well). I chose “The Scrapple King” because it best describes my love for this wonderfully unique Pennsylvania Dutch meat product. It is a royal designation that admittedly I have bestowed upon myself, although my paternal grandmother was descended from the original Pennsylvania Dutch settlers who made a new life in Southeastern Pennsylvania over two hundred years ago. Perhaps my claim to a royal title is not that far-fetched, is it?

A couple of years back I had the joy of sharing my love for scrapple with the readers of Every Day With Rachael Ray. With such an iconic figure of modern cooking recognizing my love of scrapple it serves only as an endorsement, at least in my mind, that I do deserve the title of “The Scrapple King.” So I will wear the badge with honor as I go about the world extolling the virtues of this creative, affordable and ultimately delicious food.

If there is a true royal name in the world of scrapple it is Habbersett. This Pennsylvania-based company makes the best scrapple in the civilized world. I was born in Philadelphia but spent most of my childhood in nearby Bucks County, not too far from Chester County, the true seat of scrapple’s origins. While my grandmother’s ancestors no doubt made home-made scrapple as was the practice in the 1800’s, I truly believe I inherited the genetic predisposition to love and adore this food, but not the desire to make it myself. To me Habbersett, going strong since 1863, is the epitome of scrapple production so there is no need to compete with it. If one can’t locate Habbersett in your nearest grocery store, Jones Dairy Farm out of Wisconsin makes a passable substitute but it is well worth the effort to track down the red, white and blue packaging of Habbersett. Here is an order form to get it directly from Habbersett.

"What is scrapple?"you may be asking. Well, don’t ask. Be content in knowing that scrapple is a pork-based product that efficiently leaves no parts of pork wasted. Just as the early colonial settlers were conscious of making every penny stretch, we should, in these challenging economic times, also be conscious of making our food budget stretch as well. Scrapple is an affordable and tasty way to feed family and friends without making much of a dent in your wallet. Be satisfied in knowing that scrapple is a wonderful mixture of meat and spices that make it an excellent breakfast meat, although I could eat it at any time of the day or night (and have been known to do so).

Scrapple is a very easy product to make. It comes in one pound bricks that take but a few minutes to prepare and eat. The brick should be sliced while it is cool but not too cold. With a sharp kitchen knife the brick should be sliced into thin pieces roughly ½ inches thick. Too thin and the slice will probably break apart. Too thick and you will find it difficult to adequately ensure that the center of the slice will be properly heated without burning the outside. Once cut, coat the slices with plain white flour and place on a preheated frying pan at medium temperatures. Non-stick pans do not need any prior treatment but skillets or other non-treated pans would benefit from a light coating of PAM cooking spray or shortening (this to keep the slices from sticking when flipped.)

Scrapple should be fried for several minutes on each side. The best way to know when to flip the slice over is when the flour coating the top of the slice appears melted or translucent. A quick flip is required because scrapple has been known to break-up if the flip is done too slowly. An equal amount of heating on the second side and the scrapple is ready to be served. I prefer it dipped in ketchup, my mom and wife prefer it with a side home-made Pennsylvania Dutch chili sauce, once lovingly prepared by my late-grandfather, now fashioned by my Uncle Joe (perhaps if I get enough requests for his recipe, Uncle Joe will share it with me and I with you). Some prefer it plain. No matter how you eat it the key is to savor each delicious, spicy bite. Before you know it the one pound brick will be gone and you’ll be rushing back to the store for more. To avoid this scenario purchase several bricks at once. Trust me, all you scrapple-newbies, your life will be forever changed once you have savored your first bite of Habbersett’s well-earned slogan: “Philadelphia’s Favorite.”