I love bacon. It was one of the few things I would eat as a picky child, much to the dismay of my mom. (Other choice items included plain white rice and Coco Pebbles). If they had bacon jam back in the day, you better believe that it would have been one of my staples. Bacon is one of those things that makes everything better. I can only imagine how this would taste in a BLT. Extra bacon? Yes, please!
I adapted this recipe from one I found on Martha Stewart. There are quite a few bacon jam recipes out there but most of them have ten gazillion ingredients. For the sake of simplicity, I cut out the coffee, which I imagine would have added a bit of complexity. Instead I tossed in some red chill flakes, because bacon’s great on it’s own, but add some spice and it’s twice as nice.
I am meaty, I am jammy: I AM BACON JAM!
Bacon Jam Recipe adapted from marthastewart.com
yield: half a cup
- 1/2 pound bacon, finely chopped
1/2 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon red chili flakesIn a medium saucepan, cook the bacon over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crispy and lightly browned. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon bacon drippings. Add onions, crushed garlic and chill flakes. Cook until onions are translucent. Add vinegar, brown sugar, maple syrup and bring to boil, stirring and scraping up the browned bits. Add the bacon back in a simmer on low heat until liquid is syrupy and thick, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and pulse. Enjoy on everything! Keeps in the fridge for 4 weeks.
How it would go without brown sugar?? Can I use normal sugar?
i haven’t tried with regular – it might taste a bit less caramel-y, but it would work!
This was delicious! My only comment was I needed to remake the recipe as 1 tbsp of red chili flakes was WAY to spicy for my family, I remade it with 1 tsp and everyone was happy. Thanks!!