It Will Change Your Life

BACON JAM 

you heard me. 

BACON JAM!

I heard about this concoction somewhere, and I knew immediately I had to give it a try. And I am glad I did. Seriously it changed my life. Bacon jam, aka trailer park pate, bacon spread, or pork product marmalade.

As far as I can tell Bacon jam was born in Seattle. A food truck called Skillet which now sells their burger condiment nation wide. After abit of online research I found myself with a day off and a hankering for cholesterol. Off I went to the Italian Centre where  shopped with a vague idea of what I wanted to make. I looked at many recipes online, and decided to throw together some things and hope for the best. if it is mostly bacon it has to work out right? 

Into my finest largest pot i threw onions, garlic, and double smoked bacon slabs from the Italian centre ( do not cheap out on the bacon here folks ) I chopped the bacon up as small as i could. I put the pot on a low heat and scoured my pantry for additions

As the bacon rendered down i added brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and some spices. then i left it on that low heat simmering away for about five hours. I'm pretty sure my arteries hardened just smelling this deliciousness all day. 

Now I found myself with a very large batch of a very tasty condiment. whats a girl to do?!? lots of things apparently. I started with the obvious things like bacon jam burgers, and the most epic grilled cheese in history.

then I had some fun with it.

I roasted up a chicken, caramelised some onions, roasted a whole bunch of garlic, and mixed it up with an egg and some ricotta. And of course a generous amount of the bacony delight. 

I made some fresh pasta dough, and after rolling it out I cut circles. each semolina disc received a dollop of the delicious mixture, then SHAZAM! dough origami makes chicken and bacon tortellini!

I was feeling pretty bold after my tortellini adventure, so I made a big batch of mashed potatoes, mixed in some roasted garlic, aged cheddar and bacon jam. I knew I had to make pierogi! I made some sour cream pastry and made another type of dumpling with  this batch of carby lusciousness. 

Last, but certainly not least... bacon caramels. 

since this first time I have improved my caramel recipe. But even then, it was amazing. I made two batches, the first batch had the jam cooked into the caramel and simply cooled. I didn't care for the texture,  so I made a second batch cooked with the bacon, but then strained. MMMMMmmmmmm.

The candies were sweet, and salty with a savoury smokiness that I really liked. Alot of my friends wussed out and wouldn't try them. Big thanks Baconhound, Joyful Follies, ZoomJer for tasting and being honest with me.  And all my friends who were brave enough to trust me and try it even though they thought i was a nutter!

UPDATE...

That adventure was awhile back. I tried making bacon jam again this week. As a matter of fact I was motivated by starting this blog post. This time I was lucky enough to have my bacon ground for me at the divine ACME meats. This saved me much time and aggravation. The texture was fantastic, the only thing missing from my second attempt was the intense smokiness I got from the double smoked bacon. This batch was just completed, and I don't know how it will be consumed, but I know I will be making another batch of caramels. And it was delicious mixed in with some barley and veggies for lunch yesterday. This time I paid attention more to my amounts.

3 lbs ground bacon
4 large onions (finely diced)
1 head of roasted garlic
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp smoked paprika
black pepper

All into a pot and simmered for about 6 hours. easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

makes a huge batch, but it freezes well. you could also experiment with maple,or different spices and vinegars. I'm already thinking about my next batch.