Homemade Bacon Jam

Recently, Food Network's Eat St. program showcased the famous Seattle WA Skillet Street Food's gourmet burger and homemade bacon jam. Yes. You read it correct, homemade bacon jam! I thought the bacon jam was just going to be a fat, greasy spread! Anyway, I looked it up on the internet and found two interesting recipes. The first one is from Not Quite Nigella, and the other is from Homesick Texan. I opted to try the latter recipe because it had one of my favorite ingredients, Chipotle pepper. Using some applewood smoked bacon, I tried out the recipe and it turned out way beyond my expectations! This smoky Homemade Bacon Jam was fantastic. Just the right spiciness, a little sweet and tangy, and each bite's loaded with bits of bacon treat! Try it, I bet you will like it too!


Homemade Bacon Jam

Ingredients

500g Applewood Smoked Bacon (thick-cut), sliced into quarters
4 Cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped
1 Medium Brown Onion, peeled and diced
1 Medium Red Onion, peeled and diced
3-4 Chipotles en Adobo, chopped
2 tsp Adobo Sauce from the can
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar or Coconut Sugar
1 Cup Brewed Coffee
¼ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
¼ Cup Maple Syrup
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Method

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon until the fat is rendered, but not too crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Pour the rendered bacon fat in a bowl for another use.

Meanwhile, heat the saucepan over medium heat with one tablespoon of the reserved rendered bacon fat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the mixture is sticky and slightly caramelized. Then, add the Chipotle, cooked bacon, smoked paprika, brown sugar, and give a good stir. Mix in the coffee, vinegar, maple syrup, and some freshly ground black pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about two hours, stirring occasionally. If the jam starts to get dry, add a couple of tablespoon of water at a time.

Allow the bacon mixture to cool slightly before you puree it with a handheld blender to the desire consistency, or leaving some small chunks of bacon bits.