Your bacon enthusiasm overwhelms me, Honey Bunch. I had no idea you had such a piggishly delicious desire for the salty, smoky (lil’ bit fatty) slabs of pork. No idea. But from your response to the mere mention of my famous Bacon Jam on Facebook, now I know. You asked for this one, so consider yourself forewarned. It. Is. Addictive. You will make it and suddenly wonder how have I lived without you, Bacon Jam? You will find yourself exclaiming when the next batch is ready to eat Hot Damn! Bacon Jam! And you’ll come right back here and thank me. 😉
Bacon Jam
Author: Gluten Free Gigi
Recipe type: Sauce
Cuisine: Southern
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 10 mins
Ingredients
- 10 slices (about 10 ounces) good quality bacon (I use all-natural, uncured bacon with no added preservatives; I recommend you do, too.)
- 2/3 Cup dark amber pure maple syrup (Use the real deal. You deserve it.)
- 2.25 ounce can sliced black olives, rinsed and drained twice (Use the olives. Trust me. The recipe needs it, even if you don’t like them. I repeat: Use the olives.)
- 10 slices pickled jalapeno pepper (From the jar, not fresh peppers. Again, this is about trust.)
- 1 Tablespoon juice from the jalapeno pepper jar (Just do it.)
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Dice the bacon.
- Place bacon and all other ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
- When the mixture begins to bubble and smell amazing, reduce the heat to simmer and let it go for about 1 hour.
- Stir it every 20 minutes or so.
- Once the hour is up, remove the pan from the heat and let the jam cool for 30 minutes.
- Carefully spoon the jam into a half-pint glass jar (preferably a Mason jar, because that’s just the right thing to do when you make something as Southern as Bacon Jam, ya’ll).
- Enjoy it right away or let it cool completely to room temperature, then cap it and store it in the fridge.
- To use later, spoon out what you like and heat it up just a bit.
- This recipe makes a sweet little half-pint (1 cup) of Bacon Jam. You can double the recipe if you like and use a pint jar.
- I do not recommend making any changes to the recipe, at least the first time you make it. If you’re worried about the jalapenos making the jam too hot, they don’t. The pickled variety are pretty tame to begin with and when they cook in the jam, they become even more mild tasting.
- The juice from the jalapeno jar is important. With the fat (from the bacon) and the sugar (from the maple syrup), the vinegar from the pepper jar is important for flavor balance. Don’t leave it out.
- If you’re worried about bacon fat and sugar, well, you really shouldn’t make this recipe. It’s fatty, it sweet and it’s good. But it is NOT a diet food. 😉
Author: Gluten-Free Gigi
