I finally made the bacon jam....
it is beyond stupendous....I brought some over to the neighbor's for them to try out, and they wanted to buy it, LOL!
= new reply since forum marked as read
And I want it now
Last edited Sun Jan 20, 2013, 11:59 AM - Edit history (2)
If you don't have a food processor, just use a blender. That's what I did.
Maple Bourbon Bacon Jam
From Closet Cooking
Servings: makes 1-2 cups
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Total time: 2:20, or thereabouts.
Ingredients:
1 lb. thick smoked bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup cider vinegar
¾ cup brewed coffee
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup bourbon (I used apple cider instead)
1 chipotle chili in adobo, chopped (this is pretty much to taste. I used one, original recipe called for two.)
½ tsp. cumin
Pepper to taste
Directions:
Cook the bacon in a large sauce pan on medium heat until the fat has rendered and the bacon starts to get crispy. Set aside, reserving 1 Tbsp. of the grease in pan.
Add the onions and sauté until tender, from 5-7 minutes. I sautéed them longer, about 10 minutes total, until they were brown.
Add the garlic, and sauté until fragrant, about one minute.
Add the vinegar and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the brown bits.
Add the coffee, brown sugar, maple syrup, bourbon, bacon, chipotle chilies, cumin and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 1-2 hours.
Put the jam into a food processor or blender to smooth it out a bit, but not too much as you want it to have some texture.
Store it in a sealed container in the fridge for 4 weeks. If you don’t eat it all.
I made four batches at Christmas for gifts. I used regular bacon and found the more crispy I cooked it, the better the jam.
I had googled a dozen recipes but I liked the simplicity of this one:
http://www.fromaway.com/cooking/homemade-bacon-jam
I did add the maple syrup to three of the batches and I liked the look better but the other was pretty tasty, too. None of these have bourbon and as mentioned, there are many other things you can add.
You don't even have to puree if you happen to have some crusty bread lying around while you are making this. 
I'm glad I still have some in the fridge.
