Bourbon Honey Bacon Jam
There's a reason why the saying "bacon makes everything better" came along. It even makes jam better.
Ingredients
- 6 ounces bacon about 5 strips. but into ½ strips
- ½ medium sized red onion 4 ounces if you want to be exact. julienned
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 ounces water
- 2 ounces balsamic vinegar
- 2 ounces bourbon nothing fancy, in the 90-100 proof range
Instructions
- Over medium low heat, cook the bacon until just before starting to turn crispy. this step should take around 15 minutes.
- Remove the bacon from the pan using a slotted spoon leaving the rendered fat in the pan.
- With the pan still over medium low heat, add the red onion and cook until caramelized. Stir every 5 minutes or so as over stirring will cause the caramelization to take miuch longer. This step should take around 30 minutes
- Once the onion have finished caramelizing, add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the bacon back to the pan along with the honey and brown sugar. Mix to incorporate all ingredients. Continue mixing and cook for another 2-3.
- Add the water to the pan. Mix to incorporate. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Then add the balsamic vinegar and bourbon to the pan. Mix to incorporate. Continue simmering until a majority of the liquid has evaporated and the consistency is very jam-like. This step should take about 10 - 20 minutes.
- The bacon jam can be used immediately or cooled and refrigerated. The jam will most likely harden in the refrigerator so you can microwave it for a few seconds to bring it back to its normal thickness.
Notes
This recipe makes about 1/2 cup of jam. Please scale the ingredients if you need more or less.
Also note, after storing in the fridge, the jam will harden. Warm in up in a microwave safe container for a few seconds to bring it back to its normal thickness.