Bacon Jam & Bacon Tornadoes | Cooking Up A Storm with Jacob

It’s Breakfast month on Cooking Up A Storm, and this month we’re closing it out with bacon as the focus!

Ingredients:
2 lbs uncooked bacon, finely diced
1.5 c white/sweet onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 c brown sugar
¼ c sherry vinegar
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T water
2 T maple syrup

OPTIONAL:
Dash(es) of cayenne pepper/chipotle chili pepper
Black pepper, to taste
4-6 Thyme sprigs

Directions:

1. Chop your bacon finely and cook up until almost crisp stirring it around often
2. Remove the cooked bacon and drain all but ½ T of bacon grease out
3. Add the chopped onion to the pan and saute
4. Add garlic, sauté for 1-2 minutes, constantly stirring
5. Add in sugars, vinegars and water.  Stir and simmer over low to medium heat.
6. If using thyme sprigs, add in and also add black pepper and cayenne/chili pepper in.  Simmer and stir for a few minutes. Then, once it’s reduced some, add your bacon.
7. Add in maple syrup and stir, continuing to simmer until it becomes jammy in consistency.  Also check for taste. You can add extra peppers for more heat or maple syrup for sweetness, pending your likeness.

Hints/Tips

1. Once you’ve made your bacon jam, you can add to a food processor and blitz it to help get even more jammy in texture.  Entirely your call, we don’t in our house as we love the chunks.
2. Finely dice the bacon, almost like you are shaving it off.  This is going to allow the bacon to cook quicker and get you that perfect texture.
3. The longer you cook the jam, the more it will reduce.  It doesn’t have to go for a long time, as it cools the sugars should thicken up, but you’ll want to cook it down some.
4. To reheat, add a T of water to your jam if it is thick and reheat it in the microwave.
5. Consider adding other flavors if you like, including minced jalapenos and/or bourbon (in place of water).  You can also trade shallots for onion and change up the type of vinegar you use to make it your own.

BACON TORNADOES

Have you ever cooked bacon in the oven? It’s super simple. Set your oven to 400° and line a pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Then, place your bacon on there flat. Once you’ve laid it out, twist it on both ends until you get a nice spiral. Place in the oven for 15 minutes, turn once and place back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes, until you reach the desired consistency. You are able to still get nice and crisp bacon while fitting more bacon on a single pan, saving you time. The oven also will be hot enough to cook the bacon, but not hot enough to splatter everywhere and make a mess. If your oven runs hot, you can take it down to as low as 350°, but you’ll just have to check periodically to see how it’s cooking.

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