Bacon Jam?! I Hardly Know Her! (...I'm so tired)

I have two excuses why this blog post is late /  looks weird
1.  The camera on my phone broke so I now have to use the camera on Chad's phone, except I don't really know how to use the flash on it, so now everything just looks like it is in a Lifetime Television for Women 90's romance movie.

2. I'm in sleep-deprived tech week and have been eating those Starbucks pretentious lunchables for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Oh you guys. Stop crying. I've missed you, too.

Recipe #17: Onion Bacon Marmalade

Choice of libation:  Dewar's White Label scotch - I figured while making a manly condiment, I figured I needed a manly drink.  Also, SPOILER ALERT, this came in handy later.

Choice of music:  Chad was watching The Challenge on MTV. I'm sorry. That is a terrible show. And coming from someone who watches Lifetime movies that is saying something.

Hm.  So the first batch of bacon didn't go over so well.  I took one for the team and ate the really burned ones, but I wasn't really off to a great start.

Ah yes, that's better. Look at that beautiful color. And now the whole place smells like bacon.  Which is usually the goal. 

So I didn't read the recipe very carefully (remember? tech week?) and didn't realize it said "apple cider." I thought it needed "apple cider vinegar." After dumping the first cup in, I realized my mistake and ladled out as much of the liquid as I could.  While we didn't have apple cider, we did have scotch.  So.

While waiting for the onions to soften, I used the cutting board as a cover and chopped the bacon into tiny pieces.  I may not be able to read a recipe correctly, but I am at least efficient.

At this point, the kitchen is smelling amazing -- bacon still permeates but now the sweet onion and whiskey smells may be forever in our walls.  I am not mad at it.

You may be wondering why all of a sudden it looks like this wasn't taken from a camera phone.  That is because Chad left the house before I could take a picture of the end result so this a picture of what the onion bacon marmalade is SUPPOSED to look like. It did actually look like this. I promise.  

What does one do with onion bacon marmalade?  Good question!  I topped my macaroni and cheese with it.  That was pretty good, but in which case I should have added extra bacon, for a crunchier texture.

What ended up being a very good idea was making a meatloaf and folding a cup of the marmalade into the the ground meat along with herbs, goat cheese, tomato paste and bread crumbs. And then adding another layer of marmalade on top of the meat loaf as a sort of glaze. Because.  Yum.

stolen from

patiodaddybbq.com

4 lbs Yellow onions, halved and sliced to 1/4" (I used sweet onions)

4 slices Thick bacon (personally, I would have gone with at least 6 or 8 slices)

2 cups Apple cider (though as mentioned before, I used scotch and if I did this recipe again, I would probably want to use whiskey again, except next time, maybe a nice bourbon)

1/4 cup Sherry vinegar (white wine vinegar is fine)

1/4 cup Brown sugar

10 sprigs Thyme, stripped from the stem (about 2 Tbsp)

1 Tbsp Kosher salt

2 tsp Black pepper

Heat a Dutch oven or large heavy sauce pan over medium-high heat.

Cook the bacon until it's just crisp, then remove the slices and set aside, leaving all of the rendered fat in the pan.

Add the onions and salt to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook until the onions soften (about 15 minutes).

Chop the bacon fine and add it and the remaining ingredients to the pan. Cook uncovered until the liquid is reduced to almost nothing, stirring occasionally (about an hour).

Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until the onions are a rich medium brown color, stirring frequently (about 10 minutes). If it starts looking too dry, add water 1/4 cup at a time.

Remove from the heat, set aside, and let cool.

(Makes about four cups)