I recently had some periodontal surgery, which left me unable to eat solid foods for a couple weeks. I didn’t want that to stop me from cooking something new so I brainstormed softer foods I could make. At that point I had been subsisting on applesauce and pudding and was dying for something savory. I scoured my favorite recipe sites for soups, sauces, and spreads until I discovered a recipe whose very name called out to me like flashing lights on the Vegas strip: bacon-bourbon jam.
I am most assuredly not one of those people who thinks bacon should go on everything (that’s what sriracha is for), but when you’re not able to eat solid foods what could be better than bacon cooked down to a soft, spreadable jam? It even has most of the elements of breakfast in one spoonful—coffee, bacon, maple syrup (and in certain circles, bourbon).
Another plus of this recipe is that it would allow me to make use of the bottle of bourbon that sits idly on my counter. About a year ago I bought some bourbon because a lot of my friends were getting into it. Who am I if not an adherent to all that is trendy and popular? As much as I have tried, for the life of me I cannot stomach the taste of anything barrel-aged. Whether it’s wine, beer, or spirits, I just can’t stand the taste. Instead of hating my life by trying to drink the bourbon, I thought it would suit me better to use it in this jam (I’ll understand if my bourbon-loving readership completely dies out after this).
The recipe called for 1½ lbs of bacon. I don’t think I’ve ever needed to cook that much bacon at one time before. I felt like the essence of man holding the pile of meat in my hand. The good thing is that you don’t need the fancy stuff for this recipe. Just buy the stuff you used to get before you went all artisanal.
I cooked the bacon in a pan until it was just starting to crisp. The time in the slow cooker later will get the bacon to a nice, deep brown.
When all the bacon was cooked I poured out all but a tablespoon of fat and added the diced onion and garlic and cooked until the onion is soft and translucent. At that point came the addition of the cider vinegar, brown sugar, maple syrup, coffee, and bourbon. You want to bring that mixture to a boil for a couple minutes, stirring frequently and being sure to scrape up all the brown bits at the bottom of the pan.
I love the aromas that fill your home when using a slower cooker, and when you’re cooking bacon, coffee, and bourbon it gets around 100X better (not an official measurement). The recipe called for 3½-4 hours in the slow cooker to reduce and thicken the liquid. I originally set the crock-pot for 3½ hours so I wouldn’t overdo it, but even after an additional half-hour the liquid still wasn’t noticeably thicker.
For that reason, when transferring the mixture to the food processor I left out the liquid because I didn’t want the jam to be too wet. That was a dumb idea. After refrigerating overnight the jam came out a little chunky and hard to spread. Never forget how the texture of something can change after cooling.
To fix the jam, I put it in a blender and added a couple splashes of bourbon and pulsed until it became spreadable. The extra bourbon was just enough to add some more flavor without being overpowering. As a whole, the jam has some complex flavors with the caramelized onions, the sweetness of the maple syrup, the oakiness of the bourbon, the saltiness of the bacon, and subtle hints of coffee. It may look and smell like dog food at first, but don’t be fooled.
I tried the jam on some cornbread and the flavors worked great with the sweetness of the bread. Although I haven’t tried it yet, I could see it doing equally well on pancakes, waffles, or just about any bread really.
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