slow-cooker bacon jam – everyday food challenge

I have an important introduction to make. That, up there in the photo, is slow-cooker bacon jam. Intrigued? I was. You see, I love all things bacon. Well except for canadian bacon, that’s just ham with really good public relations. The newest edition of Everyday Food, on news stands now, devotes an entire section to the crisp and smoky and delectable food that is bacon. There are recipes for bacon-wrapped chicken tenders, bacon pancakes, onion and bacon soup, maple-glazed bacon, bacon-wrapped potatoes, and the one recipe that stopped me in my food-ever-loving-tracks…slow-cooker bacon jam.

A day after receiving the issue, I swung past the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up the several items I needed to make this jarred treasure. A simple shopping list of bacon, yellow onions, garlic, cider vinegar, dark-brown sugar, maple syrup and cup of piping hot Dunkin Donuts coffee. When I make this again, and I will, it won’t be at 5 pm on a weeknight. This is surely a Saturday or Sunday project. After crisping up the bacon, sauteing the onions and garlic, and mixing in the rest of the ingredients, everything goes into an uncovered slow-cooker for four hours. A quick blitz in the food processor, then portioned into glass jars to cool on the counter followed by a visit to the fridge. The recipe took me about five hours all together.

I had some doubts about the final product when I gave it a taste while it was still warm. But after a night and a day in the fridge the flavors have mellowed a bit. The jam makes a great spread on crackers and bread or my favorite, a dip for crispy salty pretzels. It’ll last up to four weeks in the fridge. Well, probably not in our house.

If you’re looking for a unique way to get more bacon in your life. And let’s be honest, who isn’t? Give this recipe a shot.  So go out and get your very own issue of Everyday Food. This is one of their truly great issues.

peanut butter + bacon = amazing

Yesterday evening I was checking some of my favorite food blogs and came across Joy the Baker’s post about Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies. She had me at bacon, but won me over at just five ingredients. I whipped up a batch this morning. They don’t look as perfect as seen on her blog, but they taste wonderful. They will be taken to dinner and game night tonite. That is, if there are any left.