Taking Brunch to the Next Level: Maple Bacon Bourbon Jam

A salty, sweet jam made with BACON as the main ingredient.

Bacon

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: $$
Time: 20 minutes (including prep)

Watch me prep, cook, and serve this jam in Episode 1 of Michelle’s Pop Up Kitchen: Maple Bacon Bourbon Jam

Ingredient List:

  • 1.5 – 2 lbs Bacon (I, of course, used 2 lbs)
  • 1 Sweet Onion (about 1 cup)
  • 1 Shallot
  • 4 cloves of Garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
  • 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Bourbon
  • 1/2 cup Maple Syrup
  • 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
  • Salt and Pepper to taste (optional)

Instructions:

Prep

  • Dice the onion, shallot, and garlic into small pieces (keeping these ingredients separate)
  • Slice bacon into chunky, bite-size pieces
  • Bring a large-sized pan to medium heat on the stove (non-stick if you have it)

Cook

  • Once the pan has heated up, add the bite-sized bacon pieces to fry ’em up
  • When the bacon has finished cooking, remove the bacon from the pan, leaving about 1 of bacon fat in the pan
  • Place bacon on paper towels to drain excess fat
  • Return the pan to the stove with 1 tablespoon bacon fat
  • Add the diced onion and shallot
  • Once the onions and shallot have begun to caramelize (have turned golden in color), add 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika and 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • Add dash of salt and pepper to taste (optional)
  • Mix the onions and shallots with the added spices
  • Add diced garlic garlic
  • Stand back from the stove and *slowly* add 1/2 cup bourbon
  • Add 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • Add 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • Add 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • Stir to allow brown sugar to dissolve
  • Add fried bacon bits back to the pan
  • Fold in all of the ingredients
  • Turn stove on low to simmer (while simmering, the jam will begin to thicken up)

Eat

  • Once the jam has reached your desired (thick, gooey) consistency, turn the stove off and serve!

This is a great breakfast or brunch item that any bacon lover will enjoy.  As shown in the video, I simply served this jam on top a couple of toasted baguette slices.  BUT I bet this would also go really good on some flatbread with a little bit of shaved parmesan, topped with arugula.  mmmmmmm.

Hungry Homer

Definitely saving that idea for another recipe/video.

Thanks for reading!

Let me know in the comments what you think of this recipe or if you have any recipe requests you’d like me to share!

Gnomey

Don’t mind me while I take this time to celebrate my first real post. OH YEAHHHHH.
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