Bacon Jam. For Reals.

Does it sound weird? Yes. But it tastes delicious. Trust me on this. I would never steer you wrong when it comes to bacon. Before I get into the bacon jam, please allow me to wax philosophical about bacon. It will only take a moment. It's the gateway meat. Seriously. Ask any person who used to be a vegetarian, and most likely it was bacon that lead him/her back to the dark side. For me it was a Portillo's Maxwell Street Polish Dog, but it could have been bacon. I am such a fan of bacon that my brother got me an "I heart bacon" sticker a few years ago for Christmas. It's on the ski box on my car and yes, I do feel a bit superior riding around town with it. Don't be jealous. I can get you one too. I know a guy.

But I digress... Bacon jam was not something I ever intended to make. My friend Jamie suggested I try some on a previous post, so I went and looked it up.

Instead of buying it from the place she suggested, I decided to make my own.

So I googled some recipes and picked one, ad-libbing it just a bit. It's super easy, basically you cook the bacon, carmaelize a bunch of onions, add some spices, toss it all in the slow-cooker and three hours later, dump it out and blitz it in the food processor, can it and chill it.

So easy and so delicious. And yes, I was drinking martinis while I made the bacon jam. They were delicious too. Thanks for asking.

Now, as for the jam, the original recipe I used is here. I added a few more onions and didn't really measure the brown sugar or garlic. I let it cool before I tried it...the night after I made it, I just added a dollop to some roasted sweet potatoes and I thought it was just divine. It had a bit of kick to it, thanks to the hot sauce in the recipe. But I didn't quite trust my own judgement, and knew I needed to have some other people sample it.

Luckily, I went to a G.N.A.R. party Saturday night, where the average party attendee was male and in his 30's...my target audience.

Sidenote, if you love skiing, you must watch G.N.A.R. now. Seriously, stop reading and go find it. It's a bad-ass ski movie. Also, I'm the best skier on the mountain. Just keep that in mind. End sidenote.

So naturally, I brought some bacon jam and had them all try it. We even put some in dough and deep-fried it. (I really love it when a bunch of people get together and just start frying shit. It's pretty rad.) This photo is pre-deep fry. And yes, we also deep-friend Kit-Kats. And M & M's. And tomato and cheese balls. Also, beer goes really well with all these things.

The jam got rave reviews all around. Not too shabby for my first batch. My roommate and I had some more on a baguette tonight, you know, just to make sure it was still okay.

It so was.

The bottom line is, make it if you like bacon. It's easy and delicious. Have it on hand to take to a party, or eat it with a spoon right out of the jar. I know I'm not the only one out there who loves bacon.