Slow Cooker Bacon Jam

Just the sound of those words together make my mouth water and so, when I came upon this recipe from Everyday Food magazine, I thought I would give it a try!  Everything is better with bacon, right?

You will need 1-1/2 lbs, bacon (I used two 12 oz. pkgs.), 2 medium onions, garlic, cider vinegar, brown sugar, maple syrup, and brewed coffee.

Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces and fry it up - since my pan is smallish, I did one pkg at a time, then I switched to a larger pot so it would all fit together.  I cooked it down til the fat was rendered, then saved 1T. bacon fat* and scooped the bacon out with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels. *Who am I kidding? I saved the rest of the bacon fat - it makes kale taste amazing!

 Here is 1 1/2 pounds of bacon continuing to cook while I saute...

 ...both of those onions diced fine, and about 1T of that minced garlic.  If you've ever wondered, "who on earth is buying those gigantic jars of minced garlic?"  That would be me.  I used it in 99% of my cooking.  Tonight I am fixing pancakes; I will leave it out.

 Crispy bacon, draining!  
At this point, Firstborn came out of his room to see what was up...

 Add the  bacon to the onions in the skillet with 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark, your call), 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, and 3/4 cup brewed coffee.  Bring it to a boil and cook about 2 minutes.

Dump it with the bacon  into a crock pot.  The recipe says to cook on high, uncovered for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.  I did 2 hours on high, uncovered; then 2 hours on low, covered.

It seemed like it was getting dry and I needed to go run a couple errands.   I didn't take another photo after 4 hours but it was a much darker color and the house smelled amazing!!

 I let it cool a little, then pulsed it in my blender a bit.  The  recipe says "pulse til coarsely chopped" in a food processor - a blender can do that just as well.  There should still be some texture to it.  I ladled it into a jar and popped it in the fridge.  Supposedly it will last 4 weeks.  I can tell you right now, it will not.  It has a smokey sweet bacony flavor that is soooo good!

Can't wait to spring it on my bacon-loving peeps!

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