Savory Balsamic Onion-Bacon "Jam" by Real Food Girl: Unmodified.
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Savory Balsamic Onion-Bacon Jam

Bacon. Caramelized onions, bacon, fresh thyme, white wine, bacon, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, bacon, chicken stock, bacon.  Let me guess, the only word you kept seeing was bacon.  Yeah, I’m not surprised.  This recipe was one of the first that I shared when I started my blog.  You can see it HERE.  The photos were taken with my trusty iPhone, and they’re pretty scary. I think that is why only a handful of my earliest and very faithful readers were brave enough to try this recipe.  I’m thankful they did- because to this day, they can’t stop talking about this “jam”. I felt it was time to update this post and the photos.  

I have a serious foodie crush on bacon.  It’s worse than the combined crushes I had on Shawn Cassidy, Scott Baio and Andy Gibb as a teen! We’re talking about an incurable, deep, intense longing for all things bacon.  If bacon was a person, I’d be arrested for stalking it and creating a bacon photo collage on the wall of my seedy, low rent apartment complete with an alter, paying homage to all things bacon- just like those psycho ax murderers do on all those criminal cop shows.   If I had a pig, I’d name him Chris P. Bacon.  Yup. I’ve got it Baaadd!  

Savory Balsamic Onion-Bacon "Jam" by Real Food Girl: Unmodified.

I love bacon so much that any bacon related meme gets posted on my Facebook wall by my friends because they know I truly adore all things bacon.  I’ve yet to try bacon flavored gum, soda, or toothpaste, but I did have a friend send me a bar of bacon scented soap.  It had real bacon grease in it- Interestingly enough I don’t smell good when I smell like bacon. That made me sad.  It’s probably for the best, however,  because it did make my dogs look at me kind of strangely, like I was a large walking dog snack.  When you have to 80-pound Golden Retrievers living with you, it’s probably best that you NOT smell like dog snackage.  Just a hunch.

I prefer my bacon to be on the limp/chewy side, not the blackened, crispy, burnt, charred side.  It’s meat, people. There is no need to cook it until you’ve killed it three times over.  Just knock the oink out of it, and plate up.  Even TSM (The Stud Muffin) has changed the error of his ways and now prefers just-cooked bacon to the crispy, blackened, charred stuff.  Folks, don’t  do that to your bacon. It’s just wrong.  For the best way to cook your bacon, see THIS post. You’ll never make bacon in a skillet again. Well, unless you’re making this recipe, that is. 

Savory Balsamic Onion-Bacon "Jam" by Real Food Girl: Unmodified.

I almost always have bacon in my freezer and I cook with bacon grease often.  I buy a good, quality (from pasture-fed piggies) bacon (from a local farmer if possible via my local co-op), or a bacon that hasn’t been preserved, and doesn’t contain nasties such as nitrites and nitrates, dyes, sugar, corn syrup, antibiotics or hormones.  My favorite store brand of bacon to use in a pinch is still from Applegate Farms.  These guys do bacon well, but my only complaint is that they don’t have a thick sliced variety and they only sell it in 8 ounce packages and I’d prefer at least 10-12 ounces if not a  full pound. I mean, don’t get all stingy with the bacon. That’s just inhumane. 

If Applegate Farms did cut their bacon thick, you’d only get like 3 slices per package, so I can see why they slice it paper-thin.  This way everyone gets one, maybe two slices. If that’s the worst issue I can find with this bacon, then it’s really not all that bad. But I’ve decided to keep my bacon local.  I purchased thick cut, pasture-raised bacon without any of the added nasties that I mentioned above.  I support the local piggy farmer, and he continues to give me thick-cut, happy, tasty bacon. It’s a win-win!

Savory Balsamic Onion-Bacon "Jam" by Real Food Girl: Unmodified.

This recipe is nothing short of pure genius if I do say so myself.  I lick the pan clean after it has cooled because the “sauce” that is left behind after I’ve spooned all the jam into jars is just so flavorful. You’ll have a mouthgasm.  True story!  I’ve seen many recipes for this on the web shortly after I posted my original recipe and I still feel that my savory balsamic onion-bacon jam is one of the best. It is nicely balanced between salty, sweet and acidic.  It is an aromatic, full-bodied, succulent, luscious, bacon-y, onion-y concoction of fabulousness.

I’ve made grilled cheese and bacon jam panini’s with this stuff, eaten it along side a nice ribeye steak,  I’ve added it to homemade baked beans, it’s gone on burgers, in burgers, and I’ve warmed it up and eaten it all by itself.  I can’t impress upon you enough just how much you’ll love this recipe.  I have been asked to can this and sell it on my blog, but I don’t have the funds to get my kitchen licensed to do this, so until I can do that, you guys will just have to make it yourselves for now. 

For this recipe you will need to julienne your onion.  I found a great step-by-step tutorial for you guys with pictures (ooh, pictures) on how to do that, right HERE.

I’m curious, what is your favorite way to eat bacon? Do you just eat it plain for breakfast, or do you add it to a dish?  I’d like to know so feel free to share in the comments below!

Here are some of the products I used to make this recipe.   

 

Savory Balsamic Onion-Bacon "Jam" by Real Food Girl: Unmodified. 

 

 

 

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

Classically trained Cordon Bleu chef turned anti-GMO, pro-organic, food hippie blogger with a passion for REAL food.

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