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Bacon Jam

Adapted from South: Essential Recipes and New Explorations by Sean Brock If you can't find sorghum locally, you can find it online from Muddy Pond or on Amazon. I think you could give this a go with a mixture of light molasses and honey or golden syrup, using about one-third molasses, two-thirds honey or golden syrup, to approximate sorghum. Rice syrup would also likely work, or dark maple syrup, with a little tinkering of the ratios. (While keeping the measurement the same as the sorghum syrup listed in the recipe.) If you do try one, let us know how they come out in the comments.
Servings 1 cup (240g)
  • 12-13 ounces (350g) bacon, diced into 1/4-inch (1cm) pieces
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup (160ml) sorghum syrup
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (150ml) water or chicken stock
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) sherry vinegar or good-quality apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • Put half the bacon in a skillet and cook it over medium-to-low heat, stirring, until the bacon pieces are crisp. Depending on the bacon you use, you may need to add a drizzle of oil to the pan at the beginning to get things going. Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the bacon pieces and drain them on a paper towel. Drain off excess oil from the pan, and fry the rest of the bacon the same way.
  • In a heavy-duty medium saucepan, heat the brown sugar and sorghum syrup, cook over medium heat, stirring only enough to make sure the ingredients are well-mixed. (Otherwise, you can swirl the pan.) Cook until the mixture darkens and thickens a bit, about 5 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and add the water or stock and the vinegar. The mixture may steam and bubble up a bit, so be careful. Place the pan back on the heat and simmer until the syrup has been reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
  • Add the bacon and the soy sauce to the saucepan and bring the jam mixture to a simmer again, until the mixture is thick and sticky. Remove from heat, add a few turns of black pepper, let cool to room temperature.

Notes

Note: If the jam cools and it's too thin, you can cook it a little longer. If it's too thick, you can add a splash of hot water or stock to thin it out.
Serving: Serve at room temperature. If refrigerated, let come to room temperature before serving.
Storage: According to the original recipe, the bacon jam will keep refrigerated 3 days. Mine has been in the refrigerator for a week and it still tastes great when I dip into it. I used water in mine but if you use chicken stock, it may not keep as well.