Smoky back bacon, red onions, Canadian maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce are slow-cooked to perfection to make the most delicious, sticky, multi-purpose bacon jam recipe. Make it, you’ll be glad you did.
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That time I got lassoed…
True story.
I was only 19 and living in Banff, Alberta, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Canada. My (then) boyfriend and I had just broken up. We’d just had a huge row and I’d stormed out of the house in a rage to walk it off. Not even a minute later, as I stomped down the street thundercloud crashing above my head, I found myself abruptly halted with a lasso around my ankle.
You see, the annual Calgary Stampede was on that weekend. There wasn’t enough room in the city to house the influx of cowboys and rodeo participants, so many of them were staying in nearby Banff.
I looked up from my confines to meet the gaze of a rather young and handsome cowboy with his suede cowboy hat, blue jeans and oversized belt buckle.
I glared at him, wordlessly, as I lifted my ankle to have the lasso removed.
The poor lad was so apologetic, quickly removing the rope and letting me continue on my rage-stomp down the road. If I could go back in time and apologise to him I would.
Talk about missed opportunities!
Crumpets and candied bacon
What has that got to do with crumpets, you might wonder (and rightly so!).
I love crumpets, especially toasted and eaten warm with lashings of butter and some strawberry jam.
That’s not nearly quirky enough a recipe to blog about, so I set to thinking: maple syrup and bacon would work well on a crumpet, wouldn’t it? How could I serve it – grill the bacon so that it’s gorgeously crispy and pile it up like a tower and drizzle in maple syrup?
What about candied bacon?
Candied bacon….. Mmmmm! Bacon candied made with maple syrup…
Then, as I went for my daily hill walk, inspiration struck: an easy bacon jam recipe! Bacon jam is a delicious condiment prepared by slow-cooking bacon with onions, a sweetener (brown sugar or maple syrup), vinegar and spices.
Avocado and a poached egg also go really well with bacon jam too, and so this delicious brunch idea was born.
What is bacon jam made of?
- 300 grams smoked back bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
- 80 ml Canadian maple syrup
- 3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 80 ml water
- salt & pepper, to taste
How to make this bacon jam recipe
- Add your chopped bacon to a cold, dry pan and then heat over medium-high heat.
- Fry the bacon for 10-15 minutes, stirring often, until it starts to crisp up and brown.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the onions. Cook for a further 8-10 minutes until the onions begin to soften.
- Add the remaining ingredients and turn the heat down to low.
- Simmer for 30-45 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until it is thick and glossy. Add a little more water, if needed.
- Cool for 10 minutes and process to a coarse blend in a food processor or blender.
What can I use bacon jam for?
- toasted crumpet with smashed avocado and a poached egg
- on a baked potato with cheese (warmed up so it melts the cheese)
- serve on a beef burger
- spread it on toast
- add to it your grilled cheese sandwich
- panini with bacon jam and cheese
- try it as a ravioli filling
- quesadillas with bacon jam and cheese
- spoon it out of the jar and get it in you
- add a spoonful to your bolognese sauce
How long does bacon jam keep in the fridge?
- two weeks.
Bacon Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 grams smoked back bacon
- 1 medium red onion finely chopped
- 80 ml Canadian maple syrup
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 80 ml water
- Shetland sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
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Equipment
Instructions
- Add your chopped bacon to a cold, heavy-based pan and heat over medium-high heat.
- Fry the bacon for 10-15 minutes, until it begins to crisp and brown.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the onions. Saute gently for a further 8-10 minutes until they begin to soften.
- Add the remaining ingredients, season well, reduce heat to low and pop the lid on.
- Simmer for 35-45 minutes until the jam is thick and glossy.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before blending to a coarse spread in a high-speed blender or food processor.
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Bacon makes everything better. This bacon jam is life-changing!
Oh my word!! This looks so delicious! Definitely a must make!
Such a great idea! Although I don’t eat myself, I know my meat loving guests will love it for brunch!
Oh I am definitely making this for my breakfast at the weekend.
This is the ultimate breakfast sandwich topping, we love making it and giving as gifts too!
What a delight – weekend treat for all our family
This looks so good! I’m going to try it with a giant crumpet for dinner one night this week. I bet it would make a nice brunch as well. Your egg is just perfection!
I am going to have to go to the shops now! This look delish!
that’s a whole meal there. so delicious. thanks you for teaching us and sharing this lovely recipe
Wow, the dish looks so beautiful and delicious, I will make it at this weekend. My husband will love it very much! Thanks for sharing!
This looks incredible! I have all of these ingredients at hand so will be trying this for brunch at the weekend. I’ve had a jar of bacon jam in the fridge for a couple of weeks but didn’t know what to use it for!
So excited to try this! I’ve been waiting for the Bacon Jam recipe! Thank you!
We live about three hours north-east of Banff AB. Avocados have become quite popular in Canada, but they can be rather expensive here. Almost $2 a piece at times! Which makes me wonder how expensive they must be in Shetland !?
Oh wow, what an ingenious idea, you really have took a crumpet topping to a whole new level. I love crumpets and I just have to try this!
You totally had me at avocado. This looks so good! I love poached eggs too.
Love that you made the bacon jam also. It all looks so very delicious!
Yummy.. This looks so delicious. It looks super easy to prepare also. Even looks very beautiful.
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Wow! Look so delicious, especially when I am so hungry as now. I think I can do this easy recipe without the help of my wife.Thank for your sharing!!!!!
Hmm being lassoed by a cowboy sounds found and the crumpet looks good. The whole meal does, but I couldn’t eat sweet with savory. I am sure my husband would like to try the jam though.
I love watching the old British comedies on PBS so I’ve heard of crumpets, but never seen a recipe using them! At first glance I thought it was an English Muffin. I absolutely love avocado and bacon, so this looks like a wonderful breakfast or snack.
That seems like one yummy recipe. It’s going to be tried in my breakfast tomorrow. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I’ve always loved crumpet. We don’t get them much in HK. If we could I’d be making this recipe. Love your lasso story, I can imagine that for a while you looked back and kicked yourself for being clouded by your temper – ha ha!
Bacon jam!!! what?!?! I need that asap! This looks like it could become quite easily my new favorite breakfast/brunch dish! Lovely recipe!
Boy does that look like a tasty food to eat. Maybe you can call it the foodie melt.
I love your story – so funny! These crumpet sandwiches sound delicious! I have never tried bacon jam but it sounds excellent!
This is totally new to me but it looks and sounds yummy. The only problem is there are no crumpets in Sand Diego. Thanks for sharing!
Ok so this is my kind of breakfast. Ah yes the Calgary Stampede….I remember those days. We always went west every summer. My mom was from Saskatchewan and dad was from Manitoba. As for crumpets….well my husband’s grandparents were from England. He LOVES crumpets with condensed milk!! I love them with peanut butter…but this great looking sandwich is a “must try” for sure.
I love crumpets toasted, with tons of butter and a dollop of jam, but this is much healthier. Sounds delicious, thanks for this.
Honestly, these pics are making me hungry. And that perfectly done egg!! Heavenly.
I absolutely love the story about how you came up with the name! Ha! Love it.
These crumpets are amazing aren’t they?! Thanks for sharing, I love a good crumpet topping!
This is the first time that I heard about this recipe and it really sounds good to me, I bet my hubby would love this too
That’s because there’s nothing out there like it. I invented it! 😉 My husband thoroughly enjoyed his when I served it to him. 🙂
this looks so delicious. i just wanna eat it from the picture lol
I would give anything to have just one bite of this.
Bacon and avocado has always been a good combination! This sounds amazing! I love that you can have this filling recipe for breakfast and still have enough time to get ready for the day ahead. I’m sure the kids will love it.
Yum this look amazing! Such a great idea with Crumpet. I never thought of that. xx
My son and husband would love the crumpet avocado, bacon and egg sandwich. I think I am going to try it this weekend for them. Thank you for the recipe!
These look so good! We don’t really have crumpets here in the US, but put it on a southern biscuit (which aren’t like your biscuits haha) and we’re good to go!
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that poached egg looks very perfect to this meal! i like it
that looks so delicious and easy to prepare! thats very interesting!
This looks so good! And easy enough for a cooking-newb like me to make too~ Now if only it comes with a cowboy…
Good lord – bacon jam on a grilled cheese! Yes please! Or on a cheeseburger – yum!
This looks SO good. But the name is cracking me up! So clever. I Love it!
This recipe is so funny ,colourful ,cool and yummy!Love the name,it’s perfect!
What a great story! Accidentally lassoo’d – ha, ha ha. I love the thought of this hipster crumpet. I love Warburton’s crumpets and you’ve turned this gluten-free one super-glam. Lovely brunch idea.
Ooooh you can’t beat a good crumpet, gluten-free or not. I usually just have them with far too much butter (love the way it melts into the holes!), but this looks far more exciting! Can’t wait til I can eat runny eggs again!
I love the name of this recipe! I always forget about crumpets, but this recipe has me running to the shop to grab some!