So this month marks the 1-year anniversary of http://foodgrogblog.com and what a year it’s been. I am truly grateful that people out there read this and I am humbled at the feedback I get and that people are enjoying the content. I am also humbled from the support I have received from everyone I come in contact with, whether that’s the bbq or beer community or venue owners. Originally I started this as a way of sharing recipes and a few adventures on the way. Having a look back it’s been a while since I’ve put up a recipe as the blog sort of organically turned into more about venues and beer. So I thought it was time for a recipe and what better to share than tequila bacon jam.
This is a nice simple recipe that will pimp that dirty snag in bread, give a burger that extra kick or add it to cheese and crackers to impress. Think of this more of an intense relish than a jam. Now you can swap out the tequila for any thing you want, bourbon and whisky work really well. You can pump up the alcohol too if you want a stronger flavour, it’s only there for flavour as the actual alcohol burns out during the cooking process.
Ingredients
750g bacon, cut into pieces
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ cup tequila
¼ cup molasses
¼ cup fresh coffee
½ apple cider vinegar
3 Tbs brown sugar
What to do
- Heat a non-stick fry pan and cook bacon until done. You may need to do this in two batches depending on the size of your pan. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate with a paper towel.
- Leave the bacon oil in the pan and add the onion and garlic, cook until soft and translucent.
- Add chilli and paprika and stir through for 1 minute.
- Add tequila or whichever alcohol you’re using and stir for 1 minute. Be careful that the alcohol doesn’t catch if your using a gas flame.
- Add the remaining ingredients, except bacon, and stir to combine, bring to a simmer.
- Add the bacon and continue to simmer until the liquid reduces to a jam consistency around 10 minutes.
- Now you can either leave this to cool before storing or you can put it in the food processor and blitz it to make it smooth.
This will last for 4 weeks in the fridge. I find this is best served warm so I just take out as much as I need and give it 30 seconds in the microwave.
Thanks to everyone for the last year of foodgrogblog and here’s to many more.