Bacon Jam! Huh? Have You Tried It?

Bacon jam?

Did this bandwagon pass us by?

Are we the last to know of the latest, trendy food fad -- supposedly the rage of 2012?

Yum? Or, ugh? We're not sure; we haven't tried it yet.

But before you gag, count calories, tabulate the fat content, or lecture us  that our ancestors swiped bacon lard on white bread and called it "dinner" during the Depression, keep an open mind:

• The 21st-century version of "bacon jam" is "a spread," akin to mayonnaise, so drop your fat and calorie concerns. 
• We get to haul out our food processors to make it! Who doesn't love justifying that appliance purchase?
• And a Forbes magazine writer called it possibly "one of the food world’s most life-changing inventions."

So, yeah. We are on solid ground with our bacon-jam exploration. We just need more tried-and-true recipes.

This is all we have from www.closetcooking.com, a recipe for Maple Bourbon Bacon Jam:

Ingredients

• 1 pound thick smoked bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup coffee (brewed)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 2 chipotle chilis in adobo, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook the bacon in a large sauce pan an over medium heat until the fat has rendered and the bacon starts to get crispy and set aside, reserving 1 tablespoon of the grease in the pan.
2. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the vinegar and deglaze the pan.
5. Add the coffee, brown sugar, maple syrup, bourbon, bacon, chipotle chilies, cumin and pepper, reduce the heat and simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 1-2 hours.
6. Process the jam in a food processor to smooth it out a bit but not too much as you want to have the texture of the bacon.
7. If you do not finish it all in one sitting, store it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.

Help us out, please! We need recipes for bacon jam. Please post in the comments section.