Full Southern: Bacon Jam

I joined Ree's tastykitchen.com a few weeks ago and still wonder why it took so long. I am in love with the homemade section and found this peculiar recipe:

Bacon Jam.

These are two very conflicting words, words that you don't nesscarily want to try to together.

When I think of bacon you think of the salty, briney, heaven in a skillet breakfast staple and jam, well I think of PB &J.

When I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it, because to be honest I was very intrigued. Despite my immediate reluctance this concotion acutally got reave reivews.

I started out lugging Ringo out of the dungoen that is my cabinets and assembling all the ingredients

I modified the recipe down because I wasn't sure I was going to like it, and I didn't want to wast 3 lbs of bacon. So here is 1 1/2 lbs of bacon cut in to 1 inch strips 

The I heated up Ringo and poured the bacony goodness in

Please forgive me as I missed a picture here and didn't show you a picture of the browned pieces, drain them on a plate with a paper towel and pour all but 2 Table spoons of the grease out. I store mine in the fridge and use it on weekends to make breakfast. 

The I cut the onion. Let me just state that onions and I don't get along, I mean I can throw down anything onion, they are delicious to eat. But cutting them for me lands me in a puddle of my own tears. I have yet to find a remedy that fixes his problem. 

Case and point.

Do you see the red eyes and tear stained cheeks?!?!? After that you add the onions to the bacon grease. 

After you cook them down, they should be translucent, you can add your vinegar, maple syrup, brown sugar, strong black coffee and salt and pepper. 

I thought that smelled like heaven, then I added the bacon and knew I was wrong. 

This is what heaven smelled like 

Stir everything up and then let it simmer.

You need to check on it every 5-7 minutes to make stir it and make sure nothing is sticking. If you see the liquid is reducing to much add a 1/4 cup water.

I took the time between stirs to reminisce in my child hood by watching the show Dinosaurs 

 Forgot how much I liked that show. 

About an hour later the juices had reduced down to a syrup. The best part was the onions, they were so sweet I was eating them out of the pot. Made me forgive them for making me cry. 

Toss everything in the oldest food processor known to man and blend until a spreadable consitancy

 NAILED IT!

The jam is delicious y'all, like so much so I am sure Paula would want this recipe. It's sweet and its savory and after trying it both warm and cold I can say that I prefer it warm, on toast, with an egg on top. 

Here is a copy of Rebecca's Recipe, straight from Tasty Kitchen:

Recipe Description

Salty, sweet, meaty, and pure umami (or “Ooh Mommy!”), this is going to make you rethink breakfast. Smoky with bacon flavor, tinged with coffee and maple syrup, this spread transforms toast or sandwiches with very little effort.

Preparation Instructions

Cut the bacon slices into 1-inch strips. Add the bacon to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until the bacon is browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings into a heat-proof jar with a tight-fitting lid. (Save the bacon drippings in the refrigerator. That’s too much flavor to trash!)

Place the Dutch oven back over the medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic. Stir well and reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook for about 8 minutes, or until the onions are mostly translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well, and drop heat again, this time to low.

Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and boil hard for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, stir the browned bacon into the onions and liquid.

Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally to make sure things aren’t sticking, adding 1/4 cup of water if it seems to be drying out. When the onions are meltingly soft and the liquid is thick and syrupy, remove the Dutch oven from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the Dutch oven to the work bowl of a food processor that has been fitted with a blade. Fit the lid in place and pulse several times or until the bacon jam is a spreadable consistency. Scrape into a jar (or jars) or a container with a tight fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Can be served cold, room temperature or warmed.

Ingredients

• 1-½ pounds Bacon
• 2 whole Large Yellow Onions, Peeled And Thinly Sliced
• 4 cloves Garlic, Smashed And Peeled
• ½ cups Cider Vinegar
• ½ cups Packed Light Brown Sugar
• ¾ cups Very Strong Brewed Black Coffee
• ¼ cups Pure Maple Syrup
• ½ teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Full Southern: Breakfast for dinner

I have never been a breakfast for dinner girl, I would fight this tooth and nail when I was at home last week deflecting the request from my husband younger. I like to think my tastes have evolved and this change of heart has nothing to do with the fact that I am craving eggs like it is my job. I blame watching Julie and Julia ten times this weekend.

I decided tonight was as good as any to finally throw in the towel and submit to the breakfast for dinner idea.

For my meal I decided to fancy things up a bit and show off my culinary expertise and make eggs Benedict for myself and scrambled eggs and bacon for husband.

I like to use what I already have so this is a modified version of eggs Benedict. I had a loaf of sourdough bread that I needed to use so I went ahead and substituted that for the muffin, also I am a sucker for bacon and had a ton on hand for a recipe I will be sharing later this week (it is what my Grandmother would call an experiment in indigestion) so I subbed that for Canadian bacon.

I cook my bacon in the oven, I love the smell of bacon cooking, as long as I am not cooking it. I hate the grease splatters and how smokey my house gets. If you feel me, this is a sure fire way to cook your bacon and eat it too (you see what I did there, change cake to bacon....mmmm cake). Heat the oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with tin foil. Cook the bacon anywhere form 17-20 minutes, depending on how done you like your bacon.

Now for the scary part. 

Poaching an egg can seem pretty scary, there is a thin line between doing it the right way and FAILING miserably.

Bring water, and 1 Tablespoon of  vinegar, and salt to taste to a simmer (bubbles along the bottom, with some rising to the top), make sure it stays at this temp for a few minutes before you start, this way you know the water is hot enough to cook the egg evenly.

I learned a different way to poach eggs during my short stint in culinary school. I learned to make a vortex, take the spoon out and gently drop the egg in the center. It looks gross but I promise you it tastes amazing.

Start a stirring.

Once you have a pretty good whirlpool going, gently drop it.

See, I told you it would look bad but I assure you in 3-4 min it will be a pouch of gooey awesomeness.

wait 3-4 minutes making sure the water doesn't boil to much, this can disrupt the egg whites and cause poaching chaos.

After the 4 min are up, grab a slotted spoon and fish the sucker out of there, let it drain and rest it on a plate.

REPEAT!!!!

Whew! Eggs are done.

Bacon is almost ready, now for the hollandaise.

This sauce is by far my favorite sauce, it is creamy and rich, tart and salty. I could literally eat it by the spoonful, but I am pretty sure my arteries would give out.

This is probably the easiest way to make this sauce on the planet and it is a good excuse to use my blender for something other than margaritas.

This can get messy so be prepared.

Blend 3 egg yolks and the juice from 2 lemons for a few seconds, until blended.

Now, take the top thingy off, yes, that is the technical term for it, and pour 1 cup melted butter, slightly cooled in a small stream in to the blender and watch the wonderfullness that is this sauce come to life.

Add a dash of Paprika and salt to taste.

It is time.

Grab some toast. 

Pile on the bacon. 

Add the eggs.... gently. 

And douse the whole thing in the hollandaise sauce. I could say that the reason for so much sauce is because the bread soaked most of it up, but in reality I love like it so much I might just have to put a ring on it.

I might have to have seconds, thirds 15ths tonight.

Husband eating grits.

So will Husband...

Jeremy Irons at the spa; seasoning a cast iron skillet

My beloved Jeremy Irons had a spa day today. He was looking quite rough around the edges and there is nothing like a trip to the spa to rejuvenate a skillet.

It started off with a good long soak, just a soak though no suds here, ok those look like soap suds but I promise it was just from the water.
 

Then a good hard exfoliation session

 Do you see the reason for a good scour? Rust! Then a good rinse before his massage

 This isn't grime, it's flavor and it breaks my heart to wipe it away.

This was an oil rub massage, oooooooh yeah.

 
Just pour some on...

 

rub it in...

He's looking pretty good! I set his sauna temp and ordered an hour's worth of hot relaxation.

Coming out all kinds of good looking.

He looks like a new cast iron!


Now for the real info, I got this cast iron when we got married and stupidly let it sit in storage for the longest time. I was afraid of cast iron you see, to big and bulky. I liked my kitchen tools to be sleek and modern so I let this great gift lay in wait.
When my woman crush on Ree Drummond began I noticed her always using an iron skillet, I mean duh they are wonderful and so is she. I thought back and remember that I had one and I pulled it off of a back dusty shelf and washed it with soap and water.
BIG MISTAKE!!
It rusted.
Like immediately.
 I would scrub it down every time and for some reason I couldn't get it right. So I hit the internet and found some information about cast irons and realized I had been doing everything wrong.
 I apologize to Jeremy Irons every day.
 NEVER use soap, all you need to do for baked on residue is put some water in the skillet and let the water boil it off. Say what?!? This was genius stuff right here. The reason you don't use soap and water is because of the obvious, it can rust and also because it takes away the essence of a cast iron which is the flavor. When you use a cast iron it adds flavor to your food, not gross at all, think of it as cooking with bacon grease makes everything taste better, so does food out of a cast iron. When you use soap it takes the entire flavor out.
Boo, to no flavor.

 Also, if you haven't used it in a while you have to re-season. Uh... re-season? I don't remember seasoning it. So I tried to find out if there was another cast iron strike against me, and from my findings no. You can get seasoned cast iron skillets which mine was. Ha! take that I was one step ahead of the game when I got it... but not now, but I was then and that counts.

 If anyone would know how to season a skillet I decided to turn to my other woman crush, Paula Deen, what didn't help matters was that her son (the hot one) did the video, Educational and sexy.

 To season a cast iron you need to;
 Make sure it’s clean and dry before you start
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
 Rub Veggie oil all over it the inside until it is SHINES LIKE THE TYPE OF THE CHRYSLER BUILDING.
*you can sing Hard knock life while doing this process, I did*
After you are done rubbing, I suggest applying some oil to the bottom of the skillet too, you can put it in the oven for 1 hour.  And you’re done!

 Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezie